Slay the Spire 2 is happening because fans went "the extra mile" for the original roguelike deck builder: "We love our job"

Wonderer heads to the Spire in a screenshot from Slay the Spire 2's animated reveal trailer
(Image credit: Mega Critters)

Slay the Spire 2 is only happening because the development team was inspired by the community's love for the original roguelike deck builder. 

Developer Mega Crit announced the widely anticipated sequel earlier this week at the Triple-i showcase with a gorgeous look at the game's new classes and world. Slay the Spire 2 is headed to early access sometime in 2025, and you can thank the original's dedicated fan base for the sequel's existence. 

"Slay the Spire's success comes from our community," the sequel's Steam page reads. "It sounds corny, but the extra mile many of you went to report issues, translate content/announcements, create long video essays, make excellent (lol) tier lists, and draw goofy or gorgeous fan art is the reason we're doing it all again."

Essentially, the fan base's support for the deck builder means the team "loves" developing games in tandem with the players, which probably inspired Mega Crit to pursue another early access route. 

Concrete details on the sequel are a little fuzzy, but we know Slay the Spire is introducing fresh strategies to master, updated visuals, expanded "modability," and "new ways to play that aren't announced yet."

Slay the Spire 2 is also built on a new engine after the developer had some harsh public words for Unity amid its controversial pricing debacle. To give us a taste of what the new engine can do, Mega Crit recently made a free card battler in just a couple of weeks. (It's a fun jab and a fun freebie!)

After 300 hours in Slay the Spire, the sequel's 1,000-year gap is exactly what the game needed to pull us back in for more. 

CATEGORIES
Freelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.

Read more
Wonderer heads to the Spire in a screenshot from Slay the Spire 2's animated reveal trailer
Slay the Spire 2 is another roguelike juggernaut as the deckbuilder reaches one million Steam wishlists, even before debuting gameplay
Balatro screenshot showing an assortment of joker cards
Balatro creator intentionally avoided roguelikes but did eventually play and "steal from" Slay the Spire anyway: "Holy s***. Now that is a game"
Citizen Sleeper 2
Citizen Sleeper 2 is doubling down on the RPG's tabletop roots, and the new push system already has me sweating
Key art for Solasta 2.
If Baldur's Gate 3 left you wanting more D&D RPGs, you won't want to miss the sequel to Solasta: Crown of the Magister when it launches in early access next year
Die In the Dungeon
This slick roguelike deckbuilder is shoulder-to-shoulder with Balatro and Slay the Spire on Steam top sellers, and its dev is feeling the pressure: "The definition of walking among giants"
Challenging The Manacle in Balatro, which limits hand size by -1 and playing two Jacks
From "I stopped working on the project entirely" to "we are so back," Balatro creator says the roguelike's development was always about passion and taking breaks was essential
Latest in Roguelike
ben starr dressed in harlequin makeup chomping down on a banana
Balatro creator says it's "useless" for him to give advice to other devs because "I only have one data point" and it was a 5 million-sale success story
an ancient spaceship in the pixel art style of ftl
I just watched the first 10 seconds of this indie roguelike’s trailer, and it's not even trying to be subtle about being an unlicensed 40K game
Balatro
Balatro creator started "properly playing the game myself about a week before launch" and had "a pretty emotional moment" where he realized it's "actually fun"
Balatro screenshot showing an assortment of card packs
Balatro creator initially considered a Steam release in part to help "get a game developer job somewhere," and after 5 million sales I'd say he found one
Challenging The Manacle in Balatro, which limits hand size by -1 and playing two Jacks
From "I stopped working on the project entirely" to "we are so back," Balatro creator says the roguelike's development was always about passion and taking breaks was essential
Balatro screenshot showing an assortment of joker cards
Balatro creator intentionally avoided roguelikes but did eventually play and "steal from" Slay the Spire anyway: "Holy s***. Now that is a game"
Latest in News
inZOI Character Studio screenshot showing a young woman with short black/pink hair, black cat-like ears, and a black blouse with a bowtie
The creator of upcoming life sim Inzoi says he was "recklessly brave to even think about creating a game of this scale"
Rise of the Ronin
A year after its PS5 launch, Rise of the Ronin debuts on PC to "Mixed" reviews and performance complaints: "Stuttering on a 4090 is just... no"
Rise of the Ronin's photo mode offers some wonderful shots
On the heels of Rise of the Ronin's PC launch, its director says there's a "significant" amount of Japanese Switch gamers: "I am closely watching how this will change with the release of Switch 2"
Stardew Valley Castle Village mod
Stardew Valley Expanded creator is building an "even more ambitious" mod with a whole new city and "dungeons inspired by The Legend of Zelda"
Dino Crisis 2 art showing a young woman and man back-to-back amid tall green grass, both with their weapons drawn
Dino Crisis gets a fresh trademark filing by Capcom, but it might not mean the 26-year-old survival horror franchise will get a new installment like fans expect
Cujo
Netflix is making a brand new adaptation of Cujo, the infamous Stephen King book about a killer dog