Hey everyone,
Early Access Update 7 is out, and this one’s all about your brand on the world stage, not just in charts, but in stores, expo halls, and print on the coffee table.
What’s new
Regional flagship stores
Open a flagship in North America, Europe, or Asia from the Merchandise tab. Each location boosts your merchandise footprint and comes with weekly running costs, so it’s a real business decision, not a sticker. This is the first slice of the flagship retail roadmap; we’re planning more depth (layouts, events, staff, a proper storefront fantasy) in future updates.
Industry Expo; full planning wizard
Planning your Expo year is now a stepped wizard in the same spirit as New Project and Hardware Design. Pick your booth, marketing presence, what to showcase, and extras, then review before you commit. Your current plan stays visible on the Expo tab so you’re never guessing what you booked. Host cities rotate with real flag art for a bit of international flavour.
Publishing; creation wizard + snappier feel
Creating a publication is no longer a single cramped modal. You get a guided flow, placeholder art per type, and tuning so finishing a book or guide doesn’t default to taking longer than shipping a game. We’ll keep tuning pace based on how it feels in your runs.
Official console magazine
Your platform can have an ongoing official magazine: readership, issues on a cadence, costs, and history , anchored to your console. Launch it from Publishing, watch it run in the sim, and suspend it when the spreadsheets say no.
Concepts & Ideas; Kanban board
Brainstorm ideas on a board: move cards from Ideas → Refining → Ready → Greenlit, then open the full New Project wizard with title and context carried over, or quick-start when you’re in a hurry.
Again, we plan to update these further as we go!
Polish you’ll feel
New news ticker at bottom of screen that looks and reads better (pauses on hover).
Fixed a bug on hardware R&D Tech Tree: the Start Research button stays put at the bottom of the panel... no more hunting for it
What’s next
We’re not done with flagship retail or publishing, EA7 delivers the core loops; store design, events, staff, and deeper retail fantasy are on the roadmap. We’ll also keep balancing publication timelines with your feedback.
Thank you for the reports, screenshots, and patience, especially on the Tech Tree and wizard UX. Drop your builds, stories, and rough edges in the threads; we read them.
See you in the next update, same brutal industry, bigger stage.
— The ConsoleMe team