function game_year_info(DateTime $now): array
{
	
	$startDate = '2018-01-01'; // the actual date of when the first game year accured
	$gameEpochYear = 1; // the number of the first game year
    // -------------------------
    // Game-year start (Jan 1 / Jul 1)
    // -------------------------
    $realYear  = (int)$now->format('Y');
    $realMonth = (int)$now->format('n');

    if ($realMonth <= 6) {
        $start = new DateTime("$realYear-01-01 00:00:00");
    } else {
        $start = new DateTime("$realYear-07-01 00:00:00");
    }

    // -------------------------
    // Game year number (monotonic)
    // -------------------------
    $epoch = new DateTime($startDate);

    $epochYear  = (int)$epoch->format('Y');
    $epochHalf  = ((int)$epoch->format('n') <= 6) ? 0 : 1;

    $currentHalf = ($realMonth <= 6) ? 0 : 1;

    $gameYear =
       $gameEpochYear
        + (($realYear - $epochYear) * 2)
        + ($currentHalf - $epochHalf);

    // -------------------------
    // Season (360-day internal year)
    // -------------------------
    $end = (clone $start)->modify('+6 months');

    $secondsPerDay = 86400;

    $elapsedDays = intdiv(
        max(0, $now->getTimestamp() - $start->getTimestamp()),
        $secondsPerDay
    );

    $spanDays = max(1, intdiv(
        $end->getTimestamp() - $start->getTimestamp(),
        $secondsPerDay
    ));

    // Scale real progress → 360-day internal year
    $gameDay0 = (int)floor(($elapsedDays / $spanDays) * 360);
    $gameDay0 = max(0, min(359, $gameDay0));

    if ($gameDay0 <= 89) {
        $season = 'Winter';
    } elseif ($gameDay0 <= 179) {
        $season = 'Spring';
    } elseif ($gameDay0 <= 269) {
        $season = 'Summer';
    } else {
        $season = 'Fall';
    }

    return [
        'year'        => $gameYear,            // use this if you only want the year
        'season'      => $season,
        'year_start'  => $start->format('Y-m-d'),
    ];
}

$gt = game_year_info(new DateTime());
echo "Year {$gt['year']} — {$gt['season']}";

$gameYear = game_year_info(new DateTime())['year'];