Software Inc.
Tycoon/Management/Simulation


Trailer

Buy plots in a huge map to create and customize your own building. No grid necessary, just make sure there's coffee.

Craft and manufacture software and hardware products, corner your market, defeat the competition, and make them work for you.

Create and optimize teams of employees with different skills and demands to release products in a timely fashion. Why not poach a big shot lead designer from a competitor to give you the edge?

Every playthrough of Software Inc. is different, as the market is simulated and randomized. Each action you take affects how history plays out.

- Build, furnish, style and maintain office buildings up to ten stories + basement, on an enormous land, using a free-form building system with simple copy-paste tools
- Hire employees to design, develop, support, update, research and market software and hardware in teams
- Build roads, paths, bike racks and parking to ease commuting for your employees
- Tend to your employees' needs, demands, skills and specializations, while making sure each team has compatibility and cohesion
- Customize your own founder or split the company between a team of founders
- Design and manufacture your own software and hardware products and franchises
- Compete in a simulated and randomly populated market by selling your products, taking on contract work, creating patents, making deals and trading stocks
- Set up your own servers for products, source control and running your own online store
- Hire staff to repair your furniture and computers, clean your office, make food for your employees, transport goods, secure your offices or greet visitors
- Mod what kind of software you can develop, add your own furniture, upload your building blueprints, add support for your language or write your own code to modify the game
- Delegate important tasks to your team leaders, such as managing development cycles and human resources
- Play against up to 3 other players in the same map or cooperate with your friends by delegating work tasks, manufacturing jobs and server hosting
Get the DRM-free version of Software Inc.
Software Inc. is currently in Early Access, meaning it is still under development. Core features are subject to change and the game might be unstable in areas.
- Immediate access to the current version
- All future updates
- The final release
- Windows, Mac and Linux builds
- No ads and no In-app purchases, ever
- A Steam key
- Cloud saves
- Online multiplayer (This version is LAN only, and needs manual port forwarding for playing outside the local network)
- Modding through the Steam Workshop
What does DRM-free mean?
DRM(Digital Rights Management)-free means the game does not include any anti-piracy measures, such as requiring an online connection or a key to unlock. You just download the game files and they are yours to keep forever.
Get Software Inc. on Steam
News
Multiplayer officially out
2023-11-13
Major changes
Online multiplayer!
You can now customize every difficulty setting individually, including turning off taxes and removing the impact of lead designers
There's a new logo editor, which uses a much more intuitive layer-based system. It is not as powerful and efficient as the old editor, but the old editor is still available.
Multiplayer
You can play up to 4 players on a map at a time. Each player starts on each side of the map. You are all playing in the same market, with the same competitors, deals and distribution platforms. You can outsource tasks to other players, and trade stocks, plots and intellectual property.
Price change
The game's price has increased, not only to reflect the addition of multiplayer, but also the size of the game at this point. I initially wanted to release the game for $20 after working on it for about 3 years. We're coming up on 10 years next year, and the scope has gotten so much larger than when I started.
Full patch notes for Beta 1.7
Changes
Added multiplayer
First day now starts at 7AM and employees will arrive same day if they are hired before their scheduled arrival
Overhauled difficulty structure, difficulty mods will no longer work until updated
Added ability to customize difficulty
Disabling taxes, removing effect of lead designers, removing fires and removing burglaries are now difficulty options
Added new simple but less powerful logo editor
Optimized pathing step when loading a save, should be a lot faster on older < 5 core Windows computers and all newer > 4 core computers
Added ability to enter precise amounts when buying stock
Added option to auto save every x minutes in build mode
Server choices for design, updates, contracts, deals, etc. are now saved to file
Added ability to send employees home for several months by using scroll wheel on the send home button
Awards are now added to inventory when moving company, instead of being sold
Added SWINCBETA, SWINCBETA1 and SWINCBETA1_7 (for 1.7) define symbols for code mod compatibility, which will be updated for each version going forward (will become SWINCRELEASE eventually)
Added compass
You can now see how many tasks a team is assigned to during assignment
Awards will now end up in inventory when they are not directly being sold, but just removed as a result of other actions
Employees will also start complaining about computers that are slow due to age, as well as condition, to warn player of old computers
Employees will now react immediately to player changing a room's team assignments
Added lightstrips to conveyor belts to make it easier to see which are turned on
Changed how company assets are divided among shareholders when a company bankrupts, so it will be distributed even if less than 10% of the company is listed
Quit confirmation dialog now asks whether to save instead of whether to quit
Furniture that contain perishables are now auto-stocked when purchased
Bug handling has changed to use method Product.ChangeBugs(startBugs, bugs) and Product.FixBugs(fixes), data mods will be auto upgraded on load
Updated Steamworks SDK
Added support for on-screen keyboard in Steam
Reduced penalty for failing to deliver on prints and manufacturing jobs to 10%
Increased payout for manufacturing contracts
Added icon to show whether a task is part of a deal
Screensaver :)
Fixes
Fixed shortcut panel not clearing after moving or duplicating furniture outside of build mode
Fixed player work on design and development deals not actually applying to end product
Fixed not having to pay for licenses when updating software if not also fixing bugs
Fixed furniture rotation sound stacking after placing multiple furniture at a time
Fixed placing a room duplicate in an existing room charging for all walls of the new room instead of just the necessary split
Fixed wall mounted furniture being placed on top of each other when duplicating room inside another
Fixed cases of doors and windows not getting copied over when cloning rooms
Fixed all undo bugs when dealing with awards
Fixed issues with basement rendering in first person mode
Fixed subsidiaries failing to retire lead designers
Moved security desk from Staff to Security function category
Fixed game saying tutorial has more steps than it had due to skipped parts
Fixed not being able to use close window shortcut with tutorial active
Fixed furniture modding tool breaking mod when refreshing mesh in Model menu and then saving
Fixed issue when a furniture's point of interaction inside an atrium resided in an adjacent balcony
Increased window margin to the left of the screen so titlebar doesn't become inaccessible
Fixed rooms becoming inaccessible to all teams if it is surrounded by other rooms outside
Fixed game not fetching all languages that share language codes from Localizor
"Missing qualified employees for a project"-message now specifies whether it is in regards to an update, to clear up project management issues
Fixed all interior doors not coming back when undoing selling plot
Reduced compression of character animations to remove foot sliding
Fixed noise visualization not working when rooms don't have default floor mapping
Fixed furniture sitting on the outside of a wall sometimes going inside when undoing moving a wall
Fixed security guards not going to security desk as soon as one becomes available during their shift
Security guards will now also hunt burglars when they are walking to/from security/surveillance desks
Fixed all burglars near each other not fleeing when one has been caught
Fixed product selection window sometimes filtering too many products
Fixed lead designer not being properly assigned when renaming a team
Fixed atrium bannister color not loading from save file
Fixed bugs when coloring cloned buildings with balconies
Fixed bugs relating to undoing use of wall removal tool on atriums
Fixed bannisters not being visible on upper atrium floors
Fixed precious metals and awards sticking around in maps that have been moved out of
Fixed bugs when undoing changes to wall with shelves on it
Old deals are now cleaned up to reduce file size and load/save time for long running saves
Fixed leader inspiration warning not clearing until lead designer actually starts working again after being replenished
Patch notes for Beta 1.7.21
Changes
Reduced penalty for failing to deliver on prints and manufacturing jobs to 10%
Increased payout for manufacturing contracts
Added icon to show whether a task is part of a deal
Fixes
Old deals are now cleaned up to reduce file size and load/save time for long running saves
Fixed leader inspiration warning not clearing until lead designer actually starts working again after being replenished
Various multiplayer stability fixes
Patch notes for Beta 1.7.16
2023-10-31
I'm hoping to release multiplayer officially before November 15, with a launch discount.
Patch notes for Beta 1.7.20
Changes
All lobbies are now shown in multiplayer window despite version, so lobby doesn't look empty after a new update has been released
Fixes
Fixed no longer being able to change maximum and limit on most print jobs
Fixed bugs when undoing changes to wall with shelves on it
Fixed some expenses for local player being off by 1 month for other players in multiplayer, making it look like salaries were paid twice when rejoining a game
Fixed bug when a player has a publishing deal in development, disconnects and rejoins and that company bankrupts before development is done
Fixed tesselation being broken on non-Windows platforms, resulting in missing floors etc.
Patch notes for Beta 1.7.19
Fixes
Fixed bug when a player was bankrupted with an active cloud service
Fixed existing plot loans not being loaded when joining multiplayer game
Fixed player company valuation not updating immediatly after buying a plot
Patch notes for Beta 1.7.18
Changes
Added ability to outsource printing and manufacturing tasks
Patch notes for Beta 1.7.17
Fixes
Random server outsourcing stability fixes
Patch notes for Beta 1.7.16
Changes
Added ability to sell server capacity to other players as a cloud service in multiplayer
Fixes
Fixed bugged references when joining a game with existing server tasks
Patch notes for Beta 1.7.10
2023-09-30
Patch notes for Beta 1.7.15
Fixes
Fixed lead designer not being properly assigned when renaming a team
Fixed atrium bannister color not loading from save file
Fixed bugs when coloring cloned buildings with balconies
Fixed some cases where having host quit with multiple players in-game could cause some players to lose saves that would be compatible with original host
Fixed bugs relating to undoing use of wall removal tool on atriums
Fixed ID bug that would eventually break all work deals between players in multiplayer
Various multiplayer stability fixes
Patch notes for Beta 1.7.14
Changes
Awards are now added to inventory when moving company, instead of being sold
Added message when joining a game when local save is more than 1 month older than game being joined
Fixes
Fixed skyscrapers and houses still not being removed properly for all player in multiplayer
Fixed bannisters not being visible on upper atrium floors
Fixed tax report data not being loaded properly when joining a multiplayer game with an existing save
Fixed players not having to pay taxes for years they were not online in a multiplayer game
Fixed being able to use disabled modded furniture in the replacement window in multiplayer
Fixed employee vacations when rejoining a multiplayer game that has since moved forward
Fixed some properties not getting properly loaded for clients in multiplayer, like upcoming bills and salaries
Fixed game thinking a multiplayer game had not been previously played when it had, after more than 10 reloads
Fixed precious metals and awards sticking around in maps that have been moved out of
Patch notes for Beta 1.7.13
Changes
Added fallback when game is missing files that causes freeze when generating pathing
Added SWINCBETA, SWINCBETA1 and SWINCBETA1_7 (for 1.7) define symbols for code mod compatibility, which will be updated for each version going forward (will become SWINCRELEASE eventually)
Added some input sanitization in multiplayer
Fixes
Fixed product selection window sometimes filtering too many products
Patch notes for Beta 1.7.12
Changes
Screensaver :) (Click and drag your mouse across the monitor)
Optimized pathing step when loading a save, should be a lot faster on older < 5 core Windows computers and all newer > 4 core computers
Fixes
Fixed existing deals being bugged when rejoining a multiplayer game
Last fire inspection result was not loaded properly for clients in multiplayer
Made saving on exit in multiplayer more robust when player hasn't saved
Patch notes for Beta 1.7.11
Changes
All players will now see reviews in the newspaper when another player releases a product
Fixes
Fixed tutorial system breaking when ordering copies
Fixed game breaking if player joined a multiplayer game they had already played right after making a custom map
Fixed case of getting stuck on loading while joining a previously played multiplayer game
Fixed skyscrapers and houses not always getting properly removed for every player when a plot is bought
Fixed furniture placed by other players on upper outdoor areas always being visible
Fixed bug when player tries to focus on plot being traded without ever having entered build mode
Fixed game breaking when bankrupting with subsidiaries
Patch notes for Beta 1.7.10
Changes
Players will now always start day at 7AM when joining a game to get their first day in
Moved furniture and code mod settings into new game screen, since they are permanent changes
Added error message to make it clear when host and client saves have discrepancies
Made game autosave in multiplayer when game is closed by closing game window
Game will now check through backups to see if there is a better save when joining a server
Fixes
Fixed game saving 3 times in a row for online games with only 1 player
Fixed multiplayer work deals bugging out when joining an existing game where the host saved before the deal took place
Fixed security guards not going to security desk as soon as one becomes available during their shift
Security guards will now also hunt burglars when they are walking to/from security/surveillance desks
Fixed all burglars near each other not fleeing when one has been caught
Fixed shared map objects like windturbines getting duplicated for player every time they joined a previous game
Lead designers with the IP Ownership demand can no longer work as lead designer on outsourced projects in multiplayer
Fixed issue with clients not connecting up if a new player is hosting an existing game
Fixed clients getting stuck at midnight when the host player disconnects
Fixed deals getting cancelled when they shouldn't and not cancelled when they should
Fixed ID clash between network objects causing local player to gain money from selling wind turbines when removing a window or door from the network
Fixed all players getting money when a player sold windturbines obtained through a rural plot
Fixed parking lot player assignment sometimes being wrong when hosting game
Fixed time buttons being unavailable when launching previous game as host in which player was waiting for other players
Fixed project management tasks losing leader assignment when joining a game
Changed how plot adjacency is calculated to avoid situations where a plot is unreachable
Fixed manufacturing tasks and assembly lines not being deserialized properly when joining a game with an existing save
Fixed some server processes not being deserialized properly when joining a game with an existing save