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🚀 Retail Rivals launches on July 29!
The wait is almost over! 🎉 Retail Rivals officially launches on July 29.
Check the image below to see the exact release times for each region and time zone, so you'll know exactly when you can jump in.
Gather your friends, build your stores, outsmart your rivals, and become the ultimate mall tycoon! 🛒🏆
❤️ Thank you all for your incredible support we can't wait to see you in-game at launch!
Thank you so much for all your amazing feedback! ❤️
Over the past few weeks, we've been working hard to implement many of your suggestions. This update doesn't just add brand-new features—it also includes countless improvements, balancing changes, and bug fixes.
Customize your shop like never before!
New additions include:
🎨 Multi-colored shop names.
🪧 New sign designs.
🌈 Fully customizable sign colors.
⭐ Add icons directly to your shop signs.
Your shop now has even more customization options.
We've added over 100 new decorative objects to help you create your own unique store.
Light up your shop exactly the way you want.
New features:
💡 Placeable lights.
🌈 Adjustable light colors.
🔆 Customizable brightness.
🎛️ Light switches to turn your lights on and off.
Bring music to your store!
You can now place Music Boxes inside your shop.
Once activated, they'll play music throughout your store.
They also feature brand-new animations.
In-Game Voice Chat has finally arrived!
We've also added plenty of audio settings so everyone can customize their perfect voice chat experience.
You can now make announcements to the entire mall from the Information Desk.
Let every player know what's happening!
Building has become even better.
New features:
🎨 Paint your ceilings.
🎨 Paint your storage room walls independently without affecting the opposite side.
🧲 Snapping Mode now also works for walls and ceilings.
Protect your shop with the new automatic fire suppression system.
Place ceiling-mounted sprinklers that automatically extinguish fires.
Vapes are now fully functional again.
The theft system has received a complete overhaul.
New features:
💰 Interact directly with thieves.
💵 Recover stolen products and money.
⚠️ But be careful...
Your competitors can also catch thieves and claim the reward themselves!
Egg stains can now be cleaned off shop windows much faster.
Many products can now be recolored using a wide variety of new colors.
Press F9 to activate the new Freecam Mode.
You can now:
🎥 Fly freely around the mall.
👥 Watch the game from other players' perspectives.
Perfect for content creators and screenshots.
Random events outside your shop can now be bribed with money to disappear earlier.
This even works for positive events.
Of course, your competitors can do the same.
🎨 The Dealer has received a complete visual overhaul.
🃏 Joker cards can now be played whenever you choose.
The entire voting system has been redesigned to be much clearer and easier to understand.
The Police UI has been completely redesigned.
Additionally, the path to jail has been significantly improved.
Getting started has never been easier.
New additions:
📖 Updated tutorial.
🖼️ New tutorial images.
✍️ Improved tutorial texts.
💡 Many additional tooltips.
💾 Save notification whenever the game is saved.
A variety of Quality-of-Life improvements have been added.
📦 Products now perfectly match shelf capacities.
No more awkward leftover items.
🧱 Storage shelves can now only be placed inside the storage room.
💳 Cash registers and product displays can only be placed inside the sales area.
📍 Cash registers now visually display their required placement space.
🎨 Carpets can now be placed underneath products.
📺 The advertising menu now closes automatically after purchasing an advertisement.
Customers and employees feel more alive than ever.
New additions:
🚶 Customers now walk at different speeds.
🛍️ Different shopping bags.
🎭 Many new animations.
😴 Employees now have idle animations while waiting for work.
📋 Employee licenses can now be purchased directly from the Employee Menu.
⭐ Even with 0 popularity, a few customers will still visit your shop.
📡 The Jammer now also works on Self-Checkout Registers.
🎨 Crates no longer lose their color after placement.
📦 Fixed an issue where crates could disappear when pressing Escape too quickly.
💳 Credit card payments have received a complete visual overhaul.
🏗️ The Phase System has been improved.
⌨️ Keybindings have been refined once again.
👥 Team names can now be much longer without covering the money display.
🚪 The Event Door no longer closes unexpectedly.
🎨 The graffiti system has been improved once again.
🎵 Escalator sounds have been updated.
🔊 Many new sound effects have been added.
We've fixed and improved a large number of translation issues across the game.
Alongside everything listed above, we've fixed numerous bugs and improved many systems.
Including:
✅ Improved performance.
✅ More stable gameplay.
✅ UI improvements.
✅ Numerous minor bug fixes.
✅ Gameplay balancing improvements.
...and much more!
Thank you once again for all your incredible feedback and support.
With every update, Retail Rivals becomes bigger, more chaotic, and more fun.
We can't wait to hear what you think.
See you in the Mall! 🛒🔥
First of all, thank you for all your amazing feedback! ❤️
We took a little more time for this update, and we're excited to finally release one of the biggest Demo updates yet!
We're already working on the next major features!
Voice Chat is currently in development.
Soon you'll be able to customize and design your shop name with even more creative options.
We're also working on many additional gameplay, UI and performance improvements.
And that's just the beginning... stay tuned!
Sabotage your rivals like never before!
The new Jammer allows you to disable:
🛒 Cash Registers
🏪 Self-Checkout Registers
🚨 Fire Alarms
🔒 Security Systems
🥤 Vending Machines
To counter this, we've added a brand-new employee.
The Repair Technician will automatically repair any sabotaged equipment around your shop.
Eggs can now randomly spawn around the mall.
Throw them at your rivals' shop windows to cover them in dirt!
Of course, the windows can be cleaned again afterwards.
A brand-new way to annoy your competition!
Customers can now attempt to steal products from your store.
To help defend your business, we've introduced an all-new Security System.
The Fire Event has been heavily rebalanced and improved.
New additions include:
🚨 Fire Alarms
🔒 Security License to unlock the system
The voting system has received a massive expansion.
We've added 20 completely new voting events, bringing the total to 30 unique events.
More chaos.
More variety.
More unexpected moments.
Every match now feels even more unique.
The Random Event system has also been expanded.
New events include:
⭐ Influencer visits your shop
🧹 Cleaning Lady
🎵 Live Band
...and many more surprises!
Events last for one full in-game day and can have both positive and negative effects on your business.
Not every event is bad—some can completely change the game in your favor.
Some events can even be bribed to leave early!
You can now create much longer shop names.
Track your overall progress with brand-new statistics.
Including:
Total Profit
Total Losses
Overall Career Statistics
Employee Licenses are now purchased directly from each employee.
Employees now spread out much more naturally across the entire mall.
Police officers now patrol using more varied routes.
More police officers now patrol the upper floor.
Customers and employees received many new animations, making everyone move more naturally.
Customers will continue visiting your shop even when your popularity reaches 0.
Every player can now sit down.
Two new music tracks have been added to the Dance Emote.
Tons of brand-new sound effects.
Escalator sounds have been significantly improved.
Major performance improvements.
The save system has been completely rebuilt.
Products at the checkout are now placed closer to the player.
Picking up Baseball Bats, Tomatoes or Trash Bags now displays an icon so you always know you're carrying something.
Added a tooltip when shelves are completely full.
Money values now include thousands separators for better readability.
Added a new Unstuck button to the Escape Menu.
All advertising signs now feature proper images.
Improved and updated translations.
Improved the Saxophone in the Music Store.
Fixed sitting through walls.
Trash can no longer spawn underneath the map.
Wall colors now remain even if another player paints the opposite wall.
Keybindings now reset correctly.
Employee Statistics work correctly again.
Team names no longer overlap.
Fixed incorrect refunds at the checkout.
In addition to everything listed above, we've fixed countless smaller bugs, improved stability, optimized gameplay, and made many more Quality of Life improvements.
❤️ Thank you for playing Retail Rivals and for all your incredible feedback!
See you at the Mall! 🛒
Hey everyone! 👋
Another major update for Retail Rivals has arrived!
This update introduces the new Emote System, the first Random Event, a completely overhauled Building System, improvements to the Save System, new languages, additional sounds, multiplayer fixes, and much more.
To give you a small preview of future content, we've added the first random event to the demo.
✅ Fires can now randomly break out in the mall.
✅ Stay alert and keep an eye on your surroundings.
🔥 Things are about to heat up!
Emotes have finally arrived!
✅ Perform a variety of different emotes.
✅ Express yourself and interact with other players in new ways.
✅ All emotes now include sound effects.
More choices right from the start!
✅ The Donut Shop has been added as a new starting store.
✅ There are now 4 different shops available when starting a new game.
✅ More variety and more options for your playthrough.
The entire building system has been redesigned and improved.
✅ Free placement without a grid is now possible.
✅ Objects can no longer be placed inside walls.
✅ Objects can no longer overlap with other objects.
✅ Objects can no longer be placed in front of doors.
✅ Wall objects now automatically snap to nearby walls.
✅ Added a new Snap Mode.
✅ Shelves and other objects can now be placed neatly next to each other with ease.
✅ Building now feels much smoother and more intuitive.
✅ The save system has been significantly improved.
✅ Shops are now saved correctly.
✅ Shop contents and placed objects are now saved reliably.
✅ Boxes left on the ground are now saved when leaving the game.
✅ Overall save-game stability has been improved.
✅ Employees now have sitting animations while waiting in the Employee Room.
✅ The Employee Menu has been expanded.
✅ Employees can now be filtered by shop.
✅ Available employees can now be filtered separately.
✅ Employee management is now much easier to navigate.
✅ Employees can now be assigned to Vending Machines.
✅ Fixed an issue where logistics employees would occasionally take boxes home after their shift.
✅ Fixed performance issues related to employees.
✅ Walking animations have returned when being escorted to prison.
✅ Players are now properly escorted to prison instead of being teleported.
✅ Police now react when players swing a baseball bat.
✅ Baseball bat swings now trigger instantly.
✅ Attacks feel much more responsive.
✅ The Graffiti UI can now only be opened while holding a spray can.
✅ Players can no longer purchase another bottle from the Dealer while already holding one.
✅ Dealer prices have been rebalanced.
✅ The Advertising UI has been redesigned.
✅ Improved usability and overall clarity.
✅ You can now run advertisements for Vending Machines.
✅ Wall tattoos can once again be moved correctly in multiplayer.
✅ Fixed an issue where trash could appear in multiplayer but could not be picked up.
✅ Prison timers are now displayed correctly in multiplayer.
✅ The scrollbar in the Phase Terminal is now always available when needed.
✅ Arrows are now displayed above the terminal when a player has not voted yet.
✅ This makes it much easier for new players to understand when they need to vote.
✅ Overall clarity and usability of the voting system have been improved.
✅ Mall doors now automatically open when the day begins.
✅ Mall doors automatically close at the end of the day.
✅ Added a sound effect when purchasing items.
✅ Added a sound effect when you don't have enough money.
✅ Added sound effects when removing products from displays.
✅ Added sound effects when walking through plants.
✅ Added customer complaint sound effects.
✅ Customers now react audibly when they become unhappy or lose patience.
✅ Removed the airplane shadow.
✅ Added a day/night cycle to the main menu.
✅ Improved the in-game day/night system.
✅ Improved animations when customers lose patience.
✅ Customer reactions now feel smoother and more natural.
✅ Added new shelves to the Pet Shop.
✅ Added more tomato baskets throughout the mall.
✅ Pictures no longer float away from walls.
✅ Pictures are now placed correctly against walls.
✅ The saxophone is now displayed correctly.
✅ Books are now oriented correctly on shelves.
✅ Rebalanced various gameplay systems.
✅ Multiple mechanics have been adjusted to create a more engaging experience.
✅ Redesigned the Feedback UI.
✅ Redesigned the Tutorial UI.
✅ The Tutorial has been re-enabled.
✅ Redesigned the License UI.
✅ Redesigned the Event UI.
✅ Increased the size of the Event Window.
✅ Event information is now significantly easier to read.
✅ The German translation has been significantly expanded and improved.
✅ Numerous existing texts have been revised and polished.
✅ Retail Rivals now supports the following additional languages:
🗣️ French
🗣️ Italian
🗣️ Spanish
🗣️ Chinese (Traditional)
🗣️ Chinese (Simplified)
🗣️ Indonesian
🗣️ Japanese
🗣️ Korean
🗣️ Russian
⚠️ These translations will continue to be improved and expanded in future updates.
✅ Fixed an issue where pressing F1 could sometimes instantly trigger the police.
✅ Various additional bugs and minor issues have been resolved.
Thank you for all your feedback, bug reports, and suggestions.
Retail Rivals keeps getting better thanks to your support. 🚀
Hey everyone! 👋
We originally planned to release this update a little later. However, a bug was reported that prevented players from properly adjusting their sound settings. Huge thanks to Precisi for reporting the issue! ❤️
Since we were already working on additional content, we decided to release the next update right away.
Alongside the sound fix, this update introduces the new Shop Advertising System, several improvements, and additional bug fixes.
You can now advertise your stores!
✅ Advertising signs can now be used to promote your shops.
✅ Increase visibility and attract more attention to your businesses throughout the mall.
⚠️ Since this feature was released earlier than originally planned, there may still be some minor issues. If you encounter any problems, please let us know.
✅ Audio settings are now properly saved and applied.
✅ Added new cash register sound effects including card terminal, banknote, and coin sounds.
✅ A fail sound now plays when attempting to purchase products without enough money.
✅ Shadows have been reworked and visually improved.
✅ Various visual issues have been fixed.
✅ Fixed an issue where a shop door could not be opened correctly.
✅ Removed a duplicate shop category.
✅ Chairs and benches inside shops are now decorative objects but can be used by idle employees as seating locations.
✅ Added multiple fallback standing positions to prevent employees from stacking on top of each other.
✅ The tutorial interface has been improved.
✅ Added a new "Skip Tutorial" button.
✅ Build Mode now remains open after selling items.
✅ The shopping cart is now saved when the shop UI is closed.
✅ Further improvements have been made to logistics employees.
✅ Multiple logistics employees should now work much more reliably.
✅ Fixed an issue in multiplayer where employees sometimes had to be clicked twice before they could be hired.
✅ Logistics employees now sit correctly in their chairs.
✅ Employee limits and current team sizes are now displayed in the Licence UI, Employee Hire UI, and Employee Management UI.
✅ Employee licences are now purchased through the Licence Menu instead of the Furniture Menu.
✅ Further improvements and refinements have been made to the Licence Menu.
✅ Improved distinction between product orders and furniture orders.
✅ Buttons have been repositioned and additional text has been added for better clarity.
✅ Fixed an issue where shop names could reset after the first rename attempt in multiplayer.
✅ Shops can now be renamed correctly on the first try.
✅ Baseball bats now break after 2–3 uses.
✅ Added additional spawn locations for baseball bats.
Thank you for your quick feedback following the major demo update.
We're already working on the next features and improvements and look forward to hearing more of your feedback! 🚀
Hey everyone! 👋
Thank you for all the amazing feedback on the demo. ❤️
Over the past few days, we've been working hard on bug fixes, improvements, and new features. This update includes numerous fixes, performance optimizations, and several new systems.
📢 Looking Ahead: We're already working on the next update, which will include additional improvements, bug fixes, shop advertising signs, the new emote system, and further enhancements to performance and quality of life.
We've significantly improved customer behavior to make the mall feel more alive and realistic.
✅ Significantly more customers now visit the mall.
✅ Customers now walk around the mall before entering stores.
✅ Customers can now visit multiple stores during a single trip.
✅ Customers no longer wait forever at checkout counters.
✅ Customers become increasingly impatient if they have to wait too long.
✅ If a customer's patience runs out or the day ends, they will return products to their original locations.
✅ Employees can no longer be hired immediately.
✅ A new Employee License is now required before hiring employees.
✅ This license grants access to the Employee Room.
✅ Each available seat increases the maximum number of employees you can hire.
✅ Chairs provide space for one employee.
✅ Sofas provide multiple employee slots.
✅ Employees now sit properly instead of standing inside each other.
✅ Employee skills are now displayed on a 0 to 5 scale.
✅ The previous -2 to +2 rating system has been removed.
✅ Employee stats are now much easier to understand and compare.
✅ When replacing an employee, the game now clearly shows which stats the new employee is better or worse at.
✅ Logistics employees can now bring products directly to displays without first moving them to storage.
✅ Dropped or misplaced products are now automatically picked up.
✅ Shelves are restocked immediately when products are needed.
✅ Logistics employees no longer wait until shelves are half empty before restocking.
✅ Cleaning employees now clean all trash and messes before returning them to the trash bin.
✅ When a checkout counter is moved, the cashier automatically moves to the correct position.
✅ Cashiers no longer disappear after moving a checkout counter.
✅ Employees sitting in the central seating area no longer disappear at the end of the day.
✅ Employees now leave the mall naturally when their workday ends.
The Dealer is now available!
✅ Purchase graffiti and other special items.
✅ New ways to prank and annoy your friends and rivals.
✅ The game now launches correctly in fullscreen mode.
✅ Resolution settings are now applied correctly.
✅ Fixed UI scaling issues.
✅ Settings now save and load properly.
✅ Improved default graphics settings.
✅ The checkout interface has been visually improved.
✅ Better readability.
✅ Cleaner layout.
✅ Important information is easier to see.
✅ Checkout counters can no longer be placed too close to walls.
✅ Customers and employees now position themselves correctly at checkout counters.
✅ General performance optimizations.
✅ Improved game stability.
✅ Smoother gameplay in various areas of the game.
✅ Added numerous small quality-of-life improvements.
✅ Fixed various bugs.
✅ Improved several gameplay systems.
✅ Fixed an issue where ESC sometimes had to be pressed multiple times.
✅ Doors now automatically open while carrying items.
✅ Players can now stand up using WASD, Spacebar, or ESC.
✅ Votes now start automatically once all players are seated.
✅ Improved vote descriptions for better clarity.
✅ The current game phase is now displayed correctly.
✅ It is now much clearer when players need to sit down to vote.
✅ Fixed visual issues during tied votes.
✅ Multiple active events and notifications are now displayed correctly underneath each other.
✅ Fixed an issue where only one active notification would sometimes appear.
✅ Improved visibility of important game information.
✅ Box spawning has been improved.
✅ Boxes can no longer spawn above the mall.
✅ Boxes can no longer spawn in invalid locations.
✅ Leaving boxes lying around now negatively affects your business.
✅ Customers pay more attention to cleanliness and organization.
✅ Storage shelves should be used to keep boxes organized and avoid penalties.
✅ Save slots are now displayed correctly.
✅ Fixed save files being mixed up.
✅ Saving and loading is now more reliable.
✅ Lobbies are no longer closed when a regular player leaves the game.
✅ Lobbies now only close when the host leaves.
✅ Multiplayer sessions are now more stable and reliable.
✅ Players can no longer walk through walls while in prison.
✅ The prison system now works correctly in multiplayer.
✅ Fixed an issue where sunlight could shine through roofs and ceilings.
✅ Shopping bags are now displayed correctly in players' hands.
✅ Fixed mouse cursor flickering issues.
✅ Mouse behavior is now stable and smooth.
✅ Decorative and placeable objects can now be sold for 50% of their purchase price.
✅ Fixed incorrect resale values.
✅ Added new German voice lines.
✅ Added new English voice lines.
✅ Expanded and improved the German translation.
✅ Corrected and improved numerous text entries.
Every bug report, suggestion, and piece of feedback helps us improve Retail Rivals.
Thank you for being part of the community! 🚀
Hello everyone!
Thank you for all the feedback you've shared about the Retail Rivals Demo. We're currently working hard on the issues that have been reported and wanted to give you a quick overview of what we're focusing on right now.
Many of you mentioned that the mall currently feels a bit empty. We completely agree. We're already working on adding significantly more customers, as well as additional visitors walking around the mall to make the environment feel more lively and immersive.
Several issues were reported regarding the game's settings and graphics, including:
Resolution-related problems
UI elements not scaling correctly
Shadows looking off or unrealistic
Default graphics settings not being configured properly
We're actively addressing these issues and working on improvements.
Sabotage has been one of the most requested features. We're happy to confirm that Sabotage will be available in the demo. These additions are planned for the coming days. Alongside this, we're not only reworking the Police system but also fully unlocking and expanding the Dealer gameplay.
We're also working on numerous smaller bugs and gameplay issues reported by the community. Every piece of feedback helps us improve Retail Rivals and make it a better experience for everyone.
We'll continue posting updates every few days to keep you informed about our progress. The team is working very actively on the project, so as always:
If you find any bugs, issues, or have suggestions, please keep sending them our way. We read everything and do our best to address it!
Thank you for your support! ❤️
The first Retail Rivals demo is now available! 🎮
Jump in, build your store, explore the current features, and experience the game for yourself. Your feedback will help us make Retail Rivals even better.
🗺️ We've also released our roadmap so you can get a glimpse of the features and content planned for future updates.
Thank you for your support, and have fun playing! 🚀
About
This page aggregates Steam news feeds, patch notes, and developer announcements for Retail Rivals, sourced from official Steam community posts.
Major updates, balance changes, and seasonal events often correlate with player-count spikes — cross-reference announcements here with the live charts on the main Retail Rivals statistics page.
Articles link back to Steam for full changelogs. SteamScope refreshes news entries as new posts are published to the game's Steam hub.