Build 25283675

What’s new: Studio Cheat Console v1

Open a terminal-style overlay during any run and type simple commands, like editing a tiny studio.cfg.

How to open it

• Press ` (backtick) while playing
   (ignored if you’re typing in a text box)

• Or: Settings (gear) → Saves & System → Advanced → Open Studio Console

What you can change

Identity (flavor only — no leaderboard impact)

• Studio name — studio Your Name Here

• Founder name — founder Alex Chen

• Studio tagline — tagline We ship dreams

• Current in-progress game title — game Neon Streets
   (uses your selected project, or the first active one)

Sandbox cash

• Set studio cash — cash 500000

• Quick chip: +100k adds $100,000 to your current balance

• Quick chips under the input also prefill Studio, Founder, Tagline, Game, and Set cash

Utility

• help — list commands

• status — snapshot of studio, founder, tagline, project, cash, cheat flag

• clear — clear the console log

• Esc — close the overlay

Leaderboards & sandbox runs

Using cash commands marks the run as sandbox. That run won’t submit scores to Steam leaderboards when it ends (you’ll see a notice when you use cash).

Renaming studio, founder, tagline, or game titles does not affect leaderboard eligibility.

Quick start

1. Start or load a run

2. Press `

3. Type status to see your current snapshot

4. Try studio PixelForge or click the +100k chip

Type help anytime for the full list.

Competitor Industry Fix

Overview

Independent rival studios were dying too fast, rarely getting replaced, and commissioned games could look stuck around 75% progress. This update makes the industry feel more alive and makes competitor projects easier to read.

Rival studios survive longer

• Studios no longer shut down the instant they go into the red. They get a short grace period (longer if you’ve commissioned a game from them).

• When a studio is in trouble, you’ll see a news warning before they close.

• Rival game releases earn a bit more money, giving studios more runway between games.

• AI rival-on-rival acquisitions happen less often, and acquired studios stay in the industry history instead of vanishing.

New studios enter the market

• If too many rivals close, the game now spawns replacements during play (not only on old save migration).

• Each year: if fewer than 5 full rival studios are active, new ones are added automatically.

• After a busy quarter: if 2+ rivals close in the same quarter, a new studio can enter the market with industry shake-up news.

Mid-game rivals start on equal footing

• New rival studios that appear mid-campaign now start with the same kind of resources as rivals at game start (cash, rent, and always a game in development).

• Previously, late spawns were much weaker and often had no project, so they died quickly.

Commissioned games are safer and more reliable

• If you commission a game from a rival, that studio is protected from some closure paths while the deal is active.

• Commissioned work gets priority: staff focus on your project, progress is a bit faster, and hiring to fill missing roles is more aggressive.

• If a commissioned studio still closes, you get the same salvage offer flow as before (finish the game at a cost).

Clearer project progress on rival profiles

Industry → select a rival studio → Projects

• Progress now shows release readiness (based on the slowest dev bar), not a misleading average.

• Hover a project for a breakdown: Code / Design / Art / Marketing %.

• Closed studios show “Development halted — studio closed” instead of a frozen progress number (fixes the “stuck at 75%” confusion).

Lifecycle & closure (behind the scenes)

• Rival lifecycle is less likely to force closure while a studio still has cash runway, recently released a hit, or is working on your commission.

• All closure paths (bankruptcy, lifecycle, AI acquisition) now consistently release staff and handle commissioned salvage where relevant.

Online Service era fix

Bug fix: rivals no longer get Online Services early

Hardware → Lineup

Online Services are meant to unlock for everyone in the HD era (2003+). Before this fix, rival consoles could still show and benefit from Online Services in early years (e.g. 1985) while yours stayed locked.

What’s fixed

• Rivals can’t launch or run Online Services before HD era

• Rival Online Service info is hidden on the Lineup screen until HD era

• Console compare no longer shows “Online Subs” before HD era

• Early-era demand boosts from rival online services no longer apply

• Existing saves are cleaned up on load if they had early-era online services

What you’ll see

• Before HD era: Your console shows “Online services become available in the HD era (2003+)” — rivals won’t show active services either

• From HD era onward: You and rivals can launch and compete with Online Services as intended

If you had an old save Reload the save after updating — migration runs automatically and removes invalid early-era online services.