STONKS-9800: Stock Market Simulator news & patch notes

• Discounted real estate listings are now shown first.
• Added sorting for real estate listings and a Residential / Commercial filter.
• Failed Shareholders’ Meetings now actually lower the share price. Previously, meetings that said “investors were disappointed” raised the price, while skipping a meeting improved the result instead of making it worse.
• The Portfolio no longer hides a company placed in the last row of a page. Long company names are now shortened instead of overlapping the Shares column.
• Companies with a single owner no longer hold Shareholders’ Meetings. Board support is also no longer required, and stock splits do not cause a market reaction.
• The investor at the bar now offers an actual deal instead of simply giving you money. They buy newly issued shares at the current price, and you can decline the offer.
• The “Realtor’s Number” item now works at any Reputation level.
• Fixed a crash on the Relationships screen when Amy’s relationship level reached the maximum.
• Added a few more defensive checks to make the game less likely to crash.

• Buying and selling shares can now immediately affect the share price. This time, there are safeguards against exploits that would feel more like bugs than actual market manipulation.

• Some of this sudden price change may fade by the next day.

• Marrying into a wealthy family now grants a permanent seat on the Board of Directors instead of one that disappears the next day.

• The blackjack table limit now applies per hand. Splitting and doubling down will correctly place the full second bet, allowing you to play both hands properly. Insurance now costs half of the original bet and pays 2:1, as stated.

• Issuing shares can no longer increase your ownership above 100%. Hopefully.

• Fixed a bug that could reduce the player’s share count overnight.

• Fixed a crash in very long playthroughs when the company world became full.

• For modmakers: added an early input_capture hook that runs at the start of the input frame, before the game reads mouse input, keyboard input, or hotkeys. UI mods can use it to intercept and clear a click or key press, allowing the mod’s interface to consume the input before the base game reacts to it. See the modding guide for details and limitations. Nothing changes for players without mods.

This update adds candlestick charts, improves balance, and fixes a long list of issues with saves, marriage events, contacts, mini-games, and more.

New & Balance Changes

• Added candlestick charts to the stock market. You can switch between chart types using the button in the top-right corner of the company window.

• Rebalanced company sectors. The Financial sector is no longer the obvious best option, and companies in other sectors are now more competitive.

• The 1 trillion loan now requires Financial Success level 5.

• NPC companies now pay dividends more consistently. Previously, their dividend payout ratio could drop all the way to zero.

Fixes

• The “+” button in Salary management now always increases the selected salary as intended.

• Manual save slots no longer get stuck at 10/10 after deleting a save. Existing affected slots will repair themselves automatically.

• Investment Center projects no longer disappear after loading a save.

• Autosave slot descriptions no longer show the wrong amount of money if you quit the game while it is saving.

• The number of shares won in poker no longer decreases overnight.

• Blackjack should no longer freeze in certain situations.

• Pointless stock sale offers will no longer appear in very late-game, high-wealth saves.

• Typing the letter “Z” during character creation no longer acts as the Back button.

• A hired Loyal Bro now appears in the Salary management menu.

• No more birthday parties at the bar while you are on vacation.

• Contact actions now apply only to the active contact instead of every open contact window.

• Gifts now always go to the character whose window is currently active.

• The Charity Fund screen no longer remains open in the Arcade after accepting an invitation by phone.

• The Hoshimari pause screen now shows the correct exit hint: the button must be held down.

• Fixed a crash when opening a Shareholders’ Meeting for a company with no directors.

• Fixed a crash when opening the karaoke song selection with an empty song list.

• Board seats gained through marriage no longer disappear the next day. Marrying into a CEO’s family now grants actual board trust instead of only a formal seat.

• Marriage events no longer trigger while the player is unavailable — in the hospital, in jail, or on vacation.

• Fixed marriage events causing two walks to overlap or sending the player into the city twice.

• Starting with the CEO background is now much more viable. Your company begins with departments and staff, and a larger IPO attracts more applicants during the first few weeks. Previously, this start would almost always get you fired.

• Lottery prizes now respect the Luck setting: with No Luck, you cannot win, while Small Luck gives smaller prizes.

• Fixed birthday gifts sometimes not being awarded at all. You can also no longer claim the gift repeatedly by leaving and re-entering the bar on the same day.

Localization

• Updated the Korean localization.

A major new update (DEFINITELY the last one before the full release of version 1.0) – you can now enter into a marriage of convenience, meet your friends’ relatives, and evade corporate tax through charitable donations.

Family Connections

• Relationships between characters: city residents now have lives of their own — families and friends. Every person may have a spouse, parents, children, and co-worker friends.

• Once you become close enough to a character, you can view their social circle: spouse, parents, children, and friends. Click on a portrait to jump directly to that person.

• A friend you spend time with may introduce you to one of their relatives or close friends, giving you a new contact and a friendship bonus.

• Marriage! You can now get married in two ways: receive an arranged marriage proposal (Omiai) from a CEO or board member offering their son or daughter, or propose directly to one of your close contacts.

• Wedding Ceremonies: Choose a wedding budget ranging from modest to extravagant. More expensive weddings grant additional reputation and opportunities to meet influential guests. After the wedding, your spouse's family becomes available as contacts.

• If your father-in-law or mother-in-law runs a company or serves on its board, you may receive a board seat and a share of company stock.

• Family Bonus: It is now easier to acquire companies run by relatives or friends of your spouse.

• Close friends who run companies may invite you to join their board of directors.

• Your spouse may invite you out on weekends and occasionally pull you away from work during the week. Neglecting the relationship can eventually lead to divorce and division of assets.

  Please note: You cannot propose to Amy or Sae yet. Their romance storylines will be more complex and are planned for Version 1.0.

Difficulty Settings & Menu Updates

• New difficulty options: investment success rates and economic factors such as taxes, fees, and commissions can now be adjusted.

• Hovering over a difficulty setting now displays a short explanation.

• Menu panels no longer slide off-screen on ultrawide displays during transitions.

• Under-the-hood menu system improvements make it easier to add new content in future updates.

Company Management

• Character Traits are no longer revealed immediately. You can discover them through rumors, personal conversations, or employee training.

• Companies now have to pay taxes as well.

• Players can now donate money from company reserve funds to charity, slightly reducing their taxable income.

• Players can transfer company reserve funds into their own charitable foundation.

• Several new random events related to charity have been added.

Quality of Life Improvements

• Some windows can now be moved around, multiple windows can be opened at once, and you can switch between them. This is the first step toward a more classic desktop OS-style interface.

• Character dialogue windows now allow you to click a portrait to view detailed information about that character.

• The vehicle list now supports column sorting, and the car you currently drive always appears first.

• The property list now places your current residence at the top.

• The game now warns you before switching to a less comfortable vehicle.

• Improved gamepad and keyboard controls.

Fixes & Optimization

• Real estate calculations have been optimized. The game should now experience far fewer daily slowdowns when you own large amounts of property, and click-related stutters have been eliminated.

• Various fixes for save files, company bankruptcies, and mini-games.

• A second connected gamepad with stick drift will no longer hijack controls.

• Fixed incorrect gamepad slot input detection in the calendar and character screens.

• Fixed several game crashes.

• Fixed a rare freeze/crash that could occur while playing poker.

• Fixed Steam Workshop mod installation: previously only the first subfolder of a mod was being copied.

• Fixed a crash when opening vehicles or properties added by mods.

• The bar_draw mod hook now works correctly.

• Added mod_unregister_func; the modding guide has been updated to match the current code.

• New wealth overview window - easily see what makes up your fortune: company shares, car collection, real estate, and more.

• Bank deposits are now included in your total fortune.

• Minor under-the-hood improvements to market reactions to make them feel a bit more realistic without going overboard.

• Closing a short position now correctly deducts money based on the current market price.

• Closing shorts no longer consumes shares from your long positions.

• You can now separately track the money earned from short selling and your current debt, making it easier to judge when it’s profitable to close positions.

• Friends with higher friendship levels now provide genuinely better bonuses for investment projects.

• Salaries no longer crash overnight when the market falls - they now adjust gradually over several weeks.

• Stock charts now properly refresh after every trade (sometimes they failed to update before).

• Insider tips will no longer target already-bankrupt companies.

• Save slots can now be sorted either by number or by date. Some players may find numbered sorting more convenient.

• Old horse names will no longer incorrectly appear in the betting interface.

• Newly created companies now receive easier board objectives during their first year.

• Investments now have slightly lower average success chances — they were previously too easy.

• Fixed a bug where the player’s ownership percentage could suddenly drop under certain conditions.

• Fixed several Japanese text inconsistencies related to the word “temple.”

• Fixed a bug where some popup windows could not be closed with the Escape key.

• Fixed many other bugs and crashes.

New modding features:

• Support for adding custom Cars / Houses / Art.

• New modding functions: before_game_save, save_data, and load_data — allowing mods to store custom data inside save files.

• New helper functions: mods_is_enabled, mods_get_metadata, and mods_list_active — making it easier to manage compatibility and interaction between multiple mods.

• New event hooks: on_stock_buy, on_stock_sell, on_company_create, on_company_liquidate, on_human_hire, on_human_fire, and on_day_end.

For more details, see the modding_guide.txt file in the game folder.

• Save system reworked - each save slot is now tied to a specific game run/character. Inside each slot, you can have up to 10 manual saves, 10 autosaves, and 5 recent quick saves, all within that single playthrough.

• Loan interest rates now change dynamically based on the in-game economic situation.

• Company balance adjustments: companies now tend to generate lower income relative to their size.

• Company income is now calculated daily instead of monthly. You can view daily income in the “Statistics” tab. However, accumulated funds are still distributed and transferred to reserves once per month.

• Firing employees can now reduce internal approval, especially if the person is a board member.

• Mass salary increases or large bonus payouts may also negatively affect board approval.

• More events can now impact your reputation within the company, such as employees leaving your firm.

• Notifications now appear in the corner of the screen when your approval rating changes.

• New biography “Golden Boy” added - unlocked if you’ve previously become the top player in Tokyo. It grants 5 million yen for a faster start in new runs.

• Larger bank loans are now available depending on your financial reputation level.

• Amy’s outfits are now permanently unlocked across all save files and new games.

• You can now enable weekly or monthly autosave in the settings.

• Yakuza harassment has been reduced - they appear less often and will eventually stop bothering you after a year or two.

• Several new random events added.

• New time-limited events now appear in city locations - if you see an exclamation mark over a building, visiting it will trigger a special event.

• The Talent Program from the charity foundation will no longer change your employees’ traits without your consent.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed an issue where stock prices could drop too drastically after a company acquisition.

• Fixed a bug where some goods prices or the yen exchange rate could go below zero.

• Fixed an issue where the purchase multiplier button could break after being used in the commodities tab.

• Fixed incorrect descriptions of bank interest rates at certain financial reputation levels.

• Fixed incorrect friendship bonus descriptions for Amy (levels were mismatched with months).

• Fixed a bug in loan expense calculations - profits now correctly account for interest only.

• Fixed incorrect payout calculations when a company goes bankrupt.

• Fixed visual issues with building sprites in the news window.

• Fixed an issue with Amy’s prestige-related task detection.

• Fixed many other minor bugs and crashes (hopefully).

• A new character, Sae, is now available at the bar. She works as a bartender — you can chat with her, get horse racing tips, build friendship, and play blackjack for special rewards. Friendship doesn’t provide gameplay bonuses yet, but this will be added in future updates.

• Horse racing has been expanded: seasons are now implemented, more horses are available (generated at the start of a save), each with unique traits that can be discovered in the bar and elsewhere.

• When you learn a hint about a horse, its trait becomes revealed to you.

• You can now review results of recent races to make more informed bets.

• Weather system added - including a weekly forecast. Weather affects horse races, track conditions, and can even cause major disruptions that temporarily shut down the stock market.

• Sae and Amy can now give you advice on horse racing.

• Inventory is now viewable - in addition to fishing bait, you can see all your gifts and special items.

• You can now quickly buy large batches of stocks (1000+ shares) on the market, if you have enough funds.

• Various UI fixes related to fishing.

Over the past month, I’ve been pushing a lot of small updates with various fixes. They might not be very noticeable, but the game should be more stable overall now. I’m also actively working on the Story Mode and hope to release the full version of the game with it this summer (I hope).

Here are some things that were corrected yesterday and today:

• The Steam Workshop mod uploader is now working properly, so you can try uploading mods again.

• Music no longer stops when leaving menus or saving the game.

• Fixed an issue where first and last names were displayed in the wrong order in some messages.

• Fixed an issue where the character Kobashi Tetsuya’s name was displayed incorrectly in some languages, along with a few other minor bugs related to him.

• Fixed a bug that caused a black screen after interacting with the Yakuza.

Various situations that could cause game crashes have been fixed. For example, if the game was left in sleep mode on a PC.

Also, the “buy all properties” button should no longer sometimes display “empty” broken properties.

• A new Christmas outfit for Amy has been added! To see it, you’ll need to own a company, have a certain level of friendship with Amy, and reach Christmas in-game.

• You can now choose Amy’s default outfit from among the unlocked costumes.

• A festive new Christmas song has been added to karaoke!

• Three new Christmas-themed claw machine toys are available during December.

• At the board meeting, the board now assigns you tasks for the upcoming year. Completing these improves your company’s performance and your reputation.

• Mod Support & Steam Workshop! You can now create and install mods through the Steam Workshop.

  Check out the modding guide here: https://stonks.jp/mod

• Try out a few of my sample mods and explore how they’re built!

If you own STONKS-9800 on Steam, you’ll find a mod_uploader folder in your game files — it includes a tool to upload your own creations.

• Message History: You can now review recent messages and your past choices. Super useful if you accidentally skipped something. Click on chibi-Amy (or press H) to open it.

• In the game settings, you can now filter out certain types of notifications — such as minor news or property events. Great for late-game. (No, you still can’t mute messages from Mom.)

• You can now be taken to court for misusing charity foundation funds. Be careful with that money!

• Fixed a bug with the slider controls.

• Fixed an issue where deposits weren’t being returned (sorry about that).

• Fixed a bug where you could bypass trading limits on the stock market (yep, that one’s on me).

• Various other small bug fixes.

Dear players,

Those who step into the world of STONKs-9800and rise above the rest are never “ordinary players.”

You understand the pulse of the market, read the flow of capital, remain calm in volatility, and make

decisions in chaos—

STONKs-9800 will not stop where it is today.

We will continue rapid iteration based on community feedback,

refining art, gameplay, and performance,

reworking old systems and introducing new mechanics,

delivering an even deeper financial narrative experience.

📈 Today, we sincerely invite you to nominate Tokyo Stock God for the Steam Awards!

Be it a word of recognition, a suggestion, or a review—

every voice is energy that drives the game forward.

Thank you for walking alongside us.

Let the pride of investors shine upon this year’s Steam Awards.

Pachinko will no longer steal your money if you sell all the balls together.

Also fixed a bug with the contact window in the city.

Dear Players,

We want to thank you for your continued interest and support. We are thrilled to confirm that:

STONKS-9800: Stock Market Simulator will be exhibiting at WePlay Expo 2025.

We will be showcasing the game with an on-site demo, allowing players to experience the newest gameplay features and content firsthand. We invite everyone to visit our booth and share your feedback with us.

📍 Exhibition Info

Event: WePlay Expo 2025

Date: November 22 – November 23, 2025 (CST)

Venue: Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center, Hall H3

Thank you for your ongoing encouragement.

We look forward to meeting you all at WePlay!

• Rebalanced the charity foundation: sponsors now donate more money, and PR events cost more PR points.

• You can now run multiple PR events at once — handy if you’ve stockpiled a lot of PR points.

• Added a new Trust parameter for your foundation — it increases when money is used properly and decreases if funds just sit unused or mysteriously disappear. Higher trust attracts more sponsors and volunteers.

• You’re now more likely to encounter a mysterious stranger offering to help you siphon money from the foundation.

• The money flow in the foundation is now visually easier to understand.

• More tooltips and guidance have been added for managing the foundation.

• Rebalanced art objects — they’re no longer guaranteed to increase in value.

• Updated the Brazilian Portuguese localization.

• The art market now has the correct icon.

• Fixed a bug where company statistics were displayed incorrectly.

- You can now change your car if it breaks down

- Short trading has been fixed and is now a bit easier to understand

Hey everyone! New big update is here — a mix of things I promised, and a few extras that snuck in along the way. Thanks again for all your support and ideas — this project has grown a lot thanks to you!

What’s new:

• You can now open your own charity foundation! It’ll collect donations and support good causes... or help you quietly lower your taxes and move money around. Depends on how you want to play it.

• There's now an art market, where you can invest in paintings and sculptures. Some of them can gain a lot of value over time — or not. It's a gamble!

• New Prestige stat that tracks your overall status — from real estate to art to stocks. Right now it’s mostly for achievements, but I’ll be using it more in future updates.

• A new pachinko machine has been added — good luck!

• New setting: you can now choose to auto-stop time at the start of weekdays, weekends, or every day.

• Stock market days now end based on your total influence in a company (not just how many shares you bought). Should help a lot with big companies.

• Also, the money display system was updated — now supports amounts way bigger than a trillion.

Company management:

• Expense sliders are now easier to use.

• Projects now give your company more reserve cash.

• Added a Stats tab to help you track company progress over time — and prep for future features.

Fixes & tweaks:

• The “invite to shareholder meeting” checkbox now works again.

• Red X case in the UFO machine is now counted properly.

• UFO machine sound now respects your volume settings (sorry if it was loud before 😅).

• Tons of smaller fixes — including some missing localization lines that are now back.

That’s it for now! Some stuff I originally planned for 0.8 still needs time, but I’m aiming to finish it all by the end of the year — including mod support, a real tutorial, and tasks from your board of directors.

Thanks again for sticking with me — I’ll keep building!

A smaller patch this time, mostly focused on community-requested features and general improvements. Thanks to everyone for your feedback and support!

Company Management:

• Mergers and full buyouts are now separate actions with their own dedicated menu

• New salary adjustment panel for your employees

• Department view now shows icons for required character traits

• If you run a large industrial company, you might now see your own brand cars on the market

• If your company exceeds the staff limit, Amy will automatically fire the weakest employees to stay within the cap

Friendship & Contacts:

• New achievement + fixed some achievement icons for Steam

• If friendship is 40 or more, you can now invite a character to hang out downtown (not just the bar)

• Close friends are now more likely to call you instead of random contacts

• You can now ask friends about the company they work at; these tips may also appear randomly in the bar

• Some rare events now give fewer new contacts

QoL Improvements:

• You can now switch between text input fields using Tab (without weird character bugs)

• When playing with a gamepad, a virtual keyboard now appears when selecting a text input

• "Back" and "Continue" buttons now have hotkeys during character creation

• Your car’s condition is now displayed as a percentage on the Home screen

• Scrollbars are more visible for long messages, with improved controls and a tooltip

Stock Market:

• New bulk buy option: x500 shares at once

• Market won’t react as strongly to small trades anymore, making it harder to artificially inflate stock prices

• Time is no longer spent when adjusting (but not confirming) a stock order

Balance Changes:

• Karaoke is now judged by performance percentage instead of points, making it easier to win

• Building upgrades are slightly more expensive, but max-quality buildings are a bit cheaper overall

• Pachinko ball physics are now a bit more random

• Trying some improvements to AI behavior in poker

Fixes:

• Fixed UI glitches in the fishing mini-game

• Fixed bug where you could scroll other sections during character creation

• Fixed issue where closing a contact screen during a phone call would freeze the sound

• Fixed a bug where the day wouldn’t end after visiting certain locations (like the arcade or karaoke), which could result in your car’s condition going into negative values