Steam News7 August 20261d ago

EARLY ACCESS EXIT PLAN

Dear Employees, True corporate agility isn’t about avoiding the iceberg - it’s about monetizing the collision.

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Full Stick It to the Stickman update

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changedDear Employees,True corporate agility isn’t about avoiding the iceberg - it’s about monetizing the collision. Here at Free Lives, we pride ourselves on navigating chaotic industry trends with a profound refusal to acknowledge burnout and zero emotional attachment to our original commitments.

changedDear Employees,The math is simple: The game has sold very well, but it has taken a toll, both financially and emotionally. The team changed from 8 developers to 4 developers, who have been trying to finish this game since 2021 (to the point where Evan woke up last week in a cold sweat trying to slide-dash away from his own ceiling fan). And so attempting to build every single mode means staying in Early Access until the sun explodes. Against traditional business practices, we are choosing the mental health of our workers and releasing 1.0 earlier than planned which was later than previously planned.

Stick It to the Stickman changes

changedTrue corporate agility isn’t about avoiding the iceberg - it’s about monetizing the collision. Here at Free Lives, we pride ourselves on navigating chaotic industry trends with a profound refusal to acknowledge burnout and zero emotional attachment to our original commitments.

changedThe math is simple: The game has sold very well, but it has taken a toll, both financially and emotionally. The team changed from 8 developers to 4 developers, who have been trying to finish this game since 2021 (to the point where Evan woke up last week in a cold sweat trying to slide-dash away from his own ceiling fan). And so attempting to build every single mode means staying in Early Access until the sun explodes. Against traditional business practices, we are choosing the mental health of our workers and releasing 1.0 earlier than planned which was later than previously planned.

Dear Employees,

True corporate agility isn’t about avoiding the iceberg - it’s about monetizing the collision. Here at Free Lives, we pride ourselves on navigating chaotic industry trends with a profound refusal to acknowledge burnout and zero emotional attachment to our original commitments.

We are full-steam ahead on bringing Stick It To The Stickman out of Early Access. 1.0 is officially on the horizon!

We’ve locked in on the flagship modes you’re most excited for and we’re excited to announce the following is also coming:

Neurolink: The highly anticipated fan-favorite is coming to 1.0!

A Grand Final Mode: Designed specifically to round out the Stickman story with the absolutely absurd finale it deserves.

In a move that management is calling an “unprecedented operational triumph,” we will be finishing the game at twice the speed by simply not developing part of it.

The math is simple: The game has sold very well, but it has taken a toll, both financially and emotionally. The team changed from 8 developers to 4 developers, who have been trying to finish this game since 2021 (to the point where Evan woke up last week in a cold sweat trying to slide-dash away from his own ceiling fan). And so attempting to build every single mode means staying in Early Access until the sun explodes. Against traditional business practices, we are choosing the mental health of our workers and releasing 1.0 earlier than planned which was later than previously planned.

So, we prioritised keeping the modes that our community was most excited about, and ending development of other unfinished modes like ‘Rise of the Machines’ and ‘Marketing Department’.

We are genuinely hyped to bring this project across the finish line - partly out of pride, but mostly for the wonderful Stickman community that has been so helpful in this journey.

Keep your eyes peeled for 1.0 announcements. For now, return to your desks!

The Stickman Team

Source

Steam News / 7 August 2026

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