Planned Roadmap
Four things are being built here in parallel: The Dark Is Sleepless, our co-op survival horror; Undercarrier (formerly Dead Air), our new fast shooter; Tron OS, the agentic operating system we built to make a studio this small possible; and Quorra, which takes that same fleet inside the Unreal Engine editor. Builds and tests that already happened show the day they happened. Anything ahead is a target — a quarter or a year, or TBA where we have not set one — and it may shift as we prioritise quality.
The Dark Is Sleepless
A co-op survival horror built in Unreal Engine. Supporters get the alpha first, through our launcher; the countdown on our home page runs to the public pre-alpha. Alpha 0.1.2 release notes → · On the bench this week →
The Studio Behind the GameDone
The groundwork is real: the project stands in Unreal Engine, the agent fleet has been trained on hundreds of Unreal skills, Quorra works inside the editor, and Steamworks is wired into the studio tooling — so the game is built by the whole studio, not one pair of hands.
Engine Upgrade & Core FoundationDone
The Dark Is Sleepless runs on Unreal Engine 5.8 with the core loop standing on it — movement, combat, night lighting and the moment-to-moment feel.
v1 — The Vesper SliceDone
Vesper, Colorado, nine hours dark: the eighteen-objective story from the cold open at Substation 3 to the ending at Calder Dam, the LIT / DARK rule (the Sleepless are only dangerous where the power is on, and bodies near power rise), loot, weapons and survival — playable end to end in a packaged build.
v1.1 — Playing TogetherDone
A co-op lobby with host, join by LAN or direct IP, ready-up and travel into the valley — Steam sessions wired beside it with a standalone fallback — plus the launcher: sign in with your account, install, patch, and downloads gated to entitled supporters on the server.
v1.2 — Quorra, the Rule & the MapDone
Quorra on the radio and in the story, the electricity rule and wall cover, the real minimap and full map of Vesper, and the host freeze that blocked the alpha — found, fixed, and proven with two players. The menus were rebuilt from finished designs, the cast moved onto MetaHuman bodies, clothing became items you find and wear, and the story now plays in order all the way to the ending.
Alpha 0.1.1 — First Build to SupportersOut now
The first alpha you can play start to finish with a friend, out through the launcher. Before it went out, the release package was played by a host and a friend in one session and run from the cold open to the ending. It comes with saves and Continue, the character creator and the new menus. Release notes →
Alpha 0.1.2 — Playtest FixesOut now
Straight from the first supporter playtest, whose reports came in on 18 September: the first launch picks a graphics quality level for you and repairs installs stuck on the lowest settings, movement settles more smoothly, and the country and dam roads were rebuilt to follow the terrain. Release notes →
Alpha 0.1.3 — Rough Edges & FootworkIn progress
Already fixed in the project: no firing from inside cover, the menu highlights Continue when you have a save, clothing pickups have names, every player has their own name instead of “Merritt”, and MetaHuman feet slide about half as much. Next: other players no longer ice-skating in co-op, then the package. Work slowed for a week while the studio built the first Undercarrier playable, and is picking back up now. Progress so far →
A Darker, Nordic SoundIn progress
The soundtrack and the voices are moving to a dark Viking sound, the same direction as Undercarrier: war drums, folk and hip-hop. The story does not change.
A Smaller Download & a Character Pass
Updates that fetch only the files that changed and a disk check that asks for what the launcher actually uses, then hair, clothing fit, a walk of her own for female characters, lips that move, and internet play proven between two homes.
First Trailer
Real co-op gameplay from the alpha: the valley at night, the LIT / DARK rule, and what playing together looks like.
Steam Store Page
The Dark Is Sleepless goes up on Steam as Coming Soon, so you can wishlist it. Wishlists help a lot.
One Account, Every Way You Supported Us
The same account linking Undercarrier is getting: link Steam to your Sleepless Games account, and supporters claim their Steam access there. Patreon keeps going as it does now.
Steam Builds for Supporters & Testers
Alpha builds through Steam itself, beside the launcher: updates, then achievements and cloud saves as they land.
Smoother Frame Rates
A performance pass across Vesper, so a full co-op night holds a steady frame rate on PC and Steam Deck.
Character Creator & World Systems
Real character models and animation to replace the placeholders, a deep character creator with fully customisable appearance, plus the dynamic world layer: destructible environments and drivable vehicles for traversal.
Full Steam Integration
Co-op is in; this is the rest of the Steam feature set — Steam sessions and invites proven live, achievements, cloud saves, stats and rich presence.
Official Steam Deck Controls
Native Steam Input, with official Steam Deck controller configurations for solo and co-op.
Content & Accessibility
More areas and story content, then an accessibility pass so the pre-alpha is something you can actually sit down and play.
Final Art & Audio
Replacing the placeholders, ahead of Early Access.
Beyond Vesper
The story past the valley and the dam: new regions and what the Sleepless are, told the same way, one night at a time.
Public Pre-alpha
The date on the home page counter. Supporters are already playing by then — this is the wide build, and what we learn from it drives everything after.
Beta & Steam Early Access
The build widens from pre-alpha to open beta and then Steam Early Access on PC — solo or online co-op, Steam Deck supported, with community feedback steering what comes next.
Living World
Regular content updates — new regions, story chapters and seasonal events — plus native Linux support, on the road to the full release.
Release on Steam
The full 1.0 release. Date TBA; we’ll announce it, and every Early Access date before it, on Patreon and here at the same time.
Undercarrier (formerly Dead Air)
A fast, loud first-person shooter set in a fog-bound mill town that keeps turning into Hell, built in Unreal Engine 5.8. Act I is playable start to finish; V2.0.5, the last update with new content for a while, went to supporters on 18 October 2026, and fixes and polish come next. About the game → · Latest news →
Pre-release: all art, audio and other assets are work-in-progress placeholders and will be replaced before release.
Concept & DesignDone
The pitch, the pillars, the weapons and creatures, three sample maps and the art direction are written up, and the first concept art sets the look: a fog world in teal-grey and neon, an Otherworld in rust and ember.
V1 — Act I, “Graveyard Shift”Done
The whole first act: a prologue, six maps, a secret seventh and the Foreman at the paper mill. Guns plus melee combos, double jump, air dash and ziplines, and a roguelite layer inside the campaign — seeded runs, Frequencies, a Night Shift mode and booth upgrades.
V1.1Done
Hands and movement checked on every weapon and map, the maps dressed with real building kits and props, music and voice mixed in, and an in-game feedback form.
First Outside PlaytestUnder way
V1.1 went to our first tester outside the studio, and every build since has followed it. Their reports go straight from the in-game feedback form into our issue tracker.
V1.2 — Smoother, Faster, SharperDone
The materials pass, choppy audio fixed, a higher default mouse sensitivity, motion that reads smoothly at speed, and a first Steam Deck graphics preset.
V1.3 — Viking ModeDone
A Viking Mode for all of Act I, rebuilt higher-quality enemies and a more Viking look for Rattle’s face on the HUD.
V1.4 — The Steam Deck PassDone
A lighter Deck preset aimed at 90 fps on Steam Deck OLED, full Deck controls with gyro aiming and on-screen button prompts, and Viking fists that punch properly. A check on a real Deck comes next.
V1.5 — Better AnimationDone
Motion-captured animation for the Viking hands, the human enemies, the Foreman and first-person melee, and Viking Mode back in the game.
V1.6 — UndercarrierDone
The new name in the game itself, a fix for picked-up items that stayed stuck to the screen, and jumping straight out of a slide — both straight from playtester reports.
A Nordic SoundIn progress
The soundtrack and voices move to a dark Viking sound: war drums, folk and hip-hop. The 14-track Episode 1 soundtrack is in the game since V1.9, and Episode 2’s music is ready. The story stays as it is.
V1.7 — Runs That Build, and AchievementsDone
Upgrades carry from map to map until you die: Frequencies plus new Rune Marks you can see on your arms. Die and the build is gone, though your place in the campaign stays. Achievements arrive with it, saved to your Sleepless account (Steam follows when the game has its Steam page).
V1.8 — Enemies That AdaptDone
A director that changes how enemies fight so their patterns can’t be learned by heart: new tactics per enemy, counters to your habits (camping, always strafing one way, leaning on one gun), and fights that build, peak and let you breathe. On the easiest settings it can ease off; on the hard ones it only pushes. It also brings a first-launch settings optimizer and an in-game benchmark.
A Playable for SupportersLive
All Access members can download the current Undercarrier pre-release build from My Account → Downloads, after the private playtest checks it.
V1.9.1 — A New Cast, Effects, Viking WeaponsShipped
A new enemy cast, all nine moving on Unreal’s Game Animation Sample (Motion Matching, feet locked to the floor), a human-animated Foreman who charges in his second phase, and an Usher that throws fireballs from its hand. Explosive barrels that chain. Shockwaves, volumetric fire, fog and ash, ash-collapse deaths, optional damage numbers and a UV lamp for ink secrets. The Harlow .45, a rebuilt Twin Sisters and pump shotgun, real pipe bombs and trip mines, and in Viking Mode the Dark Crescents and the Ruinbreaker. The yellow route paint is gone, the colours move to a Norse palette, and the commercial Episode 1 soundtrack, Steam achievements and in-game updates are in. 77 fps on the top preset on a Steam Deck OLED.
V2.0 — A New Map Every Run, and Bullet TimeShipped
Dynamic level runs: maps are rebuilt from each location’s hand-made set pieces every run, so no two runs are laid out the same. Night Shift always uses them; the campaign can too. Bullet time: slow the world down, land a sprint attack, and time snaps back. Plus a new horror look for the HUD and every menu, drifting fog through the town, new weapon models, a rebuilt diner, street props and lit signs.
V2.0.1 — PolishShipped
Tighter weapon hand grips, the game’s files and saves renamed to Undercarrier (saves carried over automatically), and fixes. Went out as an in-game update for All Access members.
V2.0.3 — Bloodier, SharperShipped
Much more blood, with gore that builds up on your weapons and hands (it follows your gore setting); reworked weapon grips; enemies that no longer slide; a darker Otherworld fog. It also brings V2.0.2’s Viking extras: a throwable Ruinbreaker that returns to your hand, blade trails on the Dark Crescents and a snappier swing. An in-game update for All Access members.
V2.0.3.1 — HotfixShipped
New walls in the canal stairwell on the second map, so you can no longer fall to your death there, in hand-made and generated runs alike. An in-game update for All Access members.
V2.0.4 — Guns, Gore & MovementShipped
Our biggest update yet, an in-game update for All Access members (with the V2.0.4.1 fix for the Steam Deck keyboard the same day). Guns: real weapon models replacing the placeholder guns and explosives, with reloads you can see; attachments (sights, suppressors on the pistol, foregrips, lasers and a flashlight that lights up the fog) and charms you unlock in the Booth Armory; the Twin Sisters’ break-action reload; dual pistols; and two rare top-tier Nightdrake weapons. Gore: Doom-style body explosions, headshots with their own hit markers, and explosions that light up the room. Movement: wall-runs with secrets only a wall-run can reach, and Hang Time: land a hit in mid-air and you hang at the top of your jump, and airborne kills keep it going; in Viking Mode it becomes a plunging slam. Plus a new look for Rattle, throwing animations, new Viking and enemy animations, reworked Dark Crescents, and Steam Deck controls: gyro aim, a trackpad weapon menu, readable menus at 1280x800 and the Steam on-screen keyboard.
V2.0.5 — The Last New Content for a WhileShipped
An in-game update for All Access members. Proper controller support through Steam Input: Steam’s controller settings, button prompts for whatever you bind, and an official layout for Steam Deck, Xbox and PlayStation pads. Real light fixtures: lamps, downlights and street lights you can see, instead of glows. Rare weapon skins for the guns you know, a motel makeover, the Dark Crescents held like real weapons, and smoother first launches.
V2.0.5.1 — Fix UpdateShipped
An in-game update for All Access members: the Dark Crescents no longer cover the view with a dark mass of arm, the Haymaker no longer draws a black fist across the screen, blood on clothing renders properly, and in Viking Mode, fist weapons no longer leave a frozen arm across the screen after another weapon.
Steam Store Page & First TrailerLive
Undercarrier’s Steam page is up as Coming Soon, with the full release listed for 2030, and our first trailer is on it: real gameplay from the current build. Wishlist it on Steam (wishlists help a lot).
Undercarrier on KickstarterPre-launch page up
A 30-day campaign. The pre-launch page is up now: press “Notify me on launch” and Kickstarter emails you the moment it goes live. Development keeps going during the campaign, with more fixes and polish.
Fixes, Polish & PerformanceIn progress
No new content for a while: bug fixes, polish, performance, replacing placeholder assets, the free demo (the first map, Graveyard Shift, free on Steam; window TBA), and website upgrades to match the game’s features (accounts, saves, Steam keys). Next: placeholder textures replaced on 23 surfaces, a makeover for the broadcast booth, steadier frame rates and a clean first launch on Steam Deck. Then your saves follow you between your Steam copy and your Sleepless Games account. Episode 2 work starts after the Kickstarter.
One Account, Every Way You Supported Us
Link Steam to your Sleepless Games account. Kickstarter backers and Patreon supporters see their rewards there, and Steam owners get the matching Sleepless perks. Patreon keeps going as it does now. Steam test builds for backers and supporters arrive alongside the Sleepless launcher.
Episode 1, Made Final
Real voice actors for Rattle and the callers, a composer, and final art replacing the placeholders, swapped in a piece at a time so the game is never broken in between. Plus more weapon models and attachments, and smoother frame rates on the busiest maps. (Steam Deck controls moved up: V2.0.4 and V2.0.5.)
Lost Reels
One hidden reel on every map. Find it and a short story clip plays at the end of the level: the same night through someone else’s eyes. Optional, never needed for the story, and rewatchable from Extras.
Episode 2: The Network
The quarantine line, the hospital, a rival FM station, the dam and the fairgrounds, in supporter builds as it’s made. Episode 2’s music is already written.
Episode 3: Clear Channel
The final episode in supporter builds, then the polish, testing and (if funded) translation pass for launch.
Release on Steam
The full game, all three episodes, on Steam. Backer keys, the soundtrack and the art book go out with it; physical add-ons ship after launch. We’ll announce the exact date on Patreon, Kickstarter and here at the same time.
Tron OS v2
The agentic OS that runs the studio — already shipping to supporters, updated most weeks. See every feature →
The Fleet & the Command DeckShipped
A multi-model agent fleet with a real company structure, shared memory, group chat, pipeline and Kanban — plus the theme engine that makes it yours.
The Creative StudiosShipped
SEO, video, music, podcast, thumbnails and playable games — each taking a brief to a finished file, with a managed ComfyUI render node behind them and a Render Studio that drives it from a form instead of a node graph.
Off the DeskShipped
The Android companion app on Google Play, secure device pairing, team login with per-feature roles, and notifications that reach you wherever you are.
Delivery You Can TrustShipped
Per-machine prefetched updates that apply in seconds, an offsite download mirror with automatic failover, and version pinning and rollback when an update misbehaves.
One Patreon, One LicenceShipped
Activate any install with the email on your Patreon — entitlement and licensing in one step, re-checked automatically, and active patrons enrolled into the Android app’s Play testing track without asking.
Agentic World-BuildingPre-alpha out
Quorra puts the fleet inside the Unreal editor. The pre-alpha is downloadable now — it has its own track to the right.
The Newest ModelsShipped
Claude Fable 5.1 and GPT-6 Astra on the Unreal lane, and a model your plan cannot reach now fails with a sentence saying why instead of an empty reply.
Tron OS v2 — the new generationRolling out
The v2 console is here: a HUD-style command deck with live meters and ring instruments, one design language across every panel, and the wordmark to match. The generation the rest of this column builds on.
Beyond the ScreenIn progress
Game development and publishing, the local Model Hub, smart home and security — all live in the OS today and stabilising fast. This is where most of the week-to-week work goes.
Server Manager & Hosted ServersIn progress
Manage every machine you own from one place, and — if you want — turn spare capacity into a hosting business with a storefront, billing and provisioning the agents run end to end. Built and testing internally now.
A Native Desktop AppTesting
A real Windows and Linux app — not a web page in a frame — that finds your install over Tailscale or inside WSL and keeps its key in the system keyring. Native versions of the console's panels are built; it is in testing.
The Appliance ImagePlanned
An installable Tron OS ISO with a first-run wizard and QR device pairing — put it on a spare box and have the whole OS running without touching a terminal.
Home RedundancyPlanned
Run a second install on your own network as a warm standby, so the OS keeps going when the main machine doesn't.
Tron OS v3Planned
A ground-up pass with its own theme engine, once the feature surface settles — the generation after the v2 console. Everything above lands first.
Quorra
The same fleet, inside Unreal Engine 5.8 — a pre-alpha you can install today. See what works →
Pre-alpha for UE 5.8Shipped
The cockpit tab and the local Runner, installed with one command. Bring your own brain — Claude, Codex or a local model — and it works in the level you have open. Included with All Access.
Stability Before FeaturesPre-alpha
Surviving a crashed provider or a closed editor without a manual restart. This is the roughest edge of the pre-alpha and it gets fixed before anything new goes on top.
The Tron OS LinkIn progress
The Runner now pairs with a Tron OS install and hands each task to the right fleet agent, with the Unreal skills they have already been taught, falling back to a single CLI when the link is down. What is still missing is the button: the cockpit has no picker or pairing screen for it yet.
The Right Model for the JobTesting
An Auto setting that sends the heavy jobs — whole-level builds, Blender, packaging — to GPT-6 Astra and quick edits to Claude, and says which one it picked. Your own pick always wins. Built and in testing; it reaches the pre-alpha with the next package.
World-Building ActionsPlanned
“Build a town here.” Composite operations that lay out a district in one instruction rather than placing one actor at a time — the reason the whole thing exists.
Assets Without Leaving UnrealPlanned
Generate a model from a description or an image and import it straight into the project, and search the assets you already own from inside the cockpit.
Beyond The ViewportPlanned
A JetBrains Rider plugin so the same agent sits alongside your C++ work, plus engine versions past 5.8 and a Linux build of the Runner.
Open BetaPlanned
Out of pre-alpha once the above is solid. What the current testers hit decides how long that takes — there is no date on this one yet.
Tron OS ships to supporters today — see what's in it, or read the live progress board pulled straight from the repository.