Terminator 2D: NO FATE news & patch notes

The unknown future rolls toward us… are you ready to face it again?

Patch 1 for Terminator 2D: NO FATE is now here, including several improvements and fixes. Check out the full list below, and a huge thank you to everyone who's been with us on this journey: your support means everything to the team!

New features

• Added a completion percentage to the menu so players can see how close they are to fully finishing the game. The percentage is based on how many paths have been unlocked, difficulties, achievements, secrets and ranks across levels. Location: Title Screen, click on START or OPTIONS (top right corner).

• When using the Save Progress feature in Story Mode, the player will now restart at the last checkpoint reached (where applicable). Previously, the player would have to restart the level. Location: START/ STORY MODE, after level continue/exit. 

  *Excludes Desert Town (1st level) and does not fully apply to levels which do not feature medkit pickups: Biker Bar, Truck Chase, Freeway Chase, Steel Mill, Cyberdyne Infiltration/Assault and Cyberdyne Annihilation (T-800).

  Biker Bar - player starts inside The Corral if reached.

  Truck Chase - player starts at the T-1000 truck bridge scene if reached.

  Cyberdyne Annihilation (T-800) - player starts at the boss fight if reached.

  Cyberdyne Infiltration/Assault - player starts at the most recent elevator floor reached, not the medkit.

  Freeway Chase and Steel Mill - beginning of level restart only.

• The Story Mode end screen now indicates to the player if a hidden Continue has been picked up in a particular level. Very useful for unlocking the “SKYNET SECRET FINDER” achievement.

• The levels in the game which have been reached whilst playing will now unlock for Level Training. Previously, the level had to be completed to unlock. Location: START/LEVEL TRAINING.

• Added streamer music mode (on/off toggle). This bypasses the issues surrounding licensed tracks for streamers. Location: AUDIO.

• Added the T-800 bonus section to the Cyberdyne HQ: Infiltration level on the primary Story Mode path. Also added it to Arcade Mode. Location: STORY MODE & ARCADE MODE.

• Show Tutorials (on/off toggle) for controls: swifter Story Mode experience for long-time/repeat players. Location: OPTIONS/ACCESSIBILITY.

• Added plasma turrets to the HK-BOMBER boss that appears on the Future War: Resistance level. This also resulted in a balancing change to this fight.

• Improvement made to the Freeway Chase level. When Sarah is handed a new weapon by John, a “weapon upgrade” sound effect will play. In addition to this, there is also new text which informs the player of which weapon they have been handed.

• View Credits added to the Options screen. Also gives the opportunity to listen to one of the fantastic music tracks from Featurecast. Location: TITLE SCREEN.

Achievements

• “Achieve the S Rank on every level” was proving tough for players to trigger. We have now added all of the 19 levels to the STORY MODE end screen. This will show players that there are more levels which need to be completed to trigger this achievement. 

• The male hospital security sprite at the end of the Hospital level needed his positioning and movement adjusted - this previously made the “Stealth Ninja” achievement too challenging to unlock.

• Improvements made to the unlocking of the “PARKOUR” achievement. 

• Improvements made to the unlocking of the “MAN’S BEST FRIEND” achievement. 

• Improvements made to the unlocking of the “HUNTER KILLER” achievement.

• Improvements made to the unlocking of the “FIND ASSAULT RIFLES” achievement. 

• Improvements made to the unlocking of the “COMPLETE STORY HARD S” achievement.

Art

• Sarah's 'quick descend from a ladder' animation frame adjusted for an improved look.

• A shadow has been added to the end-of-level truck for the Freeway Chase level. 

• Redraw of Sarah’s crouching frame for the Pescadero hospital level.

• Portrait of Sarah for the Future War: Resistance level changed to match her level appearance.

• Adjustment to the frames for John Connor’s jog animation for the Desert Town level.

• The bonus item on the Police Station level has been visually improved to suit the location. 

Gameplay Design

• Removed the auto melee attack by Sarah, as this would result in unfair damage and was frustrating for players. 

• Changed the hitbox size for the jet flames in Cyberdyne Factory due to the possibility of unfair damage when jumping nearby,

Layering issues

• When the HK-Aerial was destroyed, the explosion was positioned on the wrong layer (now behind the sprite).

• The barrel explosion in Desert Town was on the wrong layer when covering an enemy who was above, has now been corrected.

• In the Truck Chase level when John is knocked off his bike, he was on the wrong layer. This has been corrected.

Level Design

• Applied a visual fix to the missile attack for the Centurion boss on Future War and Future War Redemption. This attack previously showed 2 missiles being fired into the air but only 1 would attack the player on the Easy Money difficulty.

• For the Cyberdyne Research and Cyberdyne Factory levels, added the “knock away into other enemies” feature for the ceiling attack turrets when destroyed.

• For the Steel Mill level, an extra animation has been added where the T-1000 walks towards John Connor to terminate him after Sarah Connor has been terminated. This will only show in certain situations where possible due to level design.

Music & Sound

• Sound FX changed for the T-800 shoulder charge attack to better suit this move.

• Sound FX added to the Steel Mill end scene where the T-800 fires a grenade at the T-1000.

• Fixed a music issue which appeared on 2 separate boss fights when the player died and used a continue. Firstly, on the Future War Retaliation level, the T-999999 first form boss fight had an issue where the level music would play instead. Secondly, on the Future War Redemption T-808s boss fight, the HK-Tank mid boss music would play instead.

• Death sound FX for T808s altered to suit their design more.

• Improved sound FX added to the end cutscene on the Future War: Redemption level in Story Mode (“Pull Trigger” branch).

• Sound FX added for the female hospital security guard when she lands on the floor after Sarah jumps down and drops on her.

Score/Farming

• A fix has been put in for the hazmats on the Cyberdyne Factory boss to prevent points farming.

• Projectiles will now reach further into the corners to help prevent corner exploits for the Desert Town and Future War: Redemption boss fights.

Typos/Text

• Localisation: A few text issues fixed (Ukrainian and Dutch).

• Spanish: In Level 12, John's quote changed to "Es hora de volver..." from "Eso hora de volver...'.

• Spanish: "Contrataque" changed to "Contraataque".

• Spanish: In one of the endings, Sarah’s dialogue changed to "errores" from "errrores".

Other

• Freeway Chase: the gun that Sarah started with was wrong for Mother of the Future mode, so the level setup has been changed to match the level run (previously a pistol, now an assault rifle).

• Pescadero Hospital: fixed an issue with the first male hospital security guard (with the gun) where if you managed to get past him; he would keep shooting the gun in the direction of your travel when you are on both of the 2 floors beneath him.

• Fixed Centurion boss SFX in Future War on EASY MONEY difficulty - the bullet spray sound was too short.

• Desert Town: the green bandit on the ledge before Bandit Bob received a behaviour adjustment.

• Cyberdyne Research: made the lab boss a bit easier on "hard" difficulty.

• Cyberdyne Infiltration (Pistol): due to the newly added T-800 mini game, the top floor medkit was moved to a more suitable location.

• Steel Mill: applied a fix where Sarah will no longer jump around after firing the last shot at the T-1000. This prevents Sarah possibly “floating” in the air when at that scene.

• Arcade Mode - first Future War level: the bonus skull was not accessible in the hidden location; this has now been fixed.

• Two additional bonus skulls which featured in two of the Story Mode levels (Future War: Resistance and Hospital) have been removed to fix an issue where at times, they prevented players from receiving the “SKYNET SECRET FINDER” achievement. The skulls still remain in Story Mode when the player has 9 continues already and the player finds a secret Skynet pickup. They still remain in Arcade Mode, where they replace the Skynet secret pickups.

• Police Station: fixed an issue where, while in cover, going from crouch to standing, the cover animation replayed. Sarah will now jump to the end of her standing cover animation if she was previously crouching in cover.

• Future War: Retaliation: fixed a visual issue at the cutscene between the two stages of the final boss where the UI didn’t dip to white along with the background.

• Boss Rush (T-808s fight): one of the T-808s would take a while to get started at the beginning of the fight. This has been improved.

We’re excited to announce that Terminator 2D: NO FATE is now officially available on Steam®!

Experience Terminator 2: Judgment Day like never before in a brand-new 2D action side-scroller packed with explosive arcade gameplay and gloriously detailed pixel art!

ICYMI, watch the Terminator™ 2D: NO FATE Launch Trailer here:

In Terminator 2D: NO FATE, you’ll step into the roles of Sarah Connor, John Connor, and the T-800 across a story that blends iconic moments from the legendary film with brand-new missions and multiple endings. Battle the relentless T-1000, fight through the Future War, and face Skynet’s forces in a fast-paced, arcade adventure where every battle pushes you closer to determining humanity’s future…

We are excited to reveal the new Launch Trailer for Terminator 2D: NO FATE, bringing arcade action to Steam® on December 12, 2025!

Fans can dive into the new trailer to see Terminator 2D: NO FATE in action. The game lets players step into the shoes of legendary heroes Sarah Connor and the T-800 as they battle to escape the relentless T-1000, one of cinema’s deadliest killers. Future War missions place players in control of Resistance leader John Connor as he takes the fight directly to Skynet in the War Against the Machines. Blending classic moments from Terminator 2: Judgment Day with never-before-seen scenarios and multiple endings, this unique story puts the fate of humanity directly in your hands.

Hi everyone,

First of all, we want to start by saying thank you. We know you’ve waited longer than expected for the release of Terminator 2D: NO FATE, and we truly appreciate your patience and support throughout this journey.

The physical components for all editions have now finally arrived, following the ongoing delays that pushed us off our previous schedules. However, we now have to assemble the physical editions, which we need some time to do.

Because of this, we are moving the launch date of Terminator 2D: NO FATE to December 12, 2025, for all physical and digital versions of the game.

We are sincerely sorry for the repeated delays. We don’t take your patience for granted, and we never want to disappoint our community. Our goal has always been to deliver the game that you deserve, and we're almost there.

Thank you again for standing by us. We’re incredibly grateful, and we can’t wait for you to finally experience Terminator 2D: NO FATE soon.

- Reef Entertainment

Hi everyone,

We hope you’re all excited for Terminator 2D: NO FATE, launching on Steam soon! We’ve seen some comments in the Community Hub asking about the game’s difficulty, controls and accessibility options, so we thought we’d clarify some things for all of you here.

First things first, an exciting update: In addition to the game’s standard high score table, the Steam version will also feature an online leaderboard. That’s right, your highest score acquired on each game mode and difficulty will be ranked among all Steam players globally, so you can go from local arcade hero to worldwide T2D legend! Both offline and online high scores can be accessed via the game’s Main Menu.

Now onto some gameplay details, starting with the difficulty settings. When you begin playing T2D, you’ll be asked to choose your preferred difficulty setting. From easiest to hardest, the difficulties are Easy Money, No Problemo, Hasta La Vista, and Judgment Day (locked).

All difficulty settings are available across every game mode, but in Story Mode especially, this choice ensures that everyone can fully experience the T2D story regardless of skill level. For those new to the genre, we suggest starting with the No Problemo setting, which offers the most balanced experience, while players already familiar with the genre may prefer Hasta La Vista.

In general, the main differences between difficulty levels involve enemy placement and damage, the number of continues, and whether a time limit is active. Easy Money removes the time limit (with one level as the exception) and allows unlimited continues. Additionally, each difficulty also introduces more nuanced changes, such as adjustments to enemy positions, trap timing, and other gameplay elements.

Unlimited continues, no time limit, health pickups, more sporadic enemy placement, enemy HP reduced by 50%, period of invincibility after being hit: 3 seconds

Limited continues, time limit present, health pickups, standard enemy placement, period of invincibility after being hit: 2.5 seconds

Limited continues, time limit present, health pickups, begin each level with one less HP point, more frequent enemy placement, period of invincibility after being hit: 2 seconds

No continues, time limit present, no health pickups, changes to enemy/boss attack patterns, no control prompts, period of invincibility after being hit: 2 seconds

In terms of controls, the Steam version of T2D can be played with either keyboard or controller, and inputs can be re-mapped via the game’s Options Menu. In true retro style, the game was designed to be played using a d-pad, so we recommend a controller, especially for first-time players. The Steam version has support for most common controllers, including Xbox Series controllers, PS4 DualShock 4 controllers, and PS5 DualSense controllers. T2D also includes the option to turn off the camera shake and flash effect when an enemy is attacked, perfect for players who prefer a less frenetic visual experience during combat.

Finally, we would like to mention that the game will launch with a week-long 10% discount on Steam! Beyond that, we can also confirm that the full non-discounted price of the game on Steam will be $29.99 for the US market*. 

Thank you for reading and we hope you’re all looking forward to the game. The past and the future are set to collide in Terminator 2D: NO FATE, coming to Steam soon.

*local prices may vary.

“Three billion human lives ended on August 29th, 1997. The survivors of the nuclear fire called the war Judgment Day. They lived only to face a new nightmare: the war against the machines.”

28 years ago, humanity’s future was stolen by Skynet. Soon, it will be up to you to take it back.

The flames of the apocalypse are closing in…face them head-on in Terminator 2D: NO FATE, coming October 31st, 2025.

For more information about Terminator 2D: NO FATE, visit http://www.terminator2d.com.

Be sure to follow us on X and Facebook for continued updates on Terminator 2D: NO FATE and future projects!

Reef Entertainment is thrilled to unveil the new Terminator 2D: NO FATE Game Overview Trailer! The trailer gives an in-depth summary of Terminator 2D: NO FATE’s various gameplay systems, so you can be prepped and ready for battle when the game releases on October 31st, 2025.

Check out the full video to learn all about Terminator 2D: NO FATE’s several game modes, the game’s arcade-style scoring system and more!

Hi everyone,

Terminator 2D: NO FATE will now be releasing on October 31, 2025.

Coordinating and manufacturing the physical release has been a longer process than we anticipated, and as a result, we’ve had to delay the release of the game. We apologise, and thank you for bearing with us.

This delay will also give the team at Bitmap Bureau extra time to apply some final polish to the game itself and we would like all players to have the opportunity to experience the best version of T2D together. As such, this delay will apply to both physical and digital versions of the game.

From the moment we announced T2D, the response has been absolutely amazing, humbling, and truly much greater than anything we could have ever expected. So, to all of you, thank you so much for your support. We know that this news is disappointing and we appreciate your understanding.

We are dedicated to delivering the best release possible for Terminator 2D: NO FATE, and we look forward to sharing more of the game with you soon.

Sincerely,

Reef Entertainment

We are thrilled to announce an update to the Steam Page of Terminator 2D: NO FATE, the upcoming officially licensed 2D action side-scroller published by Reef Entertainment and developed by Bitmap Bureau. You can now head to the Steam Page to see a new video broadcast, including a first-time look at the complete Attract Sequence of the game, lovingly crafted to recapture the pixel-lit glory days of the arcade!

Additionally, fans can check out a behind-the-scenes look at how the team tackled the challenge of translating one of cinema’s most enduring cultural touchstones into a complete arcade experience, capturing the unforgettable scenes and moments that helped shape a generation.

Past and future collide in Terminator 2D: NO FATE, launching on October 31st, 2025. Don't forget to Wishlist now!