24 Dec 2024Developer post

Happy Holidays, and Gifts From the Santa!

Dear Blockbuster Inc. Players! This Christmas, we wish you all the blockbuster moments: laughter, love, and memories that deserve a standing ovation. 🎥✨ Here's to more cinematic adventures and thriving studios in the new year! Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas! ✨🎥 Santa told u

09 Dec 2024Developer post

Patch 1.9.1D - Bugfixes on video editor + featured videos panel

Hi all! We've been working on few issues recently that you may have encountered. Check out the patch notes below and dive back in! added Featured Videos widget in main menu fixed a bug where scenes in video editor didn't play correct media on set's video screen fixed a bug where

27 Nov 2024Developer post

The Autumn Sale is here! 🍂

Hello, aspiring movie directors! We're thrilled to announce Blockbuster Inc.'s very first Autumn Sale ! 🍂 This is the perfect opportunity to grab the game at a great price and see all the exciting changes we've made so far. 📅 Sale's time frame: from the 27th of November to the

21 Nov 2024Developer post

Join #MyBBMovie activation and get featured in the game!

Have you ever thought about adapting your favorite movie in Blockbuster Inc. ? 🎬🍿🥤 Maybe you’ve already done it? It’s time to stop hiding your cinematic masterpiece in the corner and show it to the world! 💥 Let’s start the #MyBBMovie activation ! 💥 By posting your videos on

28 Oct 2024Developer post

Patch 1.9.0 - Update beyond human imagination!

With time, Blockbuster Inc. becomes a better game with a wider variety of mechanics and enhancements - designed to keep you satisfied and coming back for more. Today's major patch is the showcase of our recent hard work, and we hope it meets your expectations. We're still constan

With time, Blockbuster Inc. becomes a better game with a wider variety of mechanics and enhancements - designed to keep you satisfied and coming back for more. Today's major patch is the showcase of our recent hard work, and we hope it meets your expectations. We're still constantly working on the game, so even more things to come! Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Patch 1.9.0! 🎉

Especially for this occasion, we’ve prepared a video showcasing the changes over the past few months!
✔️ customizable backgrounds
✔️ up to 15 actors on scene
✔️ regency and superhero updates
✔️ subtitle system
✔️ new lightning options

Watch on YouTube

Let’s not forget that this week we’re celebrating Halloween! 🎃👻🍬 To mark the occasion, you’ll find a new Ghostkiller theme, costumes, and set designer objects in the game!

Apart from the cosmetic additions, a lot has changed in the game mechanics too! The full list of changes is below!

🎥 New Features & Improvements:

Facial Expression Controls: New sliders for facial expressions (happiness, anger, surprise) in the Animations tab within Direct Scene.

Lighting Control: A Lights tab in Direct Scene allows you to adjust environmental light color and intensity for better scene ambiance.

Copy Scene Properties: A “Copy to Other Scenes” button in Product Creation lets you transfer scene settings quickly to other scenes.

Employee Search Upgrade: A new “Find More Candidates” button in the Hire menu lets you pay to find more or higher-quality employees.

📅 Gameplay Adjustments:

Quarterly System: Each in-game day now represents a quarter instead of a month (Q1-Q4), with awards held every second year.

Added difficulty setting that can be chosen in the new game menu and can be changed anytime in Settings. Available levels: Sandbox, Easy, Normal, Hard. The differences of each level are shown in the difficulty selection menu

Trending Themes: Now, two themes trend each year, boosting product hype when used.

🎬 Rival Studios & Economy:

Rival Studio AI Improvements: Rivals now make smarter hiring, firing, and product release decisions.

Bankruptcy Mechanic: Rival studios can go bankrupt, pausing operations for a year before returning.

Shared Consumer Pool: A new, limited sales pool (starting at 1M in 1920) grows over time, creating competition for sales among studios.

There is now a fixed-size shared consumer pool, which means there is a limited amount of sales to be achieved per year and is shared among studios and products. If there are many products being released by many studios at the same time, the people will prefer the ones with the higher hype and quality, leading to reduced sales for the rest of the products. The consumer pool size starts at 1 million sales in 1920 and slowly increases, reaching the limit of 5 million in 2020

🧑‍💼 Employee Management:

Employees may now become stressed if overworked, and can issue resignation notices if unhappy for extended periods.

Employees will now give a resignation notice if they stay unhappy for longer than 3 days. During this time, you can offer them a raise using the Negotiate button to persuade them to stay. If you don't, or if they don't accept your raise offer, they will leave the studio and can't be hired again for one year

Firing employees with unpaid salaries may lead to union actions, requiring you to pay owed salaries.

You can now use the Negotiate menu anytime to offer a raise to your employees for a happiness bonus and to guarantee they won't quit for some time

Employees will now become unhappy if they feel that they are underpaid, in which case you can give them a raise to appease them

Employees now have higher salary expectations if they have high skills, long employment record, or worked on many products

If you fire employees that have unpaid salaries, you will need to pay the owed salaries before hiring them again

if you fire too many employees that have unpaid salaries, at some point when you will have enough money to pay them back, their Union will take legal action against you and demand that you pay all the salaries you owe

The Hire and Manage Employees windows now use pagination instead of scrollbar and have multiple sorting options

🎙️ New Options & Additions:

Radio Lines: Random radio lines play throughout the day (disable in Settings if needed).

Custom Sound Effects: Import custom sounds in the Video Editor for unique productions.

Bank Loan Payoff Option: Instantly repay bank loans.

The Studio Charts now show the number of employees and products of each studio as well as the studio status (active/bankrupt) and the number of bankruptcies so far

The tooltip of the happiness bar in Character Sheet now show positive/negative effects with green/red text respectively

A warning is now shown if you try to import the same custom-made character twice, but you can ignore the warning and proceed, which simply creates a clone

Extra scenes can now be added only in movies, not in TV shows. This is to prevent a complex bug that caused some scenes in TV shows to be deleted

Product sheet now lists all involved employees, not just actors

⚙️ Bug Fixes:

🟢studio shares now work properly and bring back a portion of the original studio's revenue every quarter. If that studio goes bankrupt, you lose the shares you bought from them. You can sell back the shares of other studios but you can no longer sell your own studio's shares, as this could often cause a disadvantage that was hard to recover from
🟢 filming tasks are now prioritized over education (e.g. previously actors wouldn't go film their scenes if they were in a classroom)
🟢 sorting options sometimes were not working correctly in all types of Charts
🟢 TV show episodes after 1st episode were showing incorrect number of fans and awards
🟢 the set prestige bar in the product score breakdown would always appear half-empty even if the set's prestige was maxed out
🟢 moving the camera downwards by moving the cursor to the viewport bottom was not working in Build Mode

Feel free to join our Discord!
Thank you for everything and have a great Halloween! 🦇

Original post

16 Sep 2024Developer post

Bugfixes on filming, stunts & maintenance workers

Hi all! In the past week we released 2 small patches for known issues: Patch 1.8.1d : fix actors sometimes getting stuck and not filming scenes, and fix maintenance workers sometimes not cleaning certain rooms. Patch 1.8.1e : fix "dummy" characters appearing over normal actors in

30 Aug 2024Developer post

Patch 1.8.1 - Select your own, custom set's screen background!

Hello Movie Creators!🎥 How are you enjoying your summer? ☀️ During August, our team took the time off to rest and gather even more power to bring you more and more cool updates, and we are totally back with a brand, new content! 🎉 We are pretty sure that the following update wi

Hello Movie Creators!🎥 How are you enjoying your summer? ☀️

During August, our team took the time off to rest and gather even more power to bring you more and more cool updates, and we are totally back with a brand, new content! 🎉

We are pretty sure that the following update will bring even more fun, as we decided to give you more freedom and the possibility to customize your set in your sole discretion. 👀

Let's introduce custom set's screen backgrounds! 🎬
Is there a better way to fulfill oneself as a film director than deciding how a particular scene will look?
Now it's possible with our new customization option. 💥
You are able to select one of many backgrounds that were previously prepared by us, but also... you can upload something of your choice!

👇 Here's a quick instruction on how to do it!

Build a Screen set
Assign it to the product scene in Product Creation
Open Direct Scene
Go to Screen Visuals tab
Choose a preset or custom photo/video to show (please note, that the photo format should be bmp/jpg/png, and mp4 when it comes to the video)

It isn't the only thing we are bringing to you with this update.
A new House Interior set is also waiting for you, along with new objects! 🏠
Here's a little sneak peek!

Check out the list of additional changes below, download the update and let us know how you like it!

🎁 What’s new?
🟡 new/updated hair and added facial hair in Character Creator
🟡 customizable controls in Settings
🟡 added controls in Camera Movement tab of Direct Scene for changing camera position and motion
🟡 duration of producer/writer work is increased and is proportional to product size

🔧 Bug fixes:
🟢 fix bug where some fire/fog/rain machines would not produce visible effects in the filmed scene
🟢 fix bug where actors would sometimes appear floating or sinking into the set floor while filming
🟢 fix bug where build mode could be toggled during Awards Ceremony by pressing Tab

If you have any questions or feedback join us on Discord!

Original post

30 Jul 2024PC Gamer

Make your own Deadpool & Wolverine movie with this surprisingly deep movie studio management sim

Deadpool & Wolverine is blowing up the box office, but you don't have to scurry off to the movie theater to enjoy it. You can make your own Deadpool & Wolverine movie in Blockbuster Inc , a movie studio management sim that just added some pretty recognizable superheroes—y

29 Jul 2024Developer post

Patch 1.8.0 - Meet the superheroes!

Get ready! We are leveling up with the ultimate power boost - Superheroes ! 🦸‍♂️✨ Dive into the action with the indestructible claw-man and the iconic samurai. 🗡️💪🏼👹 This dynamic duo is bringing their unique blend of claws, charisma, and chaos to your favorite game. We’re al

Get ready! We are leveling up with the ultimate power boost - Superheroes! 🦸‍♂️✨
Dive into the action with the indestructible claw-man and the iconic samurai. 🗡️💪🏼👹
This dynamic duo is bringing their unique blend of claws, charisma, and chaos to your favorite game.

Watch on YouTube

We’re also thrilled to make a little surprise for you - new movie sets are being added to Blockbuster Inc.! You might have seen glimpses of them in our trailers and promotional assets. Now, they’re available for all of you to use and bring your movie-making to the next level! 🎥
💥 We added the following themes: Super Hero 2, Blonde Doll, The Roof (including set designer themes, set designer objects, costumes!). 💥

Aaaaaand, remember about our last huge update - now you are able to place up to 15 actors in Direct Scene! 🎭 Don’t forget about this super big change while setting your own scenes! In Product Creation, on the other hand, you can select up to 12 supporting actors in addition to 1-3 starring ones. Isn’t it a change we’ve been all waiting for? 👀

Check out the list of additional changes below, download the update and let us know how you like it!

🎁 What’s new?
🟡reworked visuals of all 2010s set equipment ✨
🟡reworked visuals of all fire & fog machines 🔥
🟡steam achievements based on earned awards count are now given only when the day changes (previously were given as soon as the awards ceremony starts, which is a bit spoilery) 🏆
🟡added button in Set Info window to quick-upgrade all set equipment to best available options 🕹️
🟡allow placement of actors anywhere on the set floor in Set Designer and Direct Scene even if they clip into objects, to allow e.g. placing them inside jail cell 🎭

Look at the sneak peek here! 👀

🔧 Bug fixes:
🟢bug fix where the player was unable to replace VFX/SFX employee working on a film
🟢bug fix where the icon of a previously renting actor is displayed above the house
🟢bug fix where the player add a stunt scene and then add a normal scene afterward, the set from the previous stunt scene gets removed
🟢bug fix where adding extra normal scenes deletes stunt scene from the film
🟢bug fix where the player get achievement “experienced filmmaker” too early
🟢bug fix where sometimes movie reviews were not generated
🟢bug fix where actors have costumes in places where they shouldn't have them

We wish you a great start of the week 💚
If you have any questions or feedback join us on Discord!

Original post

16 Jul 2024Developer post

Patch 1.7.19: Smoking hot update!

Hello Movie Creators!🎥 We have an amazing, Steam(y) update for you! Nothing better on a hot and sunny day than checking our newest update! Steamy VFX that will put your movies on fire with hype! 🌞 Achievements to burn your checks and explore new challenges you didn't know exist

05 Jul 2024Developer post

Patch 1.7.18: new placeable windows, Research balancing, bugfixes

- new windows added in Build Mode -> indoors -> windows - fix TV show episodes after 1st episode showing as rank 0 - fix bug where double-clicking the Continue button in tutorial could skip a step and softlock the tutorial - employees will now always reach task locations (d

26 Jun 2024Developer post

Update 1.7.17.1 - Visually revamped doors, multiple fixes

improved visuals of room doors continue button in main menu now loads the most recently updated save (hover the mouse over it to show which file it is) optimized thumbnail generation for employees and filming sets, which should improve memory usage and reduce lag spikes fix bug w

20 Jun 2024Developer post

Update 1.7.16.1 - Regency update

Esteemed lords and ladies of the ton! 🎩💐 Surprise, surprise! Today we deliver our biggest update yet and with it a chance to find true love in the early 1800s London! Not to mention over a dozen fixes and a heap of additions and quality of life improvements. Quite a revelation!

Esteemed lords and ladies of the ton! 🎩💐

Surprise, surprise! Today we deliver our biggest update yet and with it a chance to find true love in the early 1800s London! Not to mention over a dozen fixes and a heap of additions and quality of life improvements. Quite a revelation!

To celebrate the season 3 finale of the beloved Bridgerton series we present the new in-game theme for the actors and movie sets: "Regency" 💖

So grab your mouse and start working on a new gossip-worthy TV or movie production that I am sure Lady Whistledown would approve!

This update is another labor of love fueled by the constant engagement of our most beloved and most supportive playerbase. Know that you are seen, you are loved, and we could not do it without you! 🫶

Also - just in case you missed it - we have previously dropped a few smaller updates that addressed some of your most pressing feedback and added more content to the game. Read about them here, here, and here.

Find the full changelog for the Regency Update below 👇️

Changelog for the 1.7.16.1 version:

- new theme "Regency", inspired by Bridgerton, including costumes, set designer objects, and build mode objects
- new visuals for all set equipment cameras/lights/mics of 1950-2000
- optimize thumbnail generation for Build Mode, Set Designer, Set Equipment, which should reduce lag spikes significantly
- add one default filming set per theme to always have available sets for any theme without having to make them in Set Designer
- progressively increased difficulty in achieving high movie score as decades progress
- add sound for notifications, togglable in Settings
- fix windowed mode not always working
- make not-yet-available research grayed out instead of hidden, so you can always see when the next research will arrive
- set default FPS limiter to 60 (configurable in Settings) to avoid GPU overheat
- fix Researchers always working even when they have to attend education
- fix room info & filming set info windows getting auto-closed every time you enter build mode
- fix some actor animations that were looping even though they shouldn't
- limit max fame level of available-for-hire employees to level 1
- research for medium & high quality food is now available from the beginning of the game
- the studio fences and gate get renovated after 1950 and after 1980
- the cinema next to the studio gets renovated after 1980
- company money is now limited to max 999 billion
- company fans, product fans and product ticket sales are now limited to max 999 million
- product hype is now limited to max 9999
- reduce fame increase rate by 50%
- fix filming set's camera resetting to cheapest camera when relocating
- fix overflow when calculating product revenue that caused the revenue to become negative
- fix room type icon not showing above a premade room when it is placed in build mode
- actors in Set Designer can now be placed anywhere even if they clip into objects
- added buttons for deleting files in the open/save file dialog in Set Designer and Import Character menus
- allow getting loans even if company money is below 0
- fix bug in TV show episodes after first episode that showed incorrect scene rating and prevented reshooting scenes
- fix VFX/SFX designer tasks in Product Creation (post-production tab) not being cleared when starting a new product
- fix employee type filter in Hire Employees menu getting reset when hiring an employee
- added decorated versions of premade rooms in Build Mode
- added subcategory buttons in Build Mode for premade rooms (simple/decorated) and filming sets (default/local/steam)
- added decade intro sequence shown when reaching new decade

We are waiting for your feedback on our Steam discussion forum and Discord server!

Original post

17 Jun 2024Developer post

Update 1.7.15 - new actor animations, various fixes

- 80+ new actor animations and stunts, available in Direct Scene menu - added search box in animations/costumes/stunts tabs in Direct Scene menu - show notification when SFX/VFX designers are not assigned to an office - fix bug where reshooting a scene in some tutorials would pre

14 Jun 2024Developer post

Developer statement on post-launch plans

Hello Movie Makers 🎥 Thank you for the valuable feedback you’ve provided those last few days. Rest assured, we are dedicated to improving your experience with Blockbuster Inc. by developing hotfixes approximately twice a week. Almost a week after the release and two hotfix patch

Hello Movie Makers 🎥

Thank you for the valuable feedback you’ve provided those last few days. Rest assured, we are dedicated to improving your experience with Blockbuster Inc. by developing hotfixes approximately twice a week.

Almost a week after the release and two hotfix patches later (and more already being tested), we would like to address the most common issues and important questions you have for us.

We understand that some of you are frustrated with some of the mid-game+ balance issues and the overall management aspect of the game that in the long run proved to be trickier than we had initially thought. While we managed to deliver the scope of the game that together with the publisher we had planned, we see that there are still things left to do before we can move on with our initial post-launch plans.

In hindsight, it seems clear now that we had underestimated the time we would need to balance all our game features and fix performance issues during the final sprint. Naturally, we remained optimistic about the release as we knew that many great content updates were planned for Blockbuster Inc. right after the launch, but it in retrospect it is very clear and reasonable that most people were skeptical about our commitment to improving the game post release and raising concern that if that was our initial intention we should have launched the game as Early Access.

Initially, we planned to show you our roadmap for upcoming months shortly after the release, but currently we are re-evaluating it to make sure all the changes and new features meet your expectations. We will get back to you soon, presenting all the content we wanted to add to the game further, but at the same time readjusting some things that may be considered lacking in the current gameplay.

While we put our heads together to come up with the next bigger update, please check out the latest patch 1.7.14 that launched yesterday, adding multiple new animations and costumes to the Direct Scene in the movie editor and several smaller improvements.

Fret not, we will continue to work on the game and answer your comments daily! ⚡️🦊

Thank you,
Ancient Forge & Super Sly Fox

Original post

11 Jun 2024Developer post

Update 1.7.14 - new animations/costumes, improvements & fixes

- multiple new actor animations & costumes in Direct Scene menus - added option to disable pausing the game when the window loses focus - added Shift + Right Mouse Button drag as an alternative way to rotate the view - added "open saves folder" button in save menu - disabled

07 Jun 2024Developer post

Update 1.7.13 - New achievement, bug report option, minor fixes

- fix bug where the filming set mics & lights didn't contribute to the product score - fix bug where actor animations on filming set were not playing upon loading a saved game - fix award ceremony sounds not respecting the master volume setting - add "supported the devs" achi

06 Jun 2024Developer post

3... 2... 1... Blockbuster Inc. Is Available Now!

3… 2… 1… Action! This is it! After many years full of passion and dedication, we made it to the release day! Standing here right at the precipe of launching our game, we want to thank each and every one of you for being with us since the first gameplay reveal. For trying out the

3… 2… 1… Action!

This is it! After many years full of passion and dedication, we made it to the release day!

Standing here right at the precipe of launching our game, we want to thank each and every one of you for being with us since the first gameplay reveal. For trying out the first demo, and then helping us tweak the game even further with the free prologue. For sharing all the feedback, all the positive comments and motivation to bring you the best possible experience.

Watch on YouTube

As a small team of three core members, we are fully aware of what comes next. The work is not done yet, we will be pushing and striving to fix all the issues you report, and to keep releasing new content that will allow you to create even better, more engaging movies!

''Years of dedication and passion poured into our project has finally led us to the release. We are beyond happy to share our efforts and project with our players but even more excited to see what the future brings for our company and the game itself. We will not stop adding content and improving things any time soon, Blockbuster Inc. still has untapped potential and with the help of our strong community we are more than ready to explore that. So grab your director's chairs, sit tightly and join us into this brand new adventure of the movie industry. We appreciate you all." - Panos Tzimas, Founder of Super Sly Fox

We keep a close eye on our Discord server and Steam forum. We read your feedback under influencers content and we closely investigate what journalists have written in their reviews. We are prepared for the days to come! And we couldn't be happier than now when you can finally play and share your precious feedback with us!

Some time ago, we were awarded multiple NYX Game Awards, and right now we are waiting for our metacritic score to unlock, with 3 reviews over 80%! But we are not going to slow down. Soon there will be a post-launch development roadmap released on our socials and here, and we will present our plans for upcoming months. First, we would like to include your initial feedback from the release and adjust this roadmap accordingly to your needs. So stay tuned!

More news is coming, and for now, we wish you a great time with the game. And don’t forget to write a review!

Now Go! Make Your Dream Movies!
Panos, Alkis, Kostas and Ancient Forge team

Original post

04 Jun 2024PC Gamer

I tried to recreate Marvel's Iron Man in this movie studio sim, and my version was so bad my own father stormed out of the theater

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but more importantly it's the path to boffo box office returns. I'm building and running my own movie studio in Blockbuster Inc , and with all of the film genres to choose from like romance, mystery, western, crime, and horror… I'm goi

17 May 2024Developer post

NPC creator and 7 new languages in Blockbuster Inc.

Hello, Camerons’ and Tarantinos’ of gaming!! We are getting closer and closer to the release, so it’s time to show you some new things! There is a brand new, cool video for you. Trust us. Watch it. Create your own Daya Zen in our new characters’ creator! With the new feature, you

Blockbuster Inc.

Updates & announcements

Happy Holidays, and Gifts From the Santa!

Patch 1.9.1D - Bugfixes on video editor + featured videos panel

The Autumn Sale is here! 🍂

Join #MyBBMovie activation and get featured in the game!

Patch 1.9.0 - Update beyond human imagination!

🎥 New Features & Improvements:

📅 Gameplay Adjustments:

🎬 Rival Studios & Economy:

🧑‍💼 Employee Management:

🎙️ New Options & Additions:

⚙️ Bug Fixes:

Bugfixes on filming, stunts & maintenance workers

Patch 1.8.1 - Select your own, custom set's screen background!

Hello Movie Creators!🎥 How are you enjoying your summer? ☀️

Make your own Deadpool & Wolverine movie with this surprisingly deep movie studio management sim

Patch 1.8.0 - Meet the superheroes!

Patch 1.7.19: Smoking hot update!

Hello Movie Creators!🎥 We have an amazing, Steam(y) update for you!

Patch 1.7.18: new placeable windows, Research balancing, bugfixes

Update 1.7.17.1 - Visually revamped doors, multiple fixes

Update 1.7.16.1 - Regency update

Update 1.7.15 - new actor animations, various fixes

Developer statement on post-launch plans

Update 1.7.14 - new animations/costumes, improvements & fixes

Update 1.7.13 - New achievement, bug report option, minor fixes

3... 2... 1... Blockbuster Inc. Is Available Now!

3… 2… 1… Action!

I tried to recreate Marvel's Iron Man in this movie studio sim, and my version was so bad my own father stormed out of the theater

NPC creator and 7 new languages in Blockbuster Inc.

Hello, Camerons’ and Tarantinos’ of gaming!!

Create your own Daya Zen in our new characters’ creator!

But that’s not the end of good news!

PLAYTESTERS NEEDED!