Research Story News

- Fixed an uncommon bug causing a crash when talking to Vallee the day after the Cherry Blossom Festival. For affected players, the bug should be resolved after you sleep to the following day.

Thank you for your report!
Miki

[h2]Hey Researchers![/h2]

The public beta is now available! Players who have the game can opt in to access the 1.0 update early, and help us in this last stretch before the official launch!

Side note for content creators: I’ll drop you an email about this with more details by the end of this week! To clarify - this is pretty close to the build I’ll be sharing with the you, but I’d like to take a few more days to check that everything is as smooth as possible, with the help of this beta~

[h3]Important Notes ❗️[/h3]

• Backups are highly recommended before you start on the beta version! The game will automatically create a backup of all saves when you launch it, but to be extra safe, please have a backup copy of your Research Story folder in case of any unforeseen circumstances. You don't need to do this if it's the first time you're launching the game:
  
  1. Open Run app (Windows + R key) and copy %LOCALAPPDATA%\ to the field. Press Ok.
     
  2. Find and copy+paste the ResearchStory folder to a safe location, such as your Desktop.
     
• Any saves that are started or saved in the public beta build will be incompatible with any earlier versions of the game (i.e. if you go back to the Early Access version, the save will become unstable).
  
• The saves will be compatible with future versions of the game (i.e. You’ll get to continue these saves in the official 1.0 launch and beyond).
  
• This build has gone through some internal testing, but since it’s the first time we’re sharing it with a wider audience, you may experience some new bugs / instability. Any and all reports would be very helpful and I’ll fix any major bugs as soon as possible!
  

[h3]Some things to expect in the public beta 🔍[/h3]

• The public beta includes the full 1.0 content.
  
• There will be bugs, and things I've missed - I plan to use the remaining two weeks before official launch to polish and fix as much as possible!
  
• Patches will be made often (likely daily to every few days, all the way up to release day).
  
• As of beta v14, Simplified Chinese (简体中文) has been added for 90%+ of texts.
  

[h3]Update Notes 📝[/h3]
There’s the 1.0 content, but also tons of smaller QOL and balancing changes as part of this update. Find the latest update notes/changelog (Spoiler warning!) here.

[h3]How to join the public beta[/h3]
1) Click "Library" in Steam.
2) Find Research Story. Right click -> Properties
3) Under Betas -> Beta Participation -> click the dropdown box and select public-beta. No access code is required.
4) In the same menu, go to Installed Files -> Verify integrity of game files to get the update immediately.


[h3]How to report Bugs/Issues with the public beta[/h3]
You can report them using the "Report a bug" button in the game's Main Menu, or you can reach me on Discord! I'll be creating a channel for the public beta specifically so we can have a consolidated place for feedback and reports where I'll check regularly.



Thank you! If you have any questions, let me know!
Miki

- [Optimisation] Fixed memory leak related to inventory descriptions (in an attempt to fix Win32 function failed: HRESULT: 0x80070057 etc. issues).

Thank you for reporting issues!
- Miki 🤍

- [Simplified Chinese] Fixed a crash that happens when creating a new save.

Thank you for your bug report and patience!
Miki

[h2]Hello Researchers![/h2]

[h2]Research Story 1.0 will be releasing on July 21, 2025![/h2]

View the annoucement trailer below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RwPrAlJjOE
[h2]Public Beta on July 7[/h2]
We're planning to make the 1.0 release update available in a public beta branch on July 7 for interested players, and use the final two weeks to catch and fix as many bugs as possible. Players who own the game will be able to opt in. More details will be shared when that happens!

[h2]Our Early Access journey[/h2]
Early Access launched on 21 Feb 2023, and it's been over 2 years since then. We've added so much to the game, much more than I first planned! Partly due to the expanded scope, development for Early Access took longer as well.

That said, with the story epilogue, marriage, and some end-game content as part of the 1.0 launch update, I believe Research Story is in a good place for full release and has plenty of content and fun for players to discover.



[h2]A BIG thank you to everyone![/h2]
I want to thank everyone for being part of our journey throughout Early Access! Research Story will not be what it is today without the community's love and amazing support.

Many of you have patiently shared your feedback, suggestions, and bug reports on the Steam forums, and more have shared them through the Google Forms linked in-game. Some of you made detailed guides and videos, and others kindly answered community questions. Reading your lovely and sometimes funny comments always put a smile to my face! 😊💚 Finally, seeing your awesome reviews for the game gives me so much encouragement that the game's on the right track.

I'm really happy that you enjoy Research Story, and I hope that you'll continue to enjoy the 1.0 update very soon! 💕

[h2]Into the future[/h2]
Right now, I'm focused on the preparations for 1.0, and admittedly have not planned (much) for what comes after that! What I can promise is that I'll continue supporting the game the best I can. You know me, I try to respond to all of your comments, feedback and bug reports as much as possible.

After the dust settles, I'll look into more community feedback and see how it goes from there. I'll likely start by working on upgrading my game build to fit the latest version of Gamemaker Studio (the game engine that I use) so that I can tap into more features (specifically, borderless fullscreen and audio input changes on runtime should be available after upgrading). I'll also look into whether I'm able to support Mac/Linux, as I know we have some players on those platforms. These may take weeks or more - it's hard to say. I'll do my best!

Talk soon! In the meantime, if you have any questions, feel free to ask them~
Miki 🤍