Updates

Big Ambitions September 2026 Patch Notes

Build 3672 and 3674 -- four days after launch, the first fix wave arrives.

Last updated:

September 2026 Patch Notes

Four days after the 28 August 2026 full release, Hovgaard Games shipped the first post-launch fix wave. Build 3672 landed on 1 September 2026, with Build 3674 following as a near-immediate hotfix for the same batch. This page covers what the two builds changed, what players reported in the first weekend, and what is still being investigated as of September 2026. For launch-day notes, see version 1.0. For the roadmap that follows these fixes, see roadmap.

The community response to launch was large and enthusiastic. Hovgaard reported over 12,000 concurrent players at peak — a studio record. That many people in a new build meant the bug reports were fast and specific. The fixes below reflect that feedback loop.

What Build 3672 fixed

Vehicle entry — entering cars and trucks was broken for some players after the 1.0 launch. The prompt appeared but the character did not animate into the seat. Build 3672 patched the vehicle entry state machine. If you still cannot enter a specific vehicle after updating, try restarting the client before filing a report.

Missing Hamptons retail buildings — the small luxury retail strip in The Hamptons had buildings that were absent from the map for players who started new saves after the 1.0 launch. The strip should now populate correctly for fresh saves and existing ones that reload the area. Players who encountered this during the launch weekend can fix it by traveling to The Hamptons and letting the area reload.

Subway destination search — the in-game subway map’s destination search returned no results regardless of what you typed. This broke the fastest commute option for players who rely on public transit instead of driving. Build 3672 rebuilt the search index. Subway routing now works as documented in the controls guide.

Assign Uniforms button — a missing button in the employee management UI made it difficult to bulk-apply clothing presets to staff. The Assign Uniforms control is now present and functional in BizMan and the standalone employee panel.

Bank borrowing clarity — banks now display what you can actually borrow before you commit to a loan. The pre-1.0 behavior of showing only the maximum cap without accounting for income was adjusted. Players should see a more accurate borrowing ceiling in the Santander and other bank interfaces. See banking for the full loan and credit overview.

What Build 3674 patched immediately after

Build 3674 was a rapid follow-up that tightened the same batch rather than adding new fixes. Hovgaard described it as “near-immediate” in the Steam announcement. The main changes:

  • Vehicle entry edge case that survived Build 3672 for certain vehicle types.
  • Minor stability fixes for large saves that hit a memory ceiling on the first session after launching 1.0.
  • Hotfix for the Hamptons strip not appearing for players who installed the game in a non-standard directory path.

If you downloaded 1.0 on 28 or 29 August, you should have received both patches automatically through Steam. Check your build number in the Steam client under Properties — Local Files — Verify Integrity.

What is still being investigated

Hovgaard acknowledged in the Build 3672 announcement that they are actively looking into two issues that had not been resolved at the time of shipping:

FPS drops and stuttering — a significant number of players reported frame-rate drops in busy areas, particularly in Industry City and during events with high customer density. The studio has not identified a root cause yet. As of September 2026, no fix has shipped. Workarounds recommended by the community: turn shadows off in graphics settings, cap the game at 60fps via driver software, and avoid running the game in fullscreen on multi-monitor setups. If your city stutters, try those before submitting a bug report.

Steam Cloud save conflicts — some players with large saves reported cloud sync conflicts after installing 1.0 over an Early Access cloud save. Hovgaard is investigating. If you are on an old EA save and experience issues after the 1.0 update, Hovgaard asked players to submit saves through their official support channels.

Neither issue had a fix as of September 2026. The system requirements page has the current hardware recommendations; the getting started guide has troubleshooting steps for first-session crashes.

How to follow future patches

Hovgaard posts patch notes on Steam news for app 1331550, on the official Discord server, and on the in-game news ticker. The links page has those URLs. Build numbers are the only reliable identifier — “the latest patch” is ambiguous when two builds ship four hours apart.

The updates hub tracks these notes and the version history. This page will be updated if Build 3676 or a later September patch ships material fixes. The roadmap for what comes after the fix wave is on roadmap.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Quick answers to the most common questions.

What did the September 2026 patch fix?

Build 3672 and 3674 fixed vehicle entry, missing Hamptons retail buildings, broken subway destination search, the missing Assign Uniforms button, and bank borrowing limits not showing correctly.

Are the FPS stuttering issues fixed?

No. As of September 2026, Hovgaard is still investigating FPS drops in busy areas. Try turning off shadows or capping framerate via driver software as a workaround.

How do I check my current build number?

Right-click Big Ambitions in Steam -- Properties -- Local Files -- Verify Integrity. The build number appears in the Steam client news panel or the game's title-screen version string.

Should I start a new save or continue after the patches?

Both builds are save-compatible with the 1.0 launch. Start fresh saves on a copy of any EA save you want to keep, then use the patches on your main 1.0 save.