Dirty Business Development Roadmap

Plan Dirty Games entered Steam Early Access on July 22, 2026 with a public expectation of roughly one year of continued development before a 1.0-quality launch. This roadmap page organizes what is in the game at EA start, what developers have signaled, and how fans should interpret roadmap items during a live EA — without treating guesses as promises.

Roadmaps move. When Plan Dirty revises plans, we update this page and link from the updates hub.

Philosophy of EA for this project

Dirty Business is not a content-complete title hiding behind an EA label. The demo proved core loops; EA funds expansion of:

• Production depth and machine interactions
• Contract variety and economic balancing
• Base building space and upgrade paths
• Risk systems tying police or rival pressure to logistics decisions
• Quality-of-life based on player telemetry and Discord feedback

If you prefer finished sandboxes, read review before buying mid-roadmap.

Launch baseline (July 2026)

At EA ship, players reasonably expect:

• Persistent saves separate from the demo
• Expanded crafting or processing versus demo caps
• Multiple contract tiers with scaling risk/reward
• Upgrade tree beyond demo placeholders
• Ongoing patch cadence on Steam

Exact feature lists belong in patch notes; compare against demo on demo vs EA.

Indicative EA phases

The following phases are editorial structure, not leaked internal docs. They help you set expectations for the ~year after release.

Phase 1 — Launch stabilization (Q3 2026)

Focus: Crash fixes, performance, input bugs, economy exploits, tutorial clarity.

Player action: Report reproducible bugs officially; use Early Access start for efficient progression while balance settles.

Wiki action: Hotfix summaries on updates; calculator tweaks on tools if prices shift.

Phase 2 — Mid-game expansion (Q4 2026 – Q1 2027)

Focus: New districts or hubs, advanced recipes, equipment tiers, possibly social features if prioritized.

Player action: Re-test old loops with profit calculator; do not assume week-one routes stay optimal.

Wiki action: New walkthrough branches under walkthrough hub.

Phase 3 — Feature complete push (2027)

Focus: Narrative closure if applicable, endgame contracts, polish passes, localization improvements, 1.0 candidate.

Player action: Revisit roadmap monthly; backup saves before large migrations.

Features commonly requested vs confirmed

Community wishlists often include:

• Deeper automation or employee NPCs
• Co-op base building
• Map modifiers or difficulty modes
• Steam Deck verified performance
• Mod support or Steam Workshop

Only items confirmed by Plan Dirty belong in the “committed” column. Everything else is interest signals — upvote in official channels, not wiki rumor sections.

We mirror confirmed items here with source links when available.

Comparison to Schedule I evolution

Schedule I fans sometimes expect Dirty Business to mirror identical feature order — districts, dealers, research, etc. Dirty Business may parallel themes (risk vs greed) while diverging on mechanics (station layout, order batching). Roadmap expectations should come from Plan Dirty’s posts, not genre analogy alone.

Use walkthrough for how systems work today; use this page for directional plans.

How wishlists influenced scope

13k+ wishlists pre-launch suggest market appetite for a polished Schedule I-adjacent experience. That interest can justify broader scope if revenue and team capacity align — but wishlists do not auto-add features. Treat them as context for why EA launched with momentum, not as a public feature ballot.

Tracking roadmap changes responsibly

When reading leaks or datamines:

• Wait for Steam patch notes or official Discord announcements
• Check release date page for timeline anchors
• Avoid prepatching guides until changes hit public builds

We delete or revise roadmap claims that age poorly rather than leaving stale promises indexed.

Your personal roadmap as a player

Align play style with likely EA beats:

You want…	Suggested timing
Cheapest entry	Seasonal Steam sales post-launch
Influence balance	Play months 1–3, submit feedback
Complete story	Late EA / 1.0
Demo-only taste	Stay on free demo; revisit demo vs EA quarterly

Contributing corrections

This wiki is fan-run. If Plan Dirty publishes a roadmap graphic or blog post, ping community maintainers or open a PR if the repo is public. Accuracy beats speed for roadmap claims.

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See also: Updates hub · Release date · Demo vs EA · Tools