Ecosystem
Patch to address Unity game engine vulnerability.
Hotfix 23rd September 2025
Ecosystem 1.1 - Tropical Fish Pack OUT NOW 🐠🦈🦑
Tropical Fish Pack is here!🐠🦈🦑
[p][/p]- [p]Box Fish[/p]
- [p]Cuttlefish[/p]
- [p]Dolphin[/p]
- [p]Mandarin Dragonet[/p]
- [p]Tiger Shark[/p]
Ecosystem OST 🎵
[p]To celebrate the DLC launch, we are also releasing Ecosystem's original soundtracks. If you like the tranquil and almost serene atmosphere of Ecosystem, the game's music would be the perfect medium to immerse yourself in the depths of our virtual ocean.[/p][p][/p][p]Same as the Tropical Fish Pack, the OST pack also has a 10% launch discount; or you can grab both the DLC and the OST in the complete bundle for a bit more savings. [/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/35860517/7ac9e1d7bd72839b79d41aa28b0bdf6d6074b1b2.png"][TAG-60][/p][p][/p]PATCH NOTES - Ecosystem 1.1
[p]Several fixes and optimizations have also been implemented to prepare the game for Ecosystem's new residents. See below for the full details:[/p]- [p]Enable support for the Tropical Fish pack, which includes skins and heads for the boxfish, cuttlefish, dolphin, mandarin dragonet, and tiger shark.[/p]
- [p]Fix: loading a savegame results in extra skin texture allocations that are not actually needed.[/p]
- [p]Fix: errors setting a few skin procedural texture parameters sometimes result in rebuilding textures that do not need to be rebuilt.[/p]
- [p]Fix: choosing specific colors and brightness levels for creatures in the Evolutionary Parameters panel could result in unused skins that waste memory.[/p]
- [p]Fix: 'skin update in progress' message could appear in the wrong location on some resolutions.[/p]
DLC Announcement: Tropical Fish Pack! 🐠
Tiger Shark
[p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/35860517/527ef5e5587d5450eedd5fe552d901808e01e108.png"][TAG-20]Hungry for blood[/p][p][/p]Dolphin
[p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/35860517/9eacb18bc7fb6d13ceed663eb68d081762c8d1d7.png"]Always curious and playful[/p][p][/p]Cuttlefish
[p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/35860517/cb30d2681ada84d5266516d33e0648ca15deaf06.png"]I think this will inspire many Lovecraftian creations[/p][p][/p]Mandarin Dragonet
[p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/35860517/036ec0631c54b5e0c537663e6be31f2b977ba86b.png"]A bright and colorful appearance[/p][p][/p]Box Fish
[p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/35860517/c84a225ceecbf04e7f0ef0b61ddd786f35109471.png"]It might look harmless, but it does have a poisonous trick up its sleeve[/p][p][/p][p][/p]Are you ready to expand your creature collection in your ecosystems? Wishlist the Tropical Fish Pack DLC on Steam to craft more bizarre life forms!
A Curious Presence
Looks like something else noticed our lively habitats, and is approaching to investigate a bit more.
[p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/35860517/00ac3a3079234a70cf513fda500ccb04a5340f64.png"][/p][p]Will it be a cheerful presence, or a menace of the sea?[/p][p][/p][p][/p]I wonder what this might be?
Something's coming...
Smelling blood from the brutal struggles for survival, a new danger is coming soon to the waters of Ecosystem.
[p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/35860517/2543b561479adfcccd8e674e78b8140c646bdd41.png"][/p][p]Hungry, and ready to hunt...[/p][p][/p]Can you guess what it might be?
Ecosystem in Earth Appreciation Festival 🌎
Ecosystem is taking part in the Earth Appreciation Festival from April 1 to April 8! It’s an event for games that share the same love for our planet Earth, to showcase nature at its finest and highlight the consequences if we fail to protect it.
Join us in this event and check out all the amazing discounts and demos of the nature-themed/eco-dystopian titles, both released and upcoming!
2024 Round-Up
Greetings Evolutionaries!
How’s everyone doing? We hope you all had an amazing Christmas! We’re at the end of 2024 now, and this has surely been a year to remember for Ecosystem, especially with our 1.0 full release. Let’s quickly recap what we have achieved during this wonderful year.
Updates + FULL RELEASE
On November 8, after 4 years of early access, Ecosystem finally moved into 1.0 full release with the crustaceans unleashed upon the seafloor. With new body parts and movement mechanics, the shellfish now dwells at the bottom of the oceans and hungrily feed on aquatic plants around them.
And don’t forget about the Behavior Update earlier this year, which focused on increasing creature autonomy and expanding their range of behaviors. Creatures were able to further emulate natural life forms with more autonomous decision-making and fulfill their individual needs with new behaviors.
Over the years, Ecosystem has gone through many major updates as well as numerous optimizations and fixes. It’s been a long and remarkable journey, and we would like to take this chance to thank you, our incredible community, for supporting Ecosystem since day one. Your continuous feedback and support have been great inspirations for us to shape Ecosystem into the immersive evolution simulator it is today. It is our utmost pleasure to see your imagination run wild, pushing our game to its limits to craft the most uniquely outlandish ecosystems. Also, special thanks to Stobz, our amazing Lead Community Scientist and Discord mod, for all their dedication to helping our team and community.
Ecosystem Guide Videos
With the 1.0 update, we had an influx of new fans curious to discover the possibilities of evolution. For those who just picked up our game and would like some pointers, here’s a YouTube playlist of our quick guide videos on our YouTube channel that cover the basics of Ecosystem. Hopefully, they can help you kickstart your very own marine life system!
Events for a Good Cause
While Ecosystem focuses on a virtual ocean, we believe the real ocean also needs our attention. That's why we have taken part in various events in 2024 to promote wildlife conservation. During the Games for Waves Steam event, a Steam event for World Ocean Day, part of our proceedings went to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, to support their work on protecting marine animals. Other events include the Earth Appreciation Festival and Animal Week, both aimed at bringing attention to protecting the environment.
Winter Sale
As of the time of this post, Steam’s Winter Sale is still ongoing, and Ecosystem is now at 30% off! If you haven’t got the game yet and want to start your new year by designing a new species, or give someone else the chance to do so, this is the perfect time! The sale will continue until January 2 so be sure to grab Ecosystem before it ends!
Community Creations
Of course, we can’t have a community update without showcasing some interesting creations from our Discord channel:
A prospering habitat created by Alaska. You can see various species thriving under sunlight.
A curious creature from Plismarian. Little guy looks very happy!
That is all for our round-up today. Once again, thank you for making 2024 such an unforgettable year for Ecosystem. Our indie evolution sim could not have made it this far without you, and we are absolutely thrilled to bring Ecosystem to you in its full 1.0 glory. If you enjoy our game, please do consider leaving a positive Steam review. Every encouragement means the world to us.
2024 has been an amazing year for us, and we hope it is equally, if not more, amazing for you and your creatures. We wish everyone had a rewarding 2024, and a bountiful 2025 to come.
Ecosystem 1.01 - Bugfixes
Ecosystem 1.01
Improvements to the 'force bilateral symmetry' option in the evolutionary parameters panel:
Fix: several bugs in mutation code that could result in a loss of symmetry even if 'forced symmetry' is enabled.
Fix: limbs on the back or belly can be offset from the center, and twisted into asymmetrical positions.
Fix: paired limbs on the end segment of the body can result in flesh to be dragged towards one of those two limbs.
Fix: symmetrical limbs can interact with the body differently, eg with one limb being a fin while the other remains thick, etc.
Fix: error in soft cap computation could in rare cases cause large spikes in population when specific well-fed creatures died.
Fix: gifts can float outside the creature's mouth as a result of physics instability in its body.
Fix: errors can occur in procedural materials when savegames are loaded in quick succession.
Fix: null reference error that could occur when the game corrects a physics calculation that has blown up.
Fix: subspecies notification can overlap the explainer text for subspecies.
Fix: rare error could prevent the 'finish editing' button in the editor from functioning.
November Community Update! 🦀
November has been such an incredible month! On November 8th, Ecosystem finally entered full release with the arrival of our crustaceans. We’d like to thank each and every one of you for your continued support – for playing our game, providing feedback and suggestions, or supporting us on our social media. Every bit of support means the world to us as a solo dev and a small publishing team, and we could not have done it without you. It is our greatest pleasure to see all your creations thriving in the depths of Ecosystem. You can find the full patch notes of our 1.0 update here.
Launch Live Stream!
To celebrate 1.0, we had a launch livestream on Slug Disco’s channel! Hei Man and Mike from Slug Disco were joined by Tom, mastermind and solo developer behind the creation of Ecosystem, to showcase the gameplay and a slightly more in-depth discussion on the unique evolution mechanics of Ecosystem. You can catch up on YouTube if you didn't catch it live!
Steam Autumn Sale
We are deep into the autumn season, and the Steam Autumn Sale has begun! Ecosystem is now at 30% off until December 4th, and this is the perfect time to grab our game, either for building your own virtual aquarium or as an early Christmas gift for friends!
Steam Awards Nominations
The Steam Autumn Sale also marks the start of the Steam Awards nominations, and Ecosystem is aiming for the Most Innovative Gameplay category. We believe Ecosystem has some truly unique evolution features, and we hope you feel the same. Your support and recognition mean a lot to us, and we’d really appreciate it if you could give Ecosystem a nomination and a positive review on Steam.
Community Creations
With the crustaceans now crawling all over the seafloor of Ecosystem, let’s check out the creations by our community. Here are some fun crustacean designs by Turkey on our Discord channel:
Look at these cute crustaceans. And yes, crustaceans can definitely swim! If you wish to talk about evolutionary matters and share your own creations, do join us on Discord!
On that note, we shall end this community update here. We hope you are all having fun with our 1.0 release and creating the most unique ecosystems out there. Follow us on Twitter, TikTok and YouTube for any new Ecosystem updates! Once again, thank you all so much for playing and supporting Ecosystem throughout our journey.