After a brutal year-long campaign, the results of Australia’s historic referendum on whether to become a republic were finally in.

The “Yes” campaign won with 56% of the vote, just as polls had predicted. Elated republicans celebrated, while the monarchists grumbled to one another about a negative, dirty campaign. That night, the Wall Street Journal reported that negotiations had already begun between Australia and the Crown about the country’s long-awaited departure from the Commonwealth.

A former prime minister and architect of the referendum was privately ecstatic at the result, but kept a distance from the celebrations. After all, the head moderator of the AustraliaSim subreddit is supposed to remain impartial.

The referendum, the media coverage, the former prime minister: all of it is part of AustraliaSim, a Reddit community and online roleplayer game in which participants emulate the argy-bargy of #auspol — with a startling degree of detail.