Slay the Spire 2 Beta Update Targets November 12 With New Content Tease

Slay the Spire 2 is gearing up for a substantial beta update, with Mega Crit targeting Thursday, November 12 for its release. The studio is keeping the new content under wraps, but its October Neowsletter offers a first look at a creature tied to another part of the Spire and updates players on co-op, custom runs and returning art.

The update is planned to arrive first on the experimental beta branch. Mega Crit says it waited until the end of September to share details because it wanted firmer information about what would be ready. Even now, it’s holding back specifics: the studio says the new content will have more impact if players know less in advance. Its clearest promise is that the patch will include several large additions it has hinted at in earlier Neowsletters.

That suggests a bigger change to the game’s available runs may be taking shape. In August, Mega Crit said it was exploring experimental game modes, an alternate Act Two and a new character. The studio hasn’t confirmed which of those projects will be included in November’s update, so players should treat them as work in progress rather than a final feature list. The alternate Act Two has already received a small preview, though, and the latest creature tease adds another clue about what that branch of the game might hold.

These additions take more than new art or encounters. Mega Crit says each needs design, user experience work, animation, balancing and other development before it’s ready for the experimental branch. The team began focusing on the larger additions in earnest in August, after first bringing the core game to a point it was happy with. In a post on X, the studio said the patch would be proportional to the wait.

Players on the main branch will still receive an update. Mega Crit says it plans to bring that version up to date with the content, balance changes and fixes already available in the current, relatively stable beta, version 0.111.0. The experimental additions will stay beta-exclusive at first, giving the team room to develop and tune them before they reach the main version.

Co-op and custom runs are still taking shape

Studio co-founder Casey Yano says the response to co-op has been “really positive,” and Mega Crit wants to give the mode more staying power. That doesn’t mean players should expect to pool gold or other resources. Yano argues that letting the group funnel resources to one player could make it too easy for that character to snowball, which would weaken the challenge the mode is meant to preserve.

Custom runs are also on the team’s wish list, though Yano expects that work to come closer to the game’s 1.0 launch. He wants players to have more ways to explore the game’s less obvious possibilities, but controller support and minimum text size requirements make the feature harder to build. His expectation is that desktop players and mod users will have the most flexibility.

Anthony Giovannetti, Mega Crit’s other co-founder, added that the team plans to include a way to revisit older beta artwork for cards and the Timeline. That would give players a route back to earlier visual versions as the game changes through development, while keeping those images accessible alongside the newer art.

A creature from a shadowy part of the Spire

The Neowsletter also reveals the creature Mega Crit asked players to guess the design of last month. The studio describes it as living in another area of the Spire that remains “shrouded in darkness,” pointing toward a location that hasn’t been fully shown. Its look supports the idea that the alternate Act Two will take players into unfamiliar territory, though Mega Crit hasn’t laid out the creature’s role or how it fits into a run.

Players offered plenty of ideas, but Mega Crit’s reveal shows the design the team chose. The studio jokes that nobody could possibly fight such a thing and suggests it may have wandered from the “Underdocks.” It hasn’t given the creature a name, saying it would rather not get attached. That playful tease leaves the encounter itself a mystery, but gives the upcoming act a distinct, aquatic presence.

The next beta update is currently planned for Thursday, November 12. To try it when it arrives, players can select the preview branch through the game’s properties in the Steam Library, under “game versions and betas.” Mega Crit advises backing up save data before switching branches. With major additions still under wraps, the November build should offer the first substantial look at how the alternate content is developing.

Mega Crit’s September Neowsletter covered the studio’s annual break, while its earlier Slay the Spire 2 coverage follows the game’s ongoing development. The studio’s August update discussed the projects now being explored, including a new character and alternate Act Two. Players can also see the community creature suggestions that preceded the reveal.