We know that you all have been waiting a very long time, not only for updates on where we are with VF3, but also to be able to play the game. In all honesty, we expected to have the game released by now. Since that (quite obviously) didn't happen, we want to give you all an update on some hard decisions we needed to make, where we are now, and what to expect with VF3 development.

We did actually get to the beta testing stage for VF3 with a small group of carefully selected long-time testers, and, as the beta test progressed, it became obvious to us that the delays (discussed in other posts in these forums) and long development time had left us with a game that hadn't kept up with player expectations and advances in mobile gaming. We started developing VF3 in 2013, and (like VF1 and VF2), it used our proprietary game engine that dates back to the mid-2000s. In order to make VF3 the best it can be and incorporate a lot of the features that players expect in today's mobile games, we realized that we needed to essentially start from the ground up with a new game engine that would allow us to incorporate the new features that many of you have asked for in VF3.

We are already well underway with the "VF3 reboot" process, but there is a lot of work to do yet. We are still hoping for a 2019 release, but it's too early to set schedules. We will update the VF3 Previews Page once we have a good handle on the development schedule.

The team is working very hard on this effort, and we will keep all of the improvements we showed you earlier in this post (and more that you haven't seen yet!):

• The house is expandable and reconfigurable to meet the family's changing needs throughout the generations. Need another bedroom? A workshop? 5 bathrooms? No problem!
• Landscaping features include raised flower beds, cactus gardens, and lawns, complete with a riding lawn mower and sprinklers.
• New furniture and decor items, with many more to come.
• There's a mysterious new back story that will take many generations to unravel.
• Culturally diverse faces, hairstyles, and skin tones will make it much easier to adopt little people who look like you!
• Parents can share infant care: Each parent can take breaks from baby to work on their careers, pursue their hobbies, and manage their daily routines while their partner cares for the little one. You can even choose who will care for baby!
• Family resemblance is back! Children born into the family will tend to look like one of their parents or a blend of both! There is even a possibility of resembling a distant ancestor on the family tree.
• Same gender couples can marry and make their home together, adopt children and raise a family, and enjoy the country life throughout many generations.
• For those who have always wanted a large family, VF3 allows up to 12 children, and the adoption center now gives you the choice of adopting infants, as well as older children.
• Pets will be more interesting and interactive. They will more closely mimic real life pets, and they no longer live forever.
• Dozens of new careers and random events, new goals and collectibles.
• Your VF3 family has a telephone and can make and receive calls in a variety of situations.
• Zoom in and out with pinch/zoom gestures - first time in a VF game.
• The mandatory tutorial from VF2 has been replaced with a more extensive in-game help file and a link to our very detailed online knowledge base which has answers to over 100 questions and is growing as we continue with VF3 development.

That's just a sample of what we already have accomplished in VF3. Moving all of that to the new game engine will enable us to do many things that have never been possible in Virtual Families. Once we have the game released and in your hands to enjoy, we'll be looking at implementing new features that will be possible only because of VF3's reboot in the new game engine, such as visiting your friends' houses/families in some way, special social events and giveaways, etc.

We can't say for sure what features will be incorporated, and when, but VF3 will be a much better game than we could have produced without this reboot. If we had released the game using our "old" game engine, we would never have been able to make those advances in game play and features.

We hope this helps explain what's going on and why we're so late. Having made the decision to rework the game, we are going to continue to move forward, and we hope you'll all stay with us as we make VF3 all it can be. We'll also try to be better at keeping you all informed about our progress as we move toward beta and release!