Slay the Spire 2 Will Space Out Beta Updates for Bigger Additions
Mega Crit said new beta content is at least a month away, with an alternate Act 2 and a new character among the team's active projects.
Slay the Spire 2 will move to a slower beta update pace as the team spends more time on larger additions. In its August 2026 Neowsletter, Mega Crit said new content will take at least another month to reach the beta branch.
The team will also take its annual break in late August, meaning there will be no patch on August 27, 2026. Mega Crit said the time away will give its mostly remote staff a chance to meet in person before returning to development.
New character and alternate Act 2 are now in development
Mega Crit’s regular beta updates have already delivered a sizeable portion of the project’s earlier plans. Steam Workshop support, the initial framework for The Bestiary, the Badge/Score system, Traditional Chinese and Indonesian localization, and many new cards and relics have all been added.
The team is now working on experimental game modes, an alternate Act 2, and a new character. Updates will be spaced farther apart for a while so the developers can spend more time on those larger pieces of content. Mega Crit has not promised an exact schedule or a perfectly regular pace, but it plans to continue sharing progress through future Neowsletters.
Q&A answers cover difficulty, enchantments, and controls
Ascension 10 is currently close to the highest difficulty Mega Crit expects to include. Casey explained that pushing toward an Ascension 20-style grind would be a chore with more playable characters in the sequel, although the team’s approach to high-level difficulty may become clearer as more content arrives.
Players should not expect enchantment stacking. The team likes the system but believes combining effects such as the damage bonuses from Self Help Book and Gnarled Hammer could let one card grow too powerful. The goal is to keep the focus on deckbuilding rather than cardbuilding.
The Q&A also delivered a quick answer for Necrobinder players: if an enemy is attacking for five damage, Osty would rather see Defend played than Bodyguard. More input and control options are in development, while touchscreen support will likely arrive as part of the work on mobile ports.
Other answers were just as direct. A request to give Defect a gun received a simple “no,” while outfits and recolors for multiplayer characters were described as useful ideas without a timeline. Steam Achievements are planned for the game’s v1.0 release.
Cat Food Cup returns for its seventh tournament
The August issue also highlighted the seventh Cat Food Cup, a tournament held by the Chinese Slay the Spire community and hosted by IrisRaphael. The event is scheduled to run from August 8 through August 30, 2026, with the main bracket preparing to enter its Top 16 when the newsletter was published.
The tournament keeps the core rules passed down from the original game. Each player gets two save-load chances, then two competitors tackle the same seed. Whoever climbs farther and faster wins. The Cat Food Cup schedule and competition rules are available alongside the event’s bilibili matches, which also feature guest streamers.
New map art and community creations fill out the issue
The newsletter included several pieces of in-game artwork from the community. A full-body Necrobinder portrait came from 櫻ヨル, while grymm submitted a propeller-hatted Silent carrying a large lollipop. tr1ke contributed two abstract drawings of the Regent.
A new Connections puzzle was included as well, giving players another small challenge between runs through the Spire. The community Connections puzzle is available to play in a browser.
林林 provided the cover artwork for the issue, with Aster named as the close runner-up. The next community theme is September in the Spire, and submissions are due by Thursday, September 10, 2026. Entries must measure 800×450 pixels, contain no text, and leave space for a title. Artists can send work to Mega Crit’s fanmail address.
The remaining community highlights included an illustration by Hieumay showing the Slayers together, a Silent scene by Elliades featuring Phrog Parasite tendrils, and pixel art cards from frost-geist. With bigger game features now taking priority, the next issue may have more than a few new surprises to share. Tell us what you think in the comments, and follow us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, Telegram.
Slay the Spire II
Developed by Mega Crit Games
