StrongGirls FMG Visual Novel - Monday Devblog Sep 7th 2026!
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Light week on my end and I said as much last time. I'm in Italy since the 2nd, taking the week off I told you about after a summer of running at 200%. Still, there's one genuinely big piece of news in here, so let's get to it.
StrongGirls Tactics STEAM is moving to Q1 2027
The full Steam release of Tactics is now targeting Q1 2027 rather than the end of this year. I want to explain this properly rather than just drop a new date on you, because the reasoning is actually good news for the game.
Steam runs an event called Next Fest. It's a festival for unreleased games, and it's the single biggest visibility opportunity a small developer gets on that platform. Here's the catch: every game gets exactly one Next Fest, ever, and you have to be unreleased to enter.
The October edition closed for registration before I could realistically be ready. The next one runs in February 2027. If I released Tactics in Q4 this year I would be permanently ineligible, and the game would launch to essentially no visibility at all beyond the people already reading this post. The whole idea with Steam is to get the game to new audiences.
So: February Next Fest, then release in Q1 or Q2 2027. It costs a few months and it's worth every one of them.
What that means for you: Regular Tactics updates ALONG the Visual Novel + side story content
Here's the part I'm actually pleased about. Since the Steam release for tactics isn't the finish line anymore, I'm going to keep updating the playable version continuously. With regular patches same as the Visual novel cadence you're used to.
So nobody is waiting until 2027 to play anything. You get the game now and it grows every month between now and release. The itch version updates right along with it. You get to play and help shape it. The full game will eventually be both on Itch and Steam.
Patch and Mac build shipped last Tuesday!
Last Tuesday the Tactics patch went up, and the Mac version finally landed after an absurd amount of work. As I mentioned before, Tactics isn't a Ren'Py game: the entire engine is written from scratch in Python, so there's no convenient "build for Mac" button. I stayed up to get it out before my flight to Italy and got the patch uploaded with a few hours spare to sleep before going.
Tomorrow: Tactics comes to the base tier
From September 8th, StrongGirls Tactics is included at the $5 base tier. Eight chapters, Mac, PC and Linux. This current version runs until Chapter 8 end where the girls defeat the first Jarl, and all girls relationship rank can reach rank 3. After defeating the Jarl you can continue random battles and level up but saves to be used for future patches should be kept at the end of the fight with Torsten to be compatible with future patches.
Your bug reports are already in the pipeline
A lot of you have been sending feedback and bug reports since the alpha opened and it's been genuinely useful. Real reports from real play sessions find things I never would. The next patch will carry those fixes and the next batch of story missions, so the campaign gets longer and more polished at the same time it gets more polished
Keep them coming. If something feels off, tell me, even if you're not sure it's a bug.
A tease: the Studio machine got bigger
The day before I flew out, my new build finished : two additional 3090s are now in the rack.
I'm not going to over-promise while I'm away and not able to tinker, but that hardware exists for a reason and StrongGirls Studio is going to get new things out of it. More on that when I'm home and have actually had my hands on it.
Wishlist Tactics on Steam
https://store.steampowered.com/app/5076520/StrongGirls_Tactics
I'm going to keep asking, and now you know exactly why it matters. Next Fest amplifies whatever wishlist count you bring into it. Arriving with a big number turns into a much bigger number. Arriving with a small one doesn't.
It's free, it takes two seconds, and between now and February it is the single most useful thing you can do for this game.
the $5 window closes September 30th
For everyone reading this on the free tier, and there are a lot of you, hello! the base tier goes from $5 to $8 on September 30th for new patrons.
Join before then and you keep $5 permanently. That gets you the 40+ hour visual novel including Chapter 7, StrongGirls Tactics from tomorrow with monthly updates through to release, and NSFW Friday plus about two years of backlog when it unlocks on the 30th.
The $10 Super tier also closes to new members permanently on the 30th.
TL;DR
Tactics full release moves to 2027 so it can enter Steam Next Fest in February. One shot at it, must be unreleased to qualify, worth the wait
Regular Tactics patches from here to release, so nothing is on hold
Patch and Mac build shipped last Tuesday
Tomorrow, Sept 8th: Tactics comes to the $5 base tier
Next patch: your reported fixes plus the next batch of story missions
Two new 3090s installed Studio gets new features soon!
Wishlist Tactics on Steam, it matters more than ever now: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5076520/StrongGirls_Tactics
Free tier: $5 locks in permanently if you join before Sept 30th
Back home next week and back to full speed. Thanks as always for being here.
-Jon
Light week on my end and I said as much last time. I'm in Italy since the 2nd, taking the week off I told you about after a summer of running at 200%. Still, there's one genuinely big piece of news in here, so let's get to it.
StrongGirls Tactics STEAM is moving to Q1 2027
The full Steam release of Tactics is now targeting Q1 2027 rather than the end of this year. I want to explain this properly rather than just drop a new date on you, because the reasoning is actually good news for the game.
Steam runs an event called Next Fest. It's a festival for unreleased games, and it's the single biggest visibility opportunity a small developer gets on that platform. Here's the catch: every game gets exactly one Next Fest, ever, and you have to be unreleased to enter.
The October edition closed for registration before I could realistically be ready. The next one runs in February 2027. If I released Tactics in Q4 this year I would be permanently ineligible, and the game would launch to essentially no visibility at all beyond the people already reading this post. The whole idea with Steam is to get the game to new audiences.
So: February Next Fest, then release in Q1 or Q2 2027. It costs a few months and it's worth every one of them.
What that means for you: Regular Tactics updates ALONG the Visual Novel + side story content
Here's the part I'm actually pleased about. Since the Steam release for tactics isn't the finish line anymore, I'm going to keep updating the playable version continuously. With regular patches same as the Visual novel cadence you're used to.
So nobody is waiting until 2027 to play anything. You get the game now and it grows every month between now and release. The itch version updates right along with it. You get to play and help shape it. The full game will eventually be both on Itch and Steam.
Patch and Mac build shipped last Tuesday!
Last Tuesday the Tactics patch went up, and the Mac version finally landed after an absurd amount of work. As I mentioned before, Tactics isn't a Ren'Py game: the entire engine is written from scratch in Python, so there's no convenient "build for Mac" button. I stayed up to get it out before my flight to Italy and got the patch uploaded with a few hours spare to sleep before going.
Tomorrow: Tactics comes to the base tier
From September 8th, StrongGirls Tactics is included at the $5 base tier. Eight chapters, Mac, PC and Linux. This current version runs until Chapter 8 end where the girls defeat the first Jarl, and all girls relationship rank can reach rank 3. After defeating the Jarl you can continue random battles and level up but saves to be used for future patches should be kept at the end of the fight with Torsten to be compatible with future patches.
Your bug reports are already in the pipeline
A lot of you have been sending feedback and bug reports since the alpha opened and it's been genuinely useful. Real reports from real play sessions find things I never would. The next patch will carry those fixes and the next batch of story missions, so the campaign gets longer and more polished at the same time it gets more polished
Keep them coming. If something feels off, tell me, even if you're not sure it's a bug.
A tease: the Studio machine got bigger
The day before I flew out, my new build finished : two additional 3090s are now in the rack.
I'm not going to over-promise while I'm away and not able to tinker, but that hardware exists for a reason and StrongGirls Studio is going to get new things out of it. More on that when I'm home and have actually had my hands on it.
Wishlist Tactics on Steam
https://store.steampowered.com/app/5076520/StrongGirls_Tactics
I'm going to keep asking, and now you know exactly why it matters. Next Fest amplifies whatever wishlist count you bring into it. Arriving with a big number turns into a much bigger number. Arriving with a small one doesn't.
It's free, it takes two seconds, and between now and February it is the single most useful thing you can do for this game.
the $5 window closes September 30th
For everyone reading this on the free tier, and there are a lot of you, hello! the base tier goes from $5 to $8 on September 30th for new patrons.
Join before then and you keep $5 permanently. That gets you the 40+ hour visual novel including Chapter 7, StrongGirls Tactics from tomorrow with monthly updates through to release, and NSFW Friday plus about two years of backlog when it unlocks on the 30th.
The $10 Super tier also closes to new members permanently on the 30th.
TL;DR
Tactics full release moves to 2027 so it can enter Steam Next Fest in February. One shot at it, must be unreleased to qualify, worth the wait
Regular Tactics patches from here to release, so nothing is on hold
Patch and Mac build shipped last Tuesday
Tomorrow, Sept 8th: Tactics comes to the $5 base tier
Next patch: your reported fixes plus the next batch of story missions
Two new 3090s installed Studio gets new features soon!
Wishlist Tactics on Steam, it matters more than ever now: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5076520/StrongGirls_Tactics
Free tier: $5 locks in permanently if you join before Sept 30th
Back home next week and back to full speed. Thanks as always for being here.
-Jon
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