Saloon Simulator News

We want to thank you for your continuous support and involvement in the development of Saloon Simulator! Your feedback means the world to us – it’s thanks to your suggestions that we decided to focus the past few months on expanding two major systems: employees and progression (in our case, Reputation – which we’ll be showing you soon). Both are meant to make the game more engaging even after you finish the main story.

We try to release at least one small or medium-sized update each month, but we’d also love to stay in touch with you more frequently. That’s why we’re starting a new series of short posts that will appear between updates. In each one, I’ll introduce different members of our team, share what we’re currently working on, and give you a little look behind the scenes.

This first entry will be a bit different from future ones. The Steam Awards are just around the corner, and we’d like to kindly ask you to nominate Saloon Simulator for the Outstanding Story-Rich Game category.



From the very beginning, our goal was to create something that goes beyond the usual boundaries of simulator games. We’ve always believed that a good Wild West story doesn’t have to revolve around a sheriff or a gunslinger – sometimes adventure begins with sweeping the floor of a ruined saloon and pouring a few drinks. Many of you told us you were surprised by how much story depth and how many interesting characters you found in Blueberry – and we couldn’t be prouder of that.

A nomination in this category would help us reach more players who love narrative-driven Wild West adventures but might not usually give simulators a try. Your votes would mean a lot to us!



This week, we’ve sent our testers the biggest update since Early Access launched – the Worker Update. All the main features of this system are now complete; we’re currently polishing the UI and fixing the remaining bugs.

[h2]Artists
[/h2]We want customization to go beyond furniture – soon you’ll be able to dress your employees too! Our 3D artists are currently working on clothing items that you’ll be able to mix and match to create unique outfits for your staff.

[h3]Employee customization
[/h3]


Customization won’t be available in the upcoming patch yet. We’ll add it a bit later, as soon as our artists finish all the core models.


[h2]Programmers and designers
[/h2]It’s finally time to give you a small sneak peek at the feature our programmers and designers have been developing for over a month now:

[h3]Moonshining[/h3]

To earn extra money for paying off Mr. Locke’s tribute, you’ll be able to expand your business with a brand-new side activity. Even though Saloon Simulator takes place before Prohibition, large-scale moonshine production (especially when you’re not paying taxes) can be a rather profitable venture. We’ll reveal more details later, but we can already promise that this will be one of the most complex and exciting mechanics in the entire game.




That’s all we’ve got to share today! As soon as our testers give us the green light, the Worker Update will go live. Once again, thank you all for your incredible support and feedback. Please consider nominating Saloon Simulator in the Steam Awards – and stay tuned for more news soon!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m heading back to writing some dialogue lines for our employees… after all, what kind of worker wouldn’t stop for a chat every once in a while?

– Krzysztof “xardi” Marchewka, on behalf of the Glivi Games team

[h2]Dear players,
[/h2][p]We’re continuing our presentation of new employees!
This time, a new member joins your saloon crew – the cook. Once you open your saloon, she’ll appear in the kitchen and wait for your instructions.

[/p][h2]The Cook [/h2][p][/p][h2][/h2][h3]Before she starts cooking, the cook needs to agree on the menu with you. Meet her in the kitchen and talk to her by right-clicking.[/h3][p][/p][h2] [/h2][h3]From her recipe book, you can select up to three dishes – one from each category: sweet, salty, and spicy. In the cooking queue on the right side, you can decide how many times she should prepare a given dish again after the pot becomes empty.[/h3][h3]
[/h3][p]
The cook is the most interactive of all our employees so far.
We’re really curious to hear your feedback – let us know how it feels to run the saloon when the cook takes over your kitchen!

Both the cook and the bartender will appear in the gameright after you finish the main storyline.[/p][p][/p][h2]What’s next for the employee system? [/h2][p]The full employee system will include:[/p]

• [p]A total of 32 employees (8 for each role: cook, cleaner, bartender, and waiter). Each will have their own model, voice*, and short bio so you can get to know them a bit better.[/p]
• [p]A job board where you’ll be able to hire new staff members.[/p]
• [p]The ability to send them for training to improve their skills. [/p]
• [p]A flexible payment system that lets you decide whether and how to pay your employees (though unpaid workers won’t stay for long!). [/p]

[p]Most of these features are already in early testing – we’re working hard to bring them to the game step by step in upcoming updates. We’ve designed the employee system in a way that allows us to easily expand it with new features and mechanics over time, so this is far from everything we have planned.

*The next VO recording session for actors is planned for early 2026, so in the patch that introduces the full employee mechanic, the workers won’t have their voice lines recorded yet. [/p][p][/p][h2]New Furniture Set[/h2][p]As I mentioned last month, with every update we want to introduce a new furniture set to the game. Today we’d like to present the “Relic” set. We want there to be plenty of furniture options so that each of you can design your saloon to your liking. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]However, it’s hard to fully enjoy decorating when the process itself isn’t as smooth and satisfying as it could be. We’ve been thinking about revisiting the furnishing system at some point, and we’d love to hear what you think about it. Do you enjoy the current setup? What could we improve? Are there any games you think do customization really well that we could take inspiration from?[/p][h3]
Share your thoughts in the comments![/h3][p]
As always, we invite you to join our official Saloon Simulator Discord.
It’s the best place to stay up to date with the latest news, share feedback, and chat with the developers and other players.



See you in Blueberry (and on Discord)!
Krzysztof “xardi” Marchewka
on behalf of the Glivi Games team[/p]

[h2]Dear players,[/h2]

We’re excited to present another small patch that should make Freeplay more enjoyable after you complete the story. Originally, we planned to take a longer break from updates and focus on developing the entire employee system from the ground up—but the bartender addition already feels like a fun and impactful change, so we’ve decided to share it with you a bit earlier.

[h2]The Bartender Employee
[/h2]
In today’s patch, you’ll get a first look at our employee system in action: the bartender.
He’ll appear in town once you’ve finished the main storyline and will come help you serve your guests.

Please treat his current presence as a first preview of the employee system.
Right now, the bartender:

• Serves drinks
  
• Collects payments
  
• Keeps the bar counter clean
  
• Refills the ice bucket
  

However, we’re still working on the full hiring system. That means:

• You can’t upgrade his skills yet
  
• You can’t choose between multiple bartenders
  
• He won’t ask for a salary (very kind of him!)
  
• You can’t talk to him just yet
  

We’re actively developing these features and will add them step by step in future patches.



We’d love to hear your thoughts on how the bartender works.
We’re testing different systems for hiring and managing employees, and your feedback would be extremely valuable to us.

• How is it working alongside the bartender?
  
• How fast should he be?
  
• How often would you like him to show up in the saloon?
  

[h2]Selling Furniture
[/h2]
You can now sell furniture items in the game.
To get rid of an unwanted piece, open your Furniture Inventory (by default, press O), hover over the item tile, and click the new “Sell” button.



[h2]New Customization Items
[/h2]
We want every update—even the small ones—to include new customization items for your saloon.
Our artists keep coming up with fresh ideas, and each month we’ll be adding new furniture items you can buy from Earl, Addie, or Charlie.
Make sure to check out their latest stock!



As always, we invite you to join our official Saloon Simulator Discord!
It’s the best place to stay up to date with the game and get quick answers to your questions from both the team and the community.



Thank you so much for your continued interest and for sharing your thoughts on where Saloon Simulator should go next.
We want to grow this game in a direction you’ll truly enjoy.
Thanks for being with us — and see you in Blueberry (and on Discord)!

Krzysztof “xardi” Marchewka
on behalf of the Glivi Games team

⚠️ [h3]PSA: Lounge Furniture Bug[/h3]
We discovered a small issue in the patch that just went live:
You can now purchase Lounge Seats and Lounge Tables from Earl... but we accidentally added them a bit early. The option to actually unlock and place lounges in your saloon isn’t available yet—it’ll likely arrive in the next patch. Thanks for your patience!

[p][/p]
[p]Thank you for supporting us during Early Access! Your feedback and suggestions are invaluable to us, which is why we want to share our plans for the future. We have prepared a roadmap where you can see what we are currently working on and what new features and improvements are planned for upcoming updates.[/p]



Each chapter will bring at least two major updates – a mid-patch and a release patch – along with several smaller updates packed with bug fixes, quality-of-life improvements, and even early access to finished parts of upcoming game mechanics.[/p]
[p][/p]
[p]As for the later stages, Chapters 4 and 5 will be revealed after we collect your feedback from Chapter 3. The roadmap will then be updated to reflect the direction we’re heading together.[/p]
[p][/p]
[p]Today we’re also releasing our last update before a longer break. We’re at the final stage of designing the staff system, and soon we’ll start working on the programming part of implementing them into the game.[/p]
[p][/p]
[p]What’s new in today’s patch[/p]

• New furniture sets – This patch introduces several new furniture sets that our artists didn’t manage to finish before the EA launch. Our broader plan is to add plenty more furniture in future updates, so that on each tier you’ll have multiple design variants to choose from, not just one.
  
• Improved woodwork and base furniture textures – We’ve refreshed not only the floors, but also wooden walls, beams, stairs, and exterior elements. Overall, the saloon’s woodwork has gone through a full visual overhaul to look more natural and detailed.
  
• Bug fixes – We’re constantly improving the game, and your bug reports have been a huge help. This patch fixes several softlocks in quests and issues with NPC movement in certain tasks. We’ll continue keeping a close eye on any other issues that pop up after this release - and we’ll tackle them right away.
  

[p][/p]
[p]We’d also like to invite you to our new dedicated Saloon Simulator Discord server. Until now, our community has been split between two separate servers – ours (the dev team) and our publisher’s (RockGame). By bringing everyone together in one place, we’ll be able to stay in touch with you more easily, and you’ll also be able to get answers faster – especially if another player helps you out while it’s nighttime in our timezone.[/p]


[p][/p]
[p]Finally, we’d like to thank you for the warm reception of Saloon Simulator’s Early Access. Your feedback – whether it’s in reviews, forum discussions, or on Discord – is helping us make the game better every day. Knowing that our work resonates with you and that you want to be part of shaping the game is truly a dream come true for every game developer.[/p]
[p][/p]
[p]We’re excited to keep developing the game and bringing you even more Saloon content![/p]
[p][/p]
[p]See you in Blueberry (and also on Discord!) [/p]
[p][/p]
Best, Glivi Games team.

[h3]Dear players,[/h3]

We’re back with another hotfix packed with improvements, fixes, and some handy new options based on your feedback!

• Toggleable sprint option added – You can now choose whether sprinting requires you to hold the button or just tap it to switch between walking and running. You’ll find this setting in the gameplay options.
  
• Customer spawn rate is now adjustable – Some players found the saloon too busy, others thought it too quiet. You can now manually adjust the number of customers coming to your saloon in the options menu. This is a temporary solution while we work on a more advanced customer spawning system.
  
• Translation fixes – We’ve corrected some localization issues in various languages.
  
• Train performance optimized – You should notice smoother gameplay during train unloading sequences.
  
• Minor texture optimizations – A few small tweaks were made to improve overall performance.
  

The past few weeks have been focused mainly on bugfixing the current version of the game and planning our roadmap for the coming months. Once the planning phase is complete, we’ll share a full development roadmap with you, so you’ll know exactly what new features to expect - and in what order.

But we can already confirm one thing: the first major update will introduce employees!
Tell us in the comments or on our Discord - which staff member should we add first?
The cook, the waiter, the cleaner, or the bartender?

Thank you for your continued support and feedback!

~The Saloon Simulator Team