The game's lead producer is Gustav Seymore, and the lead designer is Fawzi Mesmar. Development began in January 2012. Fire Chief was made available in-game in response to fan request. A number of pieces of fanart have been used in the game and its advertisements; for example, an early advertisement used fanart of Princess Cadance, and Octavia Melody's album page used fanart of her as a filly until June 13, 2013. There were no plans to add Button Mash, his mom, or Fluffle Puff to the game as of September 30, 2013; Button Mash was added to the game on June 16, 2017, though he was retitled Game-Playin' Schoolpony on August 2, 2017.