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Steam News24 January 20265mo ago

2026... The End of The Beginning

DEVELOPMENT UPDATES Hello! This is Joe, the Creative Director. We're up and running in 2026 and making this cult game. Steam post image Follower management techniques! Baseball bat optional but strongly encouraged.

In this update4

Full notes

Full JOIN US update

Read the full published notes in a cleaner layout. The original post stays linked below.

What changed

0 fixes1 addition9 changes0 removals
  • Gameplay
  • Balance
  • Events
  • Store
  • UI and audio
addedBIG STUFF WE'RE DOING:The last 2 weeks at the office have been all about adding TEACHINGS . Teachings are how you craft a customized cult ideology and shape your reality. Some new Teachings are:
changedBIG STUFF WE'RE DOING:Ghosts of dead Followers return at night. If you upgrade to Poltergeists they can use guns because the only thing scarier than a ghost is a ghost with an automatic rifle.
changedBIG STUFF WE'RE DOING:Spontaneous Human Combustion; people have a chance to burst into flames when damaged.
changedBIG STUFF WE'RE DOING:Staring directly at the sun will regen health - and mess up your vision.
changedBIG STUFF WE'RE DOING:The cult can worship weather events.
changedLITTLE STUFF WE'RE ALSO DOING:Car radios play in 3D so if your friend drives past you can hear their station - and radios are persistent so if a portable radio at the gas station is tuned to the same station as your car, it's the same song at the same point when you get out of the car.

JOIN US changes

addedThe last 2 weeks at the office have been all about adding TEACHINGS . Teachings are how you craft a customized cult ideology and shape your reality. Some new Teachings are:
changedGhosts of dead Followers return at night. If you upgrade to Poltergeists they can use guns because the only thing scarier than a ghost is a ghost with an automatic rifle.
changedSpontaneous Human Combustion; people have a chance to burst into flames when damaged.
changedStaring directly at the sun will regen health - and mess up your vision.
changedThe cult can worship weather events.

DEVELOPMENT UPDATES

Hello! This is Joe, the Creative Director. We're up and running in 2026 and making this cult game.

Steam post image Follower management techniques! Baseball bat optional but strongly encouraged.

BIG STUFF WE'RE DOING:

The last 2 weeks at the office have been all about adding TEACHINGS. Teachings are how you craft a customized cult ideology and shape your reality. Some new Teachings are:

  • UFO worship/visitations.

  • Ghosts of dead Followers return at night. If you upgrade to Poltergeists they can use guns because the only thing scarier than a ghost is a ghost with an automatic rifle.

  • Spontaneous Human Combustion; people have a chance to burst into flames when damaged.

  • Followers can carry seeds so that, over time, edible plants sprout where they die.

  • The cult can eat worms... or people. Your call.

  • Staring directly at the sun will regen health - and mess up your vision.

  • Possessed farm animals defend your honor in combat.

  • The cult can worship weather events.

And many more!

Steam post image If you believe hard enough, you can manifest UFOs.

Steam post image Ghost fight! Your dead Followers are back and they have unfinished business.

LITTLE STUFF WE'RE ALSO DOING:

Out team is having fun with the small details; individually they probably don't make much difference, but there's a cumulative effect that helps the world feel alive.

Some of our favorites...

  • Car radios play in 3D so if your friend drives past you can hear their station - and radios are persistent so if a portable radio at the gas station is tuned to the same station as your car, it's the same song at the same point when you get out of the car.

  • If 4 friends are riding together in a car in co-op, only the 2 players in front can change the radio.

  • Revolvers do not eject shells, because that's how revolvers work. BUT when you reload, we calculate the spent casings vs live rounds in the chamber, and the revolver dumps the correct amount of casings.

  • When you climb up on rooftops, civilians yell to get down.

  • Enemies can recognize when you're next to an explosive barrel and choose to shoot the barrel instead if they don't have a clear shot at you.

  • Parked cars have car alarms when you bump them, but not on older vehicles.

  • Thunder scares animals.

  • Burns will char character's skin, sometimes permanently.

  • The world gets wet when it rains.

  • Civilians spawn less at night so towns feel believably empty.

The list goes on.

Not every detail makes the cut. I was updating our custom weather system and thought it would be cool if the sound of thunder came at a realistic interval after the lightning to account for the speed of sound. Turns out it just looks stupid and ruins the moment. Not everything needs to be immersive all the time.

Steam post image Testing out our weather system and "wet-look" environments. Also driving a cool car.

GENERAL CULT BUSINESS

Thank you for all the support and wishlists! It makes a BIG difference for the game. Having player support means we can spend less time begging people to check out our game and more time making it good.

Anyway, more to come!

From our cult to yours, looking forward to spreading the word of The Leader in 2026.

Source

Steam News / 24 January 2026

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