Releases
Published SnapMap milestones (newest first) — and the development reality behind the release rhythm.
Mercury Rising is still in development. Early maps have been published as playable SnapMap experiences while lore, visuals, and memory budgets are refined. A map can be out in the wild long before it is considered truly finished.
Current focus
The first three maps — The Heat, Arrival, and First Contact — are undergoing a full refactoring pass. The goal is the first truly finished 3-map package of Part One (layout, characters, dialogue, lore, wiki), not just “playable”.
Release history
Each entry links to the map's own page.
15 Jul 2025
Submerged in Iron II
Jobim (Shaft)
Pre-release / beta
31 May 2025
Submerged in Iron I
Jobim (Halfway Station)
2.5 mos.
9 Jan 2025
The Furnace
Catullus Steelworks
2 mos.
20 Sep 2024
What Happens in Vegas
Haystack Canteena
1.5 mos. (+ memory work)
20 Jul 2024
Uninvited
Lu Hsun Gates
1 mo.
26 Jun 2024
Arrival
Thakur Cross Service Station
2 mos.
23 Apr 2024
The Heat
The Solar Railway
2 mos.
19 Feb 2024
First Contact
Rudaki Power Station
1 mo. / first release
Development reality — why releases come the way they do
Building started around January 2024 (after years of story notes). A complex SnapMap typically needs 2–2.5 months — and more and more of that time is spent on memory optimisation, then spending the freed budget on better visuals and storytelling. Between the releases above, large stretches of calendar time go to reworking older maps, researching new SnapMap tricks, lore review, and wiki writing.
There is also a real gap between playable and tested and truly finished: final layout, characters, messages, dialogue, map-specific lore, and a proper wiki page. That finishing pass adds months beyond core construction. Those pressures led to three explicit decisions:
- Split the full campaign into three chapters that match narrative beats.
- Keep quality high for Part One — even if that means at least another year to finish the chapter properly.
- Ship Part One in three stages of 3×3 map packages (plus the secret map at the end), so the first truly finished trio can reach players sooner.
Current development still happens primarily through NVIDIA GeForce NOW cloud gaming — vanilla SnapMap plus community asset maps from the SnapMap Discord. SnapHak / idStudio-class tools are not available in that environment today; they remain a possible later expansion once Part One is complete.