If you want to see Black Ice's recent updates and screenshots (including before & after shots of our improvements), check the:

In recent updates, I've been improving the game's color balance, adding more worldbuilding, polishing up the level design in
the forest and volcano, and replacing the HUD. These changes are getting the game ready for its final 1.0 launch.

Since we mainly talk about the upcoming changes and get feedback in the game's Discord[discord.gg], I realized that our Steam fans have been missing insights into what the full game will look like. While I can't promise the exact timeline, which is always getting pushed back due to unplanned life events and the work at our other jobs, I can at least share the order of upcoming changes as we complete the...

1. HUD Improvements (completed 10/20/25)
   This one starts the sequence of necessary UI improvements. Main features include better text visibility, improved prompting of objectives and immediate tasks (like getting back in the ring before the hack cancels), and better event UIs with more information about hacks, boss fights, etc.
   
2. Job Contracts & Events (completed 2/22/26)
   Job boards provide new hubs for replayable delivery and payload events with scripted attacking and defending enemies. Cleaning up the delivery and payload systems and UIs will make it easier for me to use these events in story missions. Also adds some more HUD prompts for special security types like Proxy or Lockout.
   
3. Main / Options Menu Improvements (completed 7/11/26)
   Aligns the main menus with the cyberpunk style of the in-game UIs and cleans up the options menus, multiplayer panel, character creation screens, etc. Plus replacing all enemy textures, fixing the Arcade minigames, and performance fixes.
   
4. Inventory / Progression / Inbox / Map Improvements
   I've been getting lots of feedback about how confusing these menus are so they're the next candidate for improvement. Changes to the inventory icons and tooltips to make them easier to read at a glance. Cleaner talent, perk and unlock screens. An Inbox with better information about the missions and sender avatars so you know who you're working with. And a big dose of cyberpunk flavor for all of these.
   
5. Industrial & Phish Market Overhaul
   More people have been completing the story since the overhaul of the volcano and forest areas. But after the volcano, the transportation- and industrial-themed areas under Oshiro still have weak level design and are less fun to play. Those areas will get a makeover with improved speed-boosting highways and launchers in the transportation area and bigger industrial servers in the area after. The Phish Market also needs cleanup with improved terrain to sell the warehouse/docks vibe and more secrets and interactions.
   
6. Early Story Overhaul
   With the event systems and UIs cleaned up, I can plug them into the early chapters of the story so that not every mission is Hack This, Hack That. More variety will make the early story missions more fun and help people progress through the game faster, since the payloads and deliveries will guide you to the next areas. The improved chat and email systems will also give the characters more personality with avatars and images, allowing me to make the emails and chats shorter and easier to read.
   
7. Kinetic Temple Overhaul
   The Kinetic Temple colors still need to be rebalanced since the color and shader updates and would benefit from some extra terrain to break up vertical segments. A little more like this[www.goindiaholiday.net]. The second half of the climb is a pretty weak experience and can be replaced with something less tedious and with less risk of falling and repeating it. The boss fight also needs some tuning on the phases and balance.
   
8. Final Chapter of Story
   With 4 of the 5 megacorp towers finished and the early game polished, I'm finally free to add the last chapter of story for levels 30-50 as Mako becomes entangled in the power struggle of the megacorps.
   
9. Zheglov-Mang
   May or may not complete this before the final chapter of story, depending on final priorities, but the Zheglov-Mang tower needs to be filled. We have a variety of traps already coded for this one.
   
10. Finality
    Once the story is done, it's time for the finale, battling the SHARK in the skies above the Arcade. And that's all I'll say about that. Meanwhile, the old placeholder for Finality will become The Lighthouse.
    
11. Whatever's Left
    The last update(s) will be to add more decoration to the Arcade, finish the Arcade arenas, fill some small gaps remaining in the world like The Trench and the Mountains of Madness. And of course, to add as many graffitis, side missions, and secrets as I can around the world.

Did I forget anything? Probably!

Now that you know what's coming next, you can offer suggestions in the Steam forum, as well as our Discord[discord.gg], and make sure we don't forget anything important.