Welcome to the March 2025 Coral Island development update!
This blog will showcase some of the exciting things Stairway Games has been working on, including the upcoming 1.2 update, "Multiplayer and Romance."
The Coral Island Multiplayer and Romance update is set to launch in the summer of 2025
Join our Discord for more information!
2025 Roadmap
1.2 Update Overview
We’re making amazing progress on the 1.2 update, and currently, we are wrapping up key features. This update is one of our biggest yet, with over 100,000 words of new text localized into multiple languages.
Alongside all the exciting new content, we’re also fixing bugs at a record pace to ensure everything runs smoothly. Final testing is just around the corner, and we can’t wait to share the update with you soon!
Multiplayer
Get ready to experience Coral Island with friends!
The team has been hard at work, and thanks to your helpful feedback (and willingness to break the game!), we’ve fixed over 500 bugs related to Multiplayer alone. Here are a few highlights of what’s in store:
Co-op Fieldwork: Team up to share resources and daily chores!
Co-op Farming: Expand your farm, grow crops together, and build bigger barns.
Co-op Exploration: Dive into the ocean, brave the mines, and uncover secrets in the Cave of Memorie together!
Co-op Rivalries: Compete in friendly challenges and see who’s the ultimate farmer.
Co-op Marriage: Take your in-game relationships to the next level with multiplayer marriage!
Revamped Romance Progression
We’re making romance on Coral Island more engaging and meaningful, giving your relationships with dateable characters new depth and progression. Here’s what’s changing:
New Progression: We’re introducing a heart-locking system to add more depth to relationships. Check out the media below for a simple breakdown of how to unlock hearts and progress with your favorite islanders! Start the game with access to Hearts 0–5 right away.
Before you can start dating:
Give a locket as a symbol of commitment.
Join their hangout cutscenes to get to know them better before taking the next step.
Building relationships takes time, and we want every step to feel special!
Hangout Events: Spend quality time with your favorite islanders through optional mini-events. Whether it’s a cozy picnic, a jam session, or a spontaneous beach bonfire, these events let you share special moments with NPCs.
Hangout Cutscenes: Hangout events trigger unique cutscenes, focusing on your bond with an NPC. These are separate from Heart Events and offer even more one-on-one time.
How to Access: The revamped romance system unlocks at Heart Level 2, and you’ll see a prompt in the Relationship UI whenever a hangout event is available.
New Relationship Detail Tab: Easily track hangout progress, gift preferences, and key moments in the brand-new interface.
Heart Events 11-15
Marriage Is Just the Beginning!
At Heart Level 12, you’ll unlock post-marriage events that explore life beyond the wedding. Here’s what to expect:
Deeper Conversations: Discover new dialogue that reveals your spouse’s dreams, fears, and personal aspirations.
Special Cutscenes: Share meaningful moments in daily life, from quiet mornings together to romantic dates that bring you closer.
Spooky Outfits
All dateable characters will be getting their own Spooky Outfit just in time for the Spooky Festival! These outfits will appear every Fall season.
You might also spot them during special ghost-story events—but only if your friendship with certain NPCs is close enough! We also plan to have the kids wear costumes in a future update.
We’re keeping the full lineup a secret for now because we want you to experience it in-game for maximum immersion. But here’s a sneak peek at what’s in store…
Asset Updates
Winter is coming—literally!
Our team has given the island a frosty makeover! We’re shoveling extra snow off crops, buildings, and roads—while letting a little snow pile up on the forgotten ones for that extra cozy, wintry touch.
Nintendo Switch
Regarding Switch news, we don't have any updates yet. Discussions are still ongoing. But don’t worry, as soon as we’ve got something to share, we will! We're just as eager as you all are to get this resolved!
What's Next
We’re nearing the finish line for the 1.2 update! Once we wrap up QA, bug fixing, and finalize localization, we’ll share the official release date. After that, the Coral Island devs will shift focus to the 1.3 update, which will bring:
Growing kids
A Haunted House minigame at the Spooky Festival
New minigames at the Recreation Center
Merfolk Festival
And more!
But that’s not all! Stairway Games is introducing something new…
New Game Reveal: FUNGUYS SWARM
Meet Funguys Swarm!
A small team under Stairway Games has been developing Funguys Swarm, a roguelike bullet hell game. If life on Coral Island is feeling a little too chill, this game will shake things up!
Funguys Swarm is still in development and will be released this year, in 2025. If you’re interested in following the process, the Funguys Swarm team will be posting a blog every month—check out their first blog post here: FUNGUYS FIRST BLOG
FAQ
Q: Does the announcement of Funguys mean Stairway Games is ending support for Coral Island?
A: NO. Absolutely not. We are fully committed to Coral Island. These two projects are handled by separate development teams, so there’s no impact on Coral Island’s progress.
Q: Will updates for Coral Island still be delivered?
A: Yes. Nothing's changed. We just released a hotfix last week, and we’re actively working on more hotfixes and updates every day. If you want to see what we’re up to, we share some of our daily progress in our Dev Diary on Discord. Feel free to join if you’re interested!
Q: Are you reducing resources or staff assigned to Coral Island?
A: No. Even with the wave of layoffs in tech industry, Stairway Games is putting developers first. The studio is committed to keeping our team together, making sure that we, the developers, have stable work and income. In fact, Coral Island team has grown significantly these past years.
Q: How will Funguys' release schedule affect Coral Island's updates?
A: There will be no negative impact. We have dedicated teams for each project, so neither one takes away from the other.
Q: Why announce a new game before fulfilling promises for Coral Island?
A: We wanted to share our excitement! The Funguys team has talent, drive, and—honestly—a really cute game. Who knows? You all might end up loving it too!
Q: Is Funguys meant to replace Coral Island?
A: No, full stop. Funguys is its own thing and isn’t replacing anything.
Q: Will there be incentives for Coral Island players to try Funguys?
A: Yes! We’re planning exclusive rewards in Coral Island for players who purchase Funguys. Stay tuned for details!
Q: Will there be early access or beta tests for Funguys?
A: Yes! Nothing to share yet for now, but we have Funguys channels in our Discord server. Please join and show the dev team some support!
Join our Discord for more information!
Thanks for reading,
Stairway Team