Be The Boss – Major Update 0.8 & Release Date

Hello Bosses,

We’re very happy to finally announce the 1.0 release date for The Boss Gangster: Criminal Empire.

On October 27, the game will officially leave Early Access and launch as Version 1.0.

Before anything else, we want to make one thing clear: reaching 1.0 does not mean that development will stop.

As BEF Games, we will continue supporting the game with new updates, improvements, features, and content after the full release.

There are two main reasons why we feel this is the right time to move toward 1.0.

First, when we entered Early Access, we promised that we would aim to reach full release within one year. We want to keep that promise.

Second, we believe reaching 1.0 will give us the opportunity to introduce The Boss Gangster: Criminal Empire to a much larger audience and begin the next chapter of the game.

This is our first game and our first journey as BEF Games, and we want to sincerely thank everyone in our community who has supported us from the very beginning.

Your feedback, suggestions, criticism, bug reports, and support have helped shape the game throughout Early Access.

And we’re far from finished.

Many exciting features are still on the way, and we’ll continue expanding and improving the game even after 1.0.

But before October 27 arrives, it’s time for one of our biggest updates yet.

Be The Boss

With Update 0.8, we’re pushing the feeling of running your own criminal empire further than ever.

Managers have arrived in Night City. Rival families are becoming more dynamic. Police can now be influenced district by district. Family members can actively protect your territory. Businesses can run without your constant supervision.

You built the empire.

Now it’s time to act like the Boss.

Managers Are Now in Night City

You can now assign Managers to your Club, Warehouse, and Supermarket.

Managers automate many of the repetitive tasks involved in running your businesses based on the budget you allocate to them.

Instead of personally handling every small task, you can focus on expanding your empire.

Club Manager

Your Club Manager can automatically handle:

• Automatic Drink Ordering

• Employee training and upgrades

• Employee motivation

• Business expenses based on the budget you assign

Give your Manager a budget and let them keep the business running.

Warehouse Manager

Your Warehouse Manager can automatically handle:

• Ordering required chemicals

• Ordering required seeds

• Employee training and upgrades

• Automatically refilling Water Tanks

• Automatically refilling Pesticide Tanks

Your production operation can now continue without requiring you to personally manage every supply.

Supermarket Manager

Your Supermarket Manager will:

• Monitor shelves individually

• Detect products that are currently Hyped

• Prioritize popular products when ordering stock

• Automatically restock shelves

Managers are finally here.

Your businesses no longer need your constant attention.

You’re the Boss. Let someone else handle the shelves.

Create Your Own Alcohol

You can now produce and launch your own alcoholic drinks through your Supermarket.

Customers can sample your products through a new testing mechanic and provide feedback.

Each product will receive an average customer rating based on their reactions.

But making your own alcohol comes with risks.

Poor production can result in dangerous toxicity levels.

Customers may become seriously ill or even die after consuming a toxic product.

And if that happens, you may have another problem to deal with.

The body.

If too many suspicious deaths occur and other customers notice what is happening, the authorities may eventually shut down your Supermarket.

Test carefully.

Or make sure nobody sees anything.

New Rival Family System

The rival Family system has received a major redesign.

You can now see the Power and Economic Strength of rival families and build your strategy around these values.

Instead of simply attacking territory after territory, you can now weaken your enemies economically before confronting them directly.

A rival family’s financial situation will affect its ability to operate.

As their economy becomes weaker, their soldiers will begin using lower-tier weapons and equipment, reducing their overall combat effectiveness.

This gives you multiple ways to defeat a rival family.

You can attack them directly.

Or destroy the foundation that keeps their empire alive.

New Spy System

The Spy system has been greatly expanded.

Sending a Spy to investigate a rival family can now reveal several different types of intelligence.

Possible discoveries include:

• Finding out which business a rival Family Member is currently visiting

• Discovering the location of a rival Family Member while they are travelling by car

• Discovering the location of a rival family’s hidden Stash House

• Discovering an upcoming trade or exchange being carried out by the rival family

Once you obtain the intelligence, you decide what happens next.

Find their people.

Raid their stash.

Intercept their trade.

Or simply wait for the perfect moment.

Stash Raids & Trade Ambushes

If your Spy discovers a rival family’s Stash House, you can launch an attack against it.

Destroying or stealing from rival operations allows you to directly damage their economy.

You may also discover upcoming rival family trades.

If you learn where and when a deal will take place, you can intercept the exchange and attack the participants.

These operations give you new ways to weaken your enemies before starting a full territorial war.

Capturing Family Members

During Family operations, rival Family Members can now be captured.

But the same rules apply to your own people.

Your Family Members can also be captured by rival families.

Captured enemies are no longer something you need to deal with immediately.

Once you have a rival Family Member tied up, you can keep them until you decide what to do next.

And if you decide they are no longer useful, you can take them to the Construction Site at any time and bury them there.

Sometimes the cleanest solution is the simplest one.

Diplomacy & Ceasefires

Diplomacy between families has been redesigned.

Your Family Power and Economic Strength are now compared against those of rival families.

Depending on the balance between both sides:

• You may be able to offer a Ceasefire

• Rival families may offer a Ceasefire to you

• Negotiations can change depending on the relative strength and economic condition of both families

War is no longer always about complete destruction.

Sometimes making the other family understand who is stronger is enough.

Rival Family Members Join Battles

Rival Family Members will now have a chance to participate directly in offensive and defensive operations.

When rival families attack your territory, their actual Family Members may join the battle alongside their soldiers.

The same applies when they defend their own territory.

This makes enemy Family Members more important during an ongoing war.

Taking powerful members out of action can now directly affect future conflicts.

Family Patrol System

You can now assign your own Family Members to Patrol territories you control.

Patrolling Family Members will automatically help defend the district when an attack occurs.

If you lose a location inside their assigned territory, they can also automatically launch an attack to try to reclaim it.

Your Family can finally help protect the empire you’ve built instead of waiting for you to handle every problem yourself.

Interrogation & Extract Intel Rework

The Extract Intel option in the Office Interrogation Room has been expanded.

Captured rival Family Members can now reveal information connected to the new Spy system.

Interrogations may provide intelligence about:

• Rival Family Members

• Their current locations

• Rival businesses

• Stash Houses

• Upcoming trades and activities

Capturing an important rival can now become an extremely valuable source of intelligence.

Police Patrols & Corruption

Police officers now actively patrol different districts across Night City.

You can approach these officers and speak with them directly.

And naturally, a little money can solve many problems.

By bribing patrol officers, you can:

• Improve your relationship with the police

• Temporarily remove police presence from a specific district

• Create safer opportunities to carry out illegal activities

Planning a robbery?

Moving illegal products?

Need a district to become a little quieter?

Put some money in the right pockets.

Personalized Wanted System

The Wanted system is now character-specific.

Previously, when one Family Member committed a crime and became Wanted, the Wanted status could affect the entire Family.

Now, only the character responsible for the crime will be pursued by the police.

This means other Family Members can continue operating normally while the Wanted character deals with the consequences.

The Wanted UI has also been updated to support the new system.

Pedestrian Improvements

We noticed that players were frequently becoming Wanted after accidentally hitting pedestrians while driving.

Running over pedestrians will no longer automatically trigger the Wanted system.

Pedestrian behavior has also been improved.

Pedestrians will now attempt to move away from:

• Your character

• Moving vehicles

• Dangerous situations around them

This should reduce accidental collisions while driving through crowded areas.

Police & Combat Targeting

Police will now target whoever attacks first during a conflict.

This means police will react based on who started the fight rather than automatically treating the player as the aggressor.

The same first-attacker logic also applies to conflicts involving rival families.

Bulletproof Vests

Bulletproof Vests have been added to the game.

You can now equip both yourself and your Family Members with armor.

Vests can either be purchased or crafted at the Crafting Table.

Crafting Requirements

• 10x Scrap Metal

• 1x Chemical X

• 1x Chemical Y

Equip your Family before sending them into dangerous operations.

Arm Your Business Guards

Club and Warehouse Guards can now be equipped with weapons.

Open a Guard’s profile to manage and upgrade their equipment.

Your businesses can now be much better prepared when trouble arrives.

Warehouse Improvements

Warehouse production has received several new improvements.

You can now choose the packaging priority for products created inside your Lab Rooms.

This allows you to decide which products your Handlers should package first.

Warehouse staffing capacity has also been expanded.

You can now hire up to:

• 9 Chemists

• 8 Handlers

Larger criminal operations can now support much greater production capacity.

Quick Weapon Wheel

While playing in TPS mode, press Q to open the new Radial Weapon Wheel.

You can quickly select and equip your weapons without navigating through additional menus.

Map Search & Filtering

The city map now includes:

• Search

• Filtering

Finding businesses, properties, activities, and important locations across Night City is now much easier.

Enter Your Properties

You can now individually enter every:

• Owned House

• Owned Hotel Room

Your properties are no longer simply locations on the map.

Jail Expansion

The Jail system previously supported a maximum of four prisoners.

With the expansion of Family activities and automated missions, more members of your crew can now potentially end up behind bars.

The Jail system now supports up to 9 prisoners.

Character Renaming

You can now rename your characters.

Give your Family Members the names you want and personalize your criminal organization even further.

Expanded Family Missions

Missions received from Families have been expanded and diversified.

The new Family, Spy, intelligence, capture, and economy systems will provide more varied situations and objectives during your conflicts with rival organizations.

City Destruction Improvements

Night City continues to become more interactive.

Many roadside objects can now be destroyed when hit at sufficient speed.

These include:

• Trees

• Traffic Lights

• Street Lights

• Mailboxes

• Various roadside objects

Hitting mailboxes can also send letters flying through the air, accompanied by new visual and sound effects.

So yes.

Driving badly is becoming slightly more entertaining.

Sound Improvements

Sound effects across the game have received additional improvements.

• Sound effect levels have been adjusted

• Several new sound effects have been added

• New environmental impact sounds have been added for destructible city objects

Dear Bosses, we’re always looking forward to hearing your feedback and suggestions.

You can also join our Discord community to reach us much faster and share your thoughts directly with the team.

See you in the next major update!