Slay the Spire 2 Steam early access release date set for March 5 as the king of roguelike deckbuilders returns to its throne

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Slay the Spire 2 is nearly here

Slay the Spire 2 character in a skull mask looking shocked
(Image credit: Mega Crit Games)

Following a delay, Slay the Spire 2 will now launch in Steam early access on Thursday, March 5.

Developer Mega Crit games announced the exact release date, long penciled in for March 2026, in a new trailer released today. The lovely animated short shows off the new creatures, cards, classes, combos, co-op, and various other c-words coming in the long-awaited sequel, with a special animated shoutout to a returning class, the orb-loving Defect (and my beloved son).

Slay the Spire 2 - Early Access Trailer - YouTube Slay the Spire 2 - Early Access Trailer - YouTube
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Slay the Spire 2 will launch with five characters, with more of basically everything to come in the future. "More content – including cards, events, environments, enemies, and more – will be added and balanced throughout Early Access," says Mega Crit.

"Why release in Early Access, you ask?" the devs ask. "Slay the Spire's success comes from our community! It sounds corny, but the extra mile many of you went to report issues, translate content/announcements, create long video essays, make excellent (lol) tier lists, and draw goofy or gorgeous fan art is the reason we're doing it all again."

The blurb on Slay the Spire 2's Steam page says the game is expected to be in early access for "the same 1 - 2 year range" as the first game.

To this day, the original Slay the Spire is widely regarded as the best roguelike deckbuilder ever made, and credited for codifying many of the genre's modern conventions. It's finally back after eight years, and millions of fans – over 12,000 concurrent Steam users at the time of writing, for starters – have kept its throne dust-free and comfortably warm in anticipation.

Slay the Spire 2 pulls a Silksong, scares indie devs into releasing roguelike ahead of schedule in fear of losing players to "an absolute juggernaut in our own genre."

Austin Wood
Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.

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