Big Ambitions Early Access History

Big Ambitions spent more than three years in Steam Early Access (10 March 2023 to 28 August 2026). If you are landing on 1.0 cold, you can skip most of this page and use version 1.0. If a tutorial, warehouse size, or “the bridge is closed” memory is rattling around, stay here.

Hovgaard shipped in public. That is why YouTube is a minefield of correct-at-the-time advice. This recap is the filter.

0.9 — The Struggle (September 2025)

The biggest “this is a different game” patch before launch.

Industry City opened across the tease bridge. New warehouse sizes P1–P3 and Q1–Q3 exist specifically so factories have room. Titans of Industry Supply, Stonegood Architecture (warehouse/factory blueprints), Factory Supply Depot, US General Trucks, and IC Truckers all sat down in that district. Metro Wholesaler moved up to Hell’s Kitchen. StockCo appeared in Midtown off a newly opened ramp. A clinic in Industry City keeps you from waking up in Midtown after a collapse.

Progression tightened. You could previously print millions off one juiced starter shop; 0.9 made the early curve a struggle on purpose. The tutorial was rebuilt: health insurance and headhunters are in the script, and you can start a wholesaler business you actually want instead of the same two tutorial stores every save.

Blueprint creator, duplicate-with-attachments, and Steam Workshop recognition without a second download landed here too. That is why the controls page talks about duplicating a whole desk.

If you last played in 2023, this is the patch that made warehouses and factories feel like a real spine.

Early Access 0.9 The Struggle | Big Ambitions

0.10 — No Business Like Show Business

Cinemas and theatres joined the format list. Transport polish continued. Bank-loan and marketing deep dives from community videos around this build are closer to 1.0 than 2023 clips are. Still verify hours — a cinema is not a gift shop.

0.11 — The Workshop Awakens

Workshop and blueprint quality of life. Mac-related blueprint/mod fixes showed up in hotfixes. Missing translations for a pile of interface languages were backfilled in follow-up patches (Japanese, Polish, Dutch, and more). If you play in a non-English UI, 0.11-era work is why buttons are not still English stubs.

What Early Access was for

Selling hundreds of thousands of copies while the city was still growing. Studio updates cited the game as a pillar next to Startup Company, with a living roadmap toward 1.0 and a separate Startup Company 2 track. Player feedback visibly moved warehouses, factories, rivals, and the tutorial. That is the good EA story.

The bad EA story is outdated guides. Fast-food-as-mandatory, four-district maps, and “no factories” videos still rank on YouTube. Use this wiki’s tier list and getting started instead of a 2023 thumbnail.

Experimental branches

Hovgaard often ships an experimental/preview build before a live EA jump. Testers get English-only text and a request to file bugs. If you like stability, stay on the default Steam branch. If you like bruising the next patch, use the opt-in they post in Steam news — not a random key site.

Carry-over habits that still help

Talk to clerks. Hire before you expand. Watch customer cap. Do not max ads past 100% promotion. Industry City for making, Garment for learning. Those rules survived 1.0. What did not survive: ignoring tax/property, assuming the tutorial restaurant is the real game, and pretending the map has five neighborhoods.

When you are done remembering, go play 1.0. The updates hub is the index; version 1.0 is the now. Keep links for the Discord where the next experimental ping will land.