Hello everyone,
Over the past few weeks, we've seen more and more of you asking the same question: "When is the new map coming?"
Seeing that excitement around the next map honestly means a lot to us. It's a great sign that so many of you are looking forward to what's next, and we'd first like to thank everyone who continues to play Species: Unknown, share feedback, report bugs, and support the game throughout Early Access.
Today we'd like to share an updated roadmap, explain what has changed, and give you a small preview of what's waiting ahead in the end of this post.
The new playable map is now planned for October 2026
When we first shared our roadmap almost a year ago, our goal was to release the new playable map during Summer 2026. As development progressed, it is now clear that we need a few more weeks to reach the level of quality we expect before putting it into your hands.
The release is now planned for October 2026.
We know that delays are never exciting to announce, but we strongly believe they're preferable to shipping something before it's ready. Early Access gives us the opportunity to build the game the right way, and we'd rather take a little more time than compromise on the experience. As an indie studio, we don't answer to a publisher's release schedule, we answer to the quality bar we set for ourselves and the players.
[Devlog] Building a new map takes time
Creating a completely new map is by far the biggest content update we've worked on since launching Early Access. Unlike many other features, building a new environment isn't something that can easily be accelerated.
Our team is small, and each person has a specific role. Many tasks depend on the completion of previous ones, meaning a lot of the work simply can't happen in parallel.
On top of that, one of the hardest parts of game development is something that's impossible to estimate precisely: finding the fun. You know it, this is the thing that often requires multiple iterations before it feels right.
The date we originally expected to release the map is now much closer to the point where we'll begin extensive internal playtesting. Those tests will help us polish the experience before sharing it with all of you. (And yes... summer holidays are part of development too, as an independent studio, every member of the team has a direct impact on production. Taking time off is important, and it naturally affects the pace of development during the summer months.)
Although the new map represents our biggest ongoing task, it isn't the only thing we're working on. We also have a duty to fix bugs, improve quality of life, and add new features. This is why we'll continue releasing regular updates before the next major content drop.
About console versions
Many of you have also been asking about console releases. This is one of the most read question when we are lurking in community content on YouTube, Twitch or social medias. Our objective remains the same: we'd love to bring Species: Unknown to consoles for Version 1.0.
Preparing for that work is already part of our long-term planning, but there are still many factors involved, including platform certification and discussions with console partners.
We'll share more information as soon as we're confident we can do so.
A first look at what's coming
We didn't want to leave you without showing anything. Here's a small glimpse of one area from the upcoming map.
We're looking forward to sharing much more over the coming weeks.
Thank you
Species: Unknown exists today thanks to all of you, every bug report, suggestion, Steam review, Discord discussion, and gameplay session helps us shape the game into something better.
Being an independent, self-funded studio gives us complete freedom in how we build Species: Unknown. It also means every decision has to fit both our ambitions and our production capacity. Since day one, we've tried to be transparent with you about that reality. We'd rather adjust a roadmap than release something that doesn't meet the level of quality we believe the game deserves.
Over the past months, the game has continued to grow beyond our expectations, reaching more than 500,000 players and maintaining a 94% user rating. We're incredibly grateful to everyone who has joined us during Early Access and helped shape the game through their feedback.
As always, we'll continue building the game step by step, listening carefully to your feedback, and doing our best to deliver updates we're proud of. Thank you for your patience, your enthusiasm, and for being part of this adventure with us. We'd also like to give a special thank you to our Ambassadors (volonteer moderators) and Specialists on Discord. Every day, they help welcome new players, answer questions, moderate discussions, report issues, and contribute to making the community a friendly and helpful place for everyone. Wow, this is huge!
Players, see you soon for the next update.