The Neowsletter - September 2025
Hi everyone, it's time for the September Neowsletter. This one comes with a pretty big update right off the top, so let's dive right into it.
[h3]Early Access Timeline Update[/h3]
After a lot of internal discussion, we've made the call to move Slay the Spire 2's Early Access launch to a secret Thursday in March 2026.
We know this isn't the news anyone wanted to hear (ourselves included, we're dying to get this into your hands!) Originally, we were shooting for late 2025, but turns out we were wrong. We need some more time.
There's no single dramatic reason. Some personal life stuff hit the team (everyone's okay!), we kept saying "wouldn't it be cool if..." one too many times, and honestly, the game just needs more polish to meet our standards.
All that said, we know you still have questions, so Demi, our community manager, has put together a pre-emptive FAQ to help answer some of them.
[h3]Will-Probably-Be-Asked Questions:[/h3]
Is the real reason for the delay the timing of the Silksong release?
We got together as a team to determine our new release window before Silksong’s date was announced. The timing just worked out like that, but on the bright side, everyone can keep busy playing Silksong during the wait!
Is the real reason for the delay that you’ve been spending your time on making merch/community events/etc?
Our merch is made by 3rd party partners and our community manager is the primary liaison on our team for collabs like that. No game development was harmed in the making of those plushies! Likewise, anything community-focused that we create, participate in, or promote is generally handled by the CM and doesn’t cut into any game development time.
So is it because you’re adding in a bunch of new features and content?
Yes, in part. Because you know what does cut into game development time? Game development! Compared to Slay the Spire 1's early access launch (and for that matter it's final 2.0 form) this new sequel has a lot more content that we can't wait to share with you. In addition, we want to make sure we're upholding the quality bar that both we and the gaming community have come to expect for Early Access titles.
So what’s so different from StS1?
In case you haven’t been keeping up with our trailers and Neowsletters–quite a lot. There are new characters, more cards/potions/relics/events/etc, more visual polish, more animation and VFX, quality of life changes, entirely new mechanics, and still a whole lot more we can’t tell you about just yet. Although, if you read on to the next section you'll learn about a pretty big one...
When was the game originally planned to launch?
2025! Ok, but in all seriousness, we were initially aiming for a Fall 2025 release window. For now, we’ll just have to savor these moments of anticipation a little longer.
Will this be anything like other games that get repeatedly delayed with no explanation?
No, for one thing, you should never expect radio silence from us. That’s why we’re here talking to you now. And, as opposed to a general release year, we have an actual specific date that we’re aiming for internally and are confident we can hit this time. As you've already heard, it’s releasing on a Thursday, but the exact date will be revealed closer to launch.
So, do you regret the “Still coming in 2025” gag at the end of the TGA trailer?
Demi, the CM, who is writing this, pushed for that one so she can take the fall for it. In her defense, it was pretty funny at the time.
[h3]Alternate Acts[/h3]
As a treat, this month's content teaser is a pretty big one: alternate acts.
Once unlocked, upon entering a new act in Slay the Spire 2, you will be randomly greeted with one of two possible acts. These acts differ radically in their environments, enemies, events, and bosses, all of which greatly increase the variety of gameplay between runs.
For instance, Act 1a is Overgrowth, a lush, tangled ruin with much of its fauna resembling mystical woodland creatures and sentient flora that might just eat you alive. This is the act you've primarily been seeing in our teasers and trailers, though there's still plenty left to uncover here.
Act 1b is known as the Underdocks, a miry waterway connected to the Spire's sewer system, from which all manner of mutant sea creatures and vagrants might emerge. We've only just begun to tease the trove of content that lurks within these murky depths.
As the mathematically-inclined among you have probably realized, that means there will be double the amount of content in this new act structure. We won't be launching with all of the alternate acts right away, but Acts 2b and 3b will come later down the road in Early Access updates.
The capabilities of these different enemies, the opportunities these events offer, and how they all might impact your strategy as you ascend the Spire will be seen in time.
[h3]A Whole New Wiki[/h3]
For those who haven't heard: the new community-run Slay the Spire wiki is now live on wiki.gg!!
It's still a work in progress, so if you'd like to contribute and help make it a fully comprehensive one-stop-shop for Slay the Spire info, visit this page to learn how. Also, the wiki channel on our Discord is always there for wiki-related discussions/questions!
The old wiki hosted on Fandom is still live, especially during this transitional phase, but the wiki.gg one exists as an alternative for those who were looking for one and is the one that will be maintained going forward.
Thank you to the organizers and thank you in advance to all of those who contribute!
[h3]Spire Spotting[/h3]
Though the Spire is still being prepared for your arrival, there are always some more Spire species to spot in the meantime!
First let's take a look at last month's mystery monster silhouette:
Now let's examine our community's hypothetical renderings of said monster...
The award for grossest guess goes to Snubobo, which might be the hardest award to achieve honestly!
The award for most abstract goes to Vanessa and (9 year old!) Lucas, who physically illustrated their guesses instead of digitally!
And the award for most accurate goes to NewGuyJack–it’s even animated and everything?!
As always, we got many Spire Spotting submissions, so here are some other great guesses we got!
Credit from left to right: Brave, tenacious_unicorn_94746, Cyb3rm00k, Emma, ssorgatem, karmamitch, pasq, Panez, Alcapwne101, koiking213, BlakeDrake, Nevve1776, Purcy, bomo73, duckgoquack
So what does this creature really look like?
It's a terrifying eel-like creature covered in wiggly little eyeballs… wait, it’s that inhabitant of the recently revealed Underdocks! We'll call it the Terror Eel for now. But I have a strange feeling that our work has just begun...
Just as I thought, another shadowy monster has emerged! If you have any clues as to what this creature could be, be sure to submit them via [email protected] or in our Discord's fanart channel!
[h3]Connections Section[/h3]
And for you Slay the Spire Connections lovers out there, don’t think we forgot about you!
[h3]Community Corner[/h3]
Thank you to Qmint for this month's gorgeous cover image, and thank you, as always, to all of the other incredible submissions as well!
Credit from left to right: Alcalmy, clover, Cyb3rm00k, Suspa
Next month's theme is: Neow-loween! (That's Neow, but Halloween.) If you'd like to submit your art for consideration, reminder that it must be submitted to us via [email protected] or in our Discord's fanart channel, have dimensions of 800x450px, feature no text, and leave room for a title!
Now to highlight some work from our wonderful, steadfast community...
This stunning pixel Ironclad art by D.M.!
Inscryption-style cards of StS1’s heroes by JustOzzy!
A beautiful illustration of Ironclad by Linke!
Thanks so much for tuning into this month's Neowsletter! We'll have lots of dev updates and content teases in the coming issues as we get closer to Slay the Spire 2's launch. See you next month!
