It’s been a little more than a month since Mega Crit’s hugely anticipated sequel Slay the Spire 2 released in early access, but already the team is on the “road to version 1.0”, “fix[ing] up major issues, improving the feedback systems, polishing upvisuals, and reworking/balancing content so that all of the cards and items feel interesting and viable”.
To celebrate, Mega Crit has shared a newsletter – sorry, Neowsletter – to discuss how the first month has been for the team, and what we can expect in upcoming updates.
Detailing what’s ahead on its roadmap – more on that in a bit – Mega Crit acknowledged it hadn’t provided any finite deadlines or dates for new/improved features, stressing that it’s “a small team where each member understands their responsibilities, knows everyone else, and “work[s] at a healthy pace”. This means it prioritises what “feels most impactful” and go from there.
“It’s not the most organised method, but this allows spontaneous experimentation like the dialogues you have with the Ancients or the existence of a Room Full of Cheese,” wrote co-founder Casey Yano. “We won’t massively expand the size of the studio to finish the game faster. Exacting deadlines produce sloppy uninspired work, and I don’t want Sloppy Spire 2, I want Slay the Spire 2.”
Another Critter, Demi, then stepped in with some early stats, including proof that 56 per cent of us returned The Lantern Key, 63 per cent of us gorged in the Room of Cheese, and 49 per cent of you monsters ate the egg. We’re also told that collectively, we have clocked up 145 million runs in Slay the Spire 2 thus far… that’s around 3.3 million a day.
A Q&A also gave us a little insight into what else to expect – or not, as the case may be – as development continues. Yano suggested we probably won’t see an endless mode or matchmaking anytime soon – it would open up “a whole host of headaches that a smaller team wouldn’t want to deal with” – but did promise we can never escape the “whimsy”.
We also got to see the incredible doodlings players have made while idling on the map – head to Steam to see the full gallery. You won’t be disappointed!
Here’s the roadmap, as promised:
Roadmap
Features and Systems:
- Steam Workshop support
- Support for more languages
- The Bestiary, a way to view and learn about the enemies in the game
- Experimental game modes
Ongoing Tasks:
- Fixings bugs
- Compatibility and performance improvements
- Game balance and tweaks
- Quality of life features
- Audio polish (more silly voices)
- Visual polish (less silly placeholder art)
Content (No spoilers, it’s for your own good!)
- Alternate Act 2
- New Character
- Alternate Act 3
- More cards, events, relics, and potions
Further off in the Future
- Ports to other consoles/platforms/mobile/etc
- Steam Achievements & Tradings Cards
- “True Victory” + Everything that comes with it
The update comes at the same time as yesterday’s patch notes, which encapsulated all of the changes from v0.100.0 to v0.103.1, including balance adjustments, art updates, UI improvements, writing improvements, and bug fixes.
Slay the Spire 2 was allegedly March’s biggest-selling game on Steam, shifting more units than other new releases like Crimson Desert and Resident Evil Requiem, bringing an estimated revenue of around $108 million (£81.7 million). Within two weeks of its launch, Slay the Spire 2 was estimated to have made more money than Hollow Knight: Silksong and Hades 2 on Steam.
