Slay the Spire 2 developer Mega Crit has published a detailed roadmap for Slay the Spire 2 without promising any release dates because it doesn’t want to make “Sloppy Spire 2.”
Studio co-founder Casey Yano outlined a host of new Early Access updates the team has planned for the popular deckbuilder roguelike in the latest installment of its The Neowsletter. The message comes with 17 bullet points featuring additions Mega Crit hopes to add on its path to a 1.0 launch, including everything from support for more languages and bug fixes to a new character and alternate versions of Acts 2 and 3.
It’s an ambitious list with a candid catch: The studio doesn’t want to share a release date for anything yet. Players who returned to the Spire when Slay the Spire 2 launched into Early Access March 5 might be disappointed to see the lack of even the smallest release window, but Mega Crit wants fans to know it’s only keeping its cards close to its chest because revealing too much too soon is “not what works for us.”
“Mega Crit is a small team where each member understands their responsibilities, knows everyone else, and I try my best to ensure that we work at a healthy pace,” Yano said.
“We evaluate our tasks each week and work on what feels most impactful. It’s not the most organized method, but this allows spontaneous experimentation like the dialogues you have with the Ancients or the existence of a Room Full of Cheese.”
Yano added that Mega Crit wants to avoid “massively” expanding the studio just to reach a 1.0 launch for Slay the Spire 2. On why the studio wants to avoid pushing the team to meet public deadlines, Yano said the goal is to avoid “uninspired work,” adding, “I don’t want Sloppy Spire 2, I want Slay the Spire 2.”
Mega Crit’s transparency came after a sudden wave of review-bombing related to new balance changes added with last week’s update. The campaign involved a spike in “thumbs-down” posts from Steam users, resulting in a drop from “Mostly Positive” to “Mixed” recent reviews. In a patch notes post that preceded the update, Mega Crit warned that not all of its changes are “set in stone.”
In the Early Access category of the Slay the Spire 2 Steam page, the developer says it expects to reach 1.0 in a one-to-two-year range. The same section comes with a caution for buyers, saying that the pre-launch version of the experience allows the team to test features and designs so that they can “make sure the game is headed in the right direction.”
“While we don’t have firm timelines, beta patches release at a much more frequent cadence than main branch patches,” Yano added in The Neowsletter message. “If you haven’t heard, the beta branch is an optional version of the game intended for testing experimental changes that are tweaked until we feel they are stable enough for the main branch. If you’re eager to try out and provide feedback on content before it’s officially live, check out the instructions for switching branches outlined here.”
