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New players will no longer spawn with the mustache equipped by default.
A few of you asked why this seemingly small bug took so long to address, so I wanted to give a quick explanation.
Right now, almost our entire engineering team is focused on our upcoming optimization update, which is being developed on Unreal Engine 5.7. The current live version of Rewind 99 is still running on 5.5, meaning this hotfix couldn't simply be rolled into our ongoing work.
Instead, someone had to jump back to the older branch, reopen the project in the older version of Unreal, make the fix there, then build and test it separately.
To make things even more fun, we currently only have one build machine, which is busy generating builds for the optimization update. That meant this hotfix had to be fully cooked, tested, and published from a developer's local machine instead.
Thankfully, the mustache menace has now been eliminated. 🥸
The optimization update continues to make great progress and is still our highest priority.
Our goal is to have it ready by the end of July, though there are still a number of moving pieces. There's a chance it slips into early August, but we'll keep everyone updated as we get closer.
Thanks again for your patience while we work on what will be one of the biggest improvements to Rewind 99 since launch. We're excited to get it into your hands! 📼
Hey everyone!
Today marks the start of the Steam Summer Sale, and we're excited to announce that Rewind 99 is 30% off - our biggest discount yet!
Whether you've had the game on your wishlist for a while or are just discovering it, we wanted to take this opportunity to share an important update on where the game is headed over the next few weeks.
First, we want to be completely transparent.
When we launched Rewind 99 over three months ago, we were blown away by the response. Seeing so many people jump into our weird little video store simulator was incredibly exciting.
As more players reached the end game, however, it became clear that we had some significant technical shortcomings.
For as goofy as Rewind 99 is, it's also surprisingly ambitious under the hood. An open world filled with hundreds of NPCs, dynamic shopping behavior, player-created movies, and thousands of custom assets being generated and loaded all put far more pressure on the game's systems than we anticipated.
The result was performance issues for many players, especially in the late game. On top of that, employee AI wasn't meeting our expectations, often making store management more frustrating than fun.
Those issues have been our highest priority ever since.
Since launch, we've been developing Rewind 99 along two parallel paths.
Our artists and designers have continued expanding the game with new content, including:
Video Game Rentals
The Pier 67 expansion
New minigames
Player and weapon cosmetics
And plenty more still to come.
Meanwhile, our engineering team has been focused almost entirely on rebuilding core systems to dramatically improve performance, optimize memory usage, and make employee AI significantly smarter and more reliable.
It's easily been the biggest engineering effort we've undertaken since launching into Early Access.
Our goal was to ship this major technical update today alongside the Steam Summer Sale.
The good news is that it's feeling really promising.
The bad news is that it's not quite ready.
Rather than rushing it out, we'd rather spend a little more time polishing and testing everything to make sure these improvements are as solid as possible.
We're currently targeting next week for the update.
Because this update changes some foundational systems within Rewind 99, existing save files will unfortunately not be compatible.
We know that's disappointing, and we explored every option we could to avoid it. Ultimately, rebuilding these systems properly required changes that aren't compatible with existing saves.
We believe it's the right decision for the long-term health of the game, even though it's not an easy one.
We wanted to share all of this as the Steam Summer Sale begins so everyone can make an informed decision before purchasing the game.
If you decide to jump into Rewind 99 during the sale, thank you. Your support allows us to keep improving the game, and we're incredibly excited for you to experience what we've been working on over the past several months.
We genuinely believe this upcoming update is a huge step forward—not just for optimization and employee AI, but for the future of Rewind 99 as a whole.
As always, thank you for your patience, your feedback, and your support.
If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below and I'll do my best to answer them.
See you in Reshoot Springs!
Hey everyone!
Before we dive into the new content, we want to quickly address the two biggest topics we've been hearing from the community: optimization and employee AI.
We know these are currently the highest priorities for many players, and they're the highest priorities for us too. Multiple engineers have been working as much as possible on both areas, and we're currently targeting late June for a major update focused on performance improvements, employee behavior, and other technical improvements. We're optimistic that this update will deliver some of the biggest quality-of-life improvements the game has seen so far.
That said, one of our goals during Early Access has always been to continue expanding the world of Rewind 99. While our engineers tackle technical challenges, we don't want to block the work of our artists. Because of that, we've been developing multiple parts of the game in parallel.
With that in mind, we're excited to introduce the revamped Pier 67!
Our goal with Pier 67 is simple: make Reshoot Springs feel more alive and give players more reasons to get out of the store and explore the town.
This update introduces three new minigames:
Whack-A-Gull
Balloon Darts
4-Lane Bowling Mini Golf
Each game rewards a brand-new secondary currency: Tickets!
Collect Tickets and spend them at Pier 67 vendors on a variety of new rewards, including:
Player Cosmetics
Weapon Cosmetics
Whether you're looking to customize your character or just chase a high score, Pier 67 offers a new way to spend your downtime between shifts.
Many players have asked for more casino activities, so we're happy to introduce:
3 Card Poker
This is the first of several casino additions we have planned as we continue expanding the activities available throughout Reshoot Springs.
While the major optimization update is still planned for late June, this patch does include a smaller optimization pass.
Changes include:
Texture optimizations
Shader optimizations
General asset cleanup
These improvements should provide minor gains for some players, though we want to be upfront that the largest performance wins are expected to come from our upcoming code-focused optimization work.
The late June update won't just focus on performance and employee AI improvements.
We're also planning some exciting changes to the world itself, including new RentNet-related content and additional map updates that we'll be sharing more details about soon.
Thank you all again for your patience, feedback, and support throughout Early Access.
We're incredibly proud of what the team has built with Pier 67, and we're even more excited for what's coming next.
See you at the pier - and good luck against RentNet.
Hey everyone! As we are busy working on the Pier 67 Update, we wanted to push out a small update just to sneak in some minor quality of life improvements, and give us a chance to check-in with the community on how development is going through Early Access.
All shelves now include display plaques in the center of each shelf section
Plaques will show the icon of the item assigned to that section, making organization much easier
This is Step 1 of a larger inventory management overhaul. Step 2 will allow Employee AI to properly recognize and respect assigned shelf sections while restocking. Step 2 is being worked on and targeting a late-June release.
Improved the cash reward toast when winning at slot machines
Demand Flyer icons now appear above NPCs while riding your scooter
Previously, these icons only appeared when Flyers were your active item
The Vendor UI now shows you when they will next restock their goods!
Reduced the minor UI “hang” that could occur when switching tabs in the Store Manager
We’re currently targeting the end of May for our next major content update. This update is heavily focused on making the world feel more alive and exciting, with a large emphasis on new activities and attractions at Pier 67. We also want to reassure everyone that new content is not coming at the expense of optimization work. Thanks to the structure of our team, we’re able to push both efforts forward in parallel. The team is incredibly excited to show you what we’ve been building over the next couple of months - there’s a lot in the works.
We know the two biggest pain points in Rewind 99 right now are:
Optimization / late-game performance
Employee AI (especially restocking behavior)
As mentioned in the Video Game Rentals update, we are currently performing a major overhaul of both systems. This work requires revisiting a significant amount of foundational code, so we want to ensure the improvements are both stable and thoroughly tested before release. Current Progress:
Approximately 40% complete
Current Target:
Late June release window
We’ll continue sharing progress updates as development moves forward.
Fixed an issue where mixed movies were not showing up in the Store Manager
This is just a quick hotfix - apologies for the inconvenience caused by this regression.
The team is back hard at work on the Pier 67 update (scheduled for end of May) and the RentNet update (scheduled for the end of June).
As a reminder, we are expecting to see massive performance and employee improvements in that RentNet update, if not sooner.
Feel free to comment with any questions or comments you have!
You can now stock your store with 3 different video game consoles, each with a variety of games
Video games provide a strong loyalty boost and generate solid revenue
Rentals behave like tapes… but no rewinding required
More video games are planned for future updates
Create custom displays for your bats and scooters in-store or in storage
More weapons are coming next month with the Pier 67 update
Improved filtering to help you manage large inventories (especially after heavy Movie Mixing)
You can now see rental prices for tapes and video games directly in the Store Manager
Snacks and Toys now grant +1 loyalty per purchase
Movie Mixing UI now displays your current money on hand
Increased compass size to reduce icon clutter
Added a “Sell Item” HUD prompt when holding sellable items
Added Min/Max buttons to the sell screen for faster bulk selling
Improved ceiling décor placement UI
Added “Add Friend” button to the main menu for easier party invites
Tourists now have slightly more visual variety (more coming soon)
Fixed tapes getting visually stuck in rewind stations
Fixed multiple inventory interaction issues
Fixed ladder chain stretching in unintended ways
Employees no longer charge wages on save/load
Fixed various Sloshy Bar edge cases
Picking up the Repo Man station now resets his position if he gets stuck
(We’re still working on the root cause here)
We want to be transparent - there are two major areas we’re actively addressing:
Late-game performance degradation
Employee AI (especially restocking behavior)
We’re currently performing a significant under-the-hood overhaul to tackle both.
Progress update:
~25% complete
Development velocity is increasing
Our goal is to have these fully addressed by the RentNet Update (late June) - or sooner if possible.
New minigames
New rewards
…and maybe something extra at the casino 👀
Major performance optimizations
Full Employee AI overhaul
Controller + Steam Deck support
First wave of localization (languages TBD)
We’re continuing to expand:
Movie Mixing content
Store decorations
Player cosmetics
As always, your feedback is shaping the direction of Rewind 99- keep it coming.
Hey everyone! This update brings a mix of improved features, multiplayer improvements, and stability fixes as we continue polishing the experience.
Steam Invite Button
Added a dedicated invite button in the main menu to bring friends into your lobby
Steam Overlay Detection
The invite button now automatically shows or hides depending on whether the Steam Overlay is available
Movie Mixer Info Tab
The Movie Mixing Station now includes an info tab to help you understand how it works
Expanded Storage Room
Increased available storage space
Movement keybinds now work correctly across:
Builder Mode
Scooters
Minigames
Vehicles
You can now only sell items that have a valid price
(No more selling random junk for free money)
Fixed an issue where selling an item as a client would open the sell window on the host
Sloshy Bar now correctly respects its cooldown after picking up and placing items
Vendor pallets now hold up to 50 items (previously 10)
Fixed cosmetic items not applying correctly in certain situations
Fixed cosmetic vendor items disappearing after purchase when using “Show Locked Only”
Fixed multiplayer save data not loading properly for clients
Fixed employees not appearing correctly after loading a save
Fixed a crash when the store was destroyed during a loading sequence
Fixed potential crashes when closing the game while logged in
Fixed Steam Rich Presence not updating correctly when joining a lobby
Fixed an issue where joining via Steam invite would fail on cold launch
Fixed conflicts when joining a new lobby after leaving a previous one
Fixed items occasionally being added to the shopping cart twice
Temporarily disabled the Ladder Keychain to address a stretching issue
Various lighting fixes
St. Patrick’s Day decorations have been removed
(The luck has run out… for now)
Thanks again for all the feedback - we’re continuing to improve performance, multiplayer stability, and overall polish with every patch. More updates soon! 📼
Hey everyone! We’ve got a smaller update focused on new functionality and customer behavior fixes to improve the overall flow of your store.
Item Selling
You can now sell items directly from your inventory
Default keybind is C
This system will continue to expand with more features in future updates
Custom Sell Keybind
Added a keybind option in Settings so you can remap the sell action
Customer Genre Preferences
Customers now properly seek out shelves that match their preferred genre
Fixed issues where customers could get stuck or fail to reach shelves
Fixed customers not completing shopping properly before heading to checkout
Fixed navigation issues with checkout queues and shelf interactions
Fixed an issue where certain assets could fail to load or cause crashes
Hey everyone! We've rolled out a quick hotfix focused on customer behavior improvements. We will continue to push out improvements as we are able to test and validate them!
Fixes & Improvements
We have significantly reduced the "Can't Reach Shelf" message preventing customers from shopping as expected. There are still known edge cases that we are tracking down, but this improvement was significant enough where we wanted to get it out!
More to come next week - appreciate you all so much!
The map has been fully overhauled for St. Paddy’s Day (yes, we know we are late...) - we hope you enjoy the festive vibes!
Explore the world to find hidden pots of gold. Give them a swing and watch the money bags burst out 💰
Stop by Over It Outfitters to grab a limited-time St. Paddy’s hat
Added 1 new Toy to stock in your store
Added 3 new Snacks to stock in your store
All Side Hustles now include an “Info” button so you can quickly learn what they do
We hear you loud and clear - late rentals were WAY too common
Reduced delinquent rental frequency by 30–40%
Late Rental Negotiation now gives fewer store decor items
We saw the streams… the roof decor meta had to go… 😅
You can now trigger the cat easter egg at Probe N Go every night
Yes… this was accidentally not the case before. Our bad.
Performance Improvements
We’ve made a number of optimization improvements, especially for larger save files
There’s still more work to do here - and we’ll keep improving this every patch
Fixed an issue where customers could get stuck trying to access unreachable shelves
Improved shelf placement for certain problematic retail items
Improved inventory interactions
Dragging, dropping, and moving items (especially from Lost & Found → Dumpster) should feel much smoother
Fixed multiple issues across various Side Hustles
Fixed a bug where the “Fully Expanded” achievement would not trigger after purchasing the Tier 4 store expansion
Quicksave slot now displays appropriate store information (level, XP, money)
Candy Dealer SFX now respect audio user settings
Fixed issue that could cause store exp to get stuck
Character falling out of the world will now trigger a force respawn through the knockout component, properly restoring them and avoiding a soft-lock
Fixed missing final claw machine collectible
Fixed occasional issue where shelf items could be invisible for clients under severe latency
Use auto-detected graphics RHI instead of forcing DX12
Thanks again for all the feedback, streams, and fun - it genuinely helps us make the game better every day.
More updates soon 🍀
Rewind 99 Patch Notes Hey everyone! We've rolled out a new update focused on employee behavior improvements, bug fixes, and overall stability. Thanks for all the feedback since launch - it’s helping us polish things quickly. Employee Improvements
Employees will now load and unload Tier 2 Rewind Machines.
Employees will now unload rewind stations even if they don’t currently have tapes to rewind.
Fixed an issue where employees could place Mixed Movies onto the wrong genre shelves.
Fixes & Improvements
Fixed an issue where players who reached max level would receive zero customer activations.
Store Manager now refreshes the item list when a Mixed Movie is authored.
Fixed the INVALID message when joining/leaving multiplayer lobbies - it now displays proper information.
Added support for standard number keys at the checkout station for credit card entry.
The Sudoku option is now more reliable and should allow players to recover from any bad state they are in (i.e. falling through map, etc.)
Addressed a rare issue where grid cells could remain permanently disabled after moving grid objects.
Being knocked down while using a station will no longer cause the station to respawn at the hospital.
Added clear player-facing messages when items cannot be placed on grids reserved for specific side hustles.
Players can now sprint while in Builder Mode.
Various crash fixes and stability improvements.
Gameplay Adjustments
Fixed an issue where slot machines were rewarding more money than intended.
Progression pacing has been slightly slowed to better balance the economy.
Audio
Improved overall music quality for a better listening experience.
This is a tiny hotfix we wanted to get out, mostly to bump our version number, which will help us determine if the last Hotfix (#1)'s crash fixes succeeded by allowing us to compare version numbers for our incoming crash reports.
Fixed an issue that caused Employees assigned to Restocking to get stuck if they had an Unrewound tape in their inventory
Updated the discord link on the main menu
Hotfix #1 Since launching this morning, we have been carefully examining crashes and errors reported to us. We have identified multiple unique crashes that we are investigating. This will be the first of several forthcoming Hotfixes to address crashes with clear call stacks as they occur. Please also feel free to email us with any crashes or technical problems you're having at [email protected]. Change Log
Fixed an object leak that occurred whenever players used the Morph sliders in the Character Customization UI. This object leak would degrade performance and, if used for long enough, could crash the game by exceeding the UObject max limit
Fixed a crash related to Inventory that occurred when picking up an item on overlap
Improved the texture resolution for a prop item
Other crashes that have been reported that we are investigating:
3 different crashes related to Inventory/Items
1 crash when loading a saved game
1 crash when closing the game (this will cause the game to not finish closing promptly when exited)
Hey everyone - Richard here, the director of Rewind 99.
After a wild development journey (and a very wild Steam Next Fest), I’m incredibly excited to say that Rewind 99 is officially out now in Early Access on Steam.
To celebrate the launch, the game is currently 20% off, which makes this the best time to jump into the world of Reshoot Springs.
In Rewind 99, you run the last video rental store in town while trying to survive the rise of a corporate streaming rival known as RentNet.
Stock shelves. Help customers. Customize your store. Explore the town.
And of course…
Unlock some extremely questionable side hustles.
You can install things like:
An Illicit Candy Dealer that send customers into spending frenzies
A Claw Machine filled with prize capsules
A Mechanical Bull you can bet on
A Repo Men who recover overdue rentals
An underground Fight Club where you train your fighter for epic prize fights
Pizza Delivery, Arcades, and more
Because running a normal video store would obviously be too easy.
Early Access means the game will continue to grow with your feedback.
We already have plans for:
More town content
Additional store upgrades
Multiplayer improvements
Lots of bug fixes and polish
The feedback we received during Steam Next Fest helped shape the game a lot already, and I’m excited to keep improving things with the community.
Seriously - thank you to everyone who:
Played the demo
Left a review
Reported bugs
Streamed the game
Told a friend about the project
Watching people discover this weird little video rental world has been one of the most rewarding parts of making the game.
If you’ve been waiting to jump in, now’s a great time to start your video rental empire.
And remember…
Be kind. Please rewind.
- Richard Creator of Rewind 99 📼
We’ve been hard at work improving the Rewind 99 demo, and this update includes a large number of bug fixes, improvements, and some new polish across the game.
The biggest change: the demo is now about 60% longer. Instead of ending Tuesday, the demo now runs through Wednesday (in game time), giving players more time to explore Reshoot Springs, build their store, and unlock side hustles.
Below are the major changes included in this update.
A huge focus of this patch was stability and multiplayer issues.
• Many fixes to the Rewind Station • Fixed an issue that caused some players to get stuck on the title sequence • Mirror, rewind station, and cosmetics vendor no longer break for other players after one player uses them • Quick use bar UI no longer breaks after using character customization and other stations • Employee Rental Returns task now works correctly • Settings menu changes (like volume) now also apply in the main menu
Remote Client Fixes
• NPCs no longer clip through the ground while walking • Fixes to Character Customization purchases and previews for remote players
• Fixed an issue where the game sometimes continued running in the background after closing • Posters now disable interaction when hidden after store expansion • Players can no longer get stuck inside the delivery truck cab • Character customization now supports Q/E cycling and has proper button sounds • F5 no longer triggers an unintended debug mode (it now quicksaves properly) • Changing skin color no longer changes face type • Store Manager unlocks now update without needing to switch tabs (except Mixed Movies... for now) • “Nobody’s here” prompts no longer appear incorrectly near exits • Fixed collectible sound behavior for multiplayer sessions • Event feed now works properly for remote clients • Discord button now links to the correct server • Map texture blur fixed on some machines • Claw machine sound now respects audio settings • Customers no longer get stuck outside the store after Late Rental Negotiations • “Sweeten the Deal” items no longer leak into rental returns
Alongside bug fixes, we’ve added some additional polish and improvements.
• Demo length increased by 60% (now ends Wednesday) • New UI button sound effects • Footstep sounds for walking, running, and landing • Updated tutorial messages • Improved key hint UI • Added read-only key bindings to settings • Added money update notifications • Improved QuickUse bar font size • Item pickup detection improved (you can now grab floating items more easily) • Customers may now pay with $50 bills (lol sorry)
Environment & World Updates
• Improved store elevated area mesh and rail placement • Ambient NPCs dancing near boomboxes now actually play music • Roulette station now includes warning signs (it’s still very buggy!) • Mrs. Rewind prop moved to a purchasable item • Added Probe N Go station easter egg hints • Added university banners to the map • Multiple mesh and texture artifact fixes
Thanks to everyone who has been playing the demo and sending feedback. Your reports are directly helping us stabilize the game before Steam Next Fest.
If you haven’t tried the demo yet, now’s a great time to jump in.
And if you have - now's a great time to jump back in! Richard Heyne Game Designer
Hey everyone,
The Rewind 99 demo is officially live on Steam!
You can jump in right now and start running the world’s last video rental store - stocking shelves, managing customers, and finding creative ways to survive while RentNet tries to take over. Keep in mind the demo only lets you play the first 40 minutes of the game, but you're always welcomed to do multiple runs!
So far the response has been amazing. Thank you for the support, feedback, and wishlists.
And we’re just getting started.
We’re preparing a special update for Steam Next Fest, arriving this Monday. We’ll have more to share very soon.
If you’ve already played the demo, we’d love to hear what you think. Your feedback is helping shape the game.
If you haven’t yet:
Try the demo
Add the game to your wishlist + follow it
Tell us what kind of store chaos you want to see next
Thanks again for supporting Rewind 99.
Richard Heyne Game Designer
p.s. I’ll also be hanging out in the community hub reading feedback and bug reports.
About
This page aggregates Steam news feeds, patch notes, and developer announcements for Rewind 99, 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 Rewind 99 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.