Posted by Tatsuru.
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Good to see you all with us in 2026! We hope your holidays have been fantastic, and that these first weeks of the year have been treating you well.
First off, we’d like to not only thank you guys for sticking around with SRB2 and supporting our project, but also to apologize for a number of incidents that started before the release of v2.2.14. They originated from a combination of issues, many of which were a lack of internal organization, proper QA and rigor in sourcing assets and works from other parties.
If you’ve been around for that, you sure will remember a release of the game being rendered unplayable due to mismatched SOC definitions (the Ugly Knux incident), the scramble for adding then removing a feature that was implemented too early (the shield button), and most notably, maps containing assets that we had no proper clearance for (Pipe Towers Zone, among others). We were just a bit short of effort and care from not having to take that content back from you, as well as not disappointing those creators who put so much of that into theirs – as a result, we’re setting higher standards for ourselves going forward.
While our team’s top priority has shifted to getting v2.3 finished, some of you might remember from our v2.2.14 update post that we had more content planned for the v2.2.x patch cycle. After some consideration, we’ve decided that most of the planned content updates need further polish and will go into v2.3 instead; in exchange, we’re preparing something fresh and developed in-house to round out the v2.2 experience.
As a replacement to Final Demo Zone, v2.2.16 will feature an entirely original Single Player level. We’d say it’s new, but it’s a level that has actually existed since the Final Demo days of SRB2, though its unlock conditions were so stringent that there’s probably nobody left in the community who’s truly experienced it. It should be much easier to access now, so give it a try!
Final Demo Zone will remain playable as an add-on you can download here. That said, we’d like to talk more about what we’re doing for the next major version of SRB2, v2.3.
As you may already know, v2.3 is not meant to be a big overhaul compared to what v2.2 was to its previous version, and is focused on polishing and finishing what it couldn’t. This mostly means acts 2 and 3 of Red Volcano Zone, as well as a full remake of Egg Rock Zone.
What we have for RVZ1 is already quite solid and is planned to only receive small layout changes, on top of a lush new skybox. RVZ2 is still under construction so it’s not as screenshottable yet, but this should give you a good idea of what to expect in terms of eye candy.
Since ERZ is the one receiving the bulk of the changes, we can afford to go into a little more detail in our vision for this remake. Act 1’s rehaul will stay closely aligned with the original layout, but will move away from an assorted gimmick gauntlet towards expanding on the zone’s core mechanics. You can expect familiar rooms to return in original, engaging forms that make full use of v2.2’s features.
Act 2 is being truly remade from the ground up, reimagining the final challenge while respecting the level’s legacy. Some of the most iconic sections and mechanics will be brought back into yet unseen layouts that emphasize visual spectacle and even tougher platforming. This is the final trial of the campaign, after all, so it won’t hold your hand.
Of course, that doesn’t mean the rest of the game will remain the same. Other levels of the campaign may still receive updates, some small, some big, though not as extensive as the ones above, together with planned content that didn’t make it into v2.2. Besides, we are still working on the heavily debated physics adjustments, as well as further refinements for abilities to account for those changes, not to mention all the sweet new features and fixes from our community Git contributors. A lot to look forward to!
We know how much SRB2 means to our players and community members, and it means no less to us, so it’s a responsibility we intend to share throughout this year, and the years to come until the project is complete. Happy 2026, and we hope you continue to enjoy the game as much as we enjoy making it!
TL;DR: belated happy new year to you! We’re still alive and kicking – we made a couple development blunders and would like to apologize, though we can’t shorten that apology, so read the whole thing if you want details. To make amends, we’re still working hard on v2.2.16, and have new updates about v2.3 to share (see screenshots). Thanks for sticking with us!
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