Grow fluorescent cell colonies in a living evolution sandbox. Guide mutations, breed new strains, and outcompete rival labs for territory. Every cell has its own genome, so no two experiments play out the same.

Public builds
—No reading yet
Counted once we have watched for 90 days (since 21 Oct 2026)
Distinct builds deployed to a game's public (default) Steam branch, as Steam's client network describes them.
Checked within minutes of each Steam change. Observed since 21 Oct 2026.
Source: Steam client network (PICS), App info, public branch. Full methodology
Latest public build
Build 26220772
Update posts
73 postsPosts announcing an update, tagged or not
Posts in a game's official Steam news feed that announce an update: tagged as patch notes by the developer, or plainly about a patch or a released update.
Source: Steam Web API, ISteamNews/GetNewsForApp. Full methodology
Typical gap between builds
2 daysMiddle gap across the last 4 builds we saw
| Build | Went live | Patch notes |
|---|---|---|
| 26220772 | v0.4.10: Simplicity Update Pt. 2 | |
| 26206881 | v0.4.9-92 | |
| 26151546 | New Map: VP-261021 | |
| 26094701 | New Map: VZ2-261020 |
From Steam’s client network, last checked . Builds before 21 Oct 2026, when we started watching, aren't listed. Patch notes are the developer’s update post from an hour before to a day after the build. Not every build gets one. How we count
| Posted | Update |
|---|---|
| 21 Oct 2026 | New Map: VZ2-261020 Patch notes |
| 20 Oct 2026 | v0.4.9-40 Patch notes |
| 20 Oct 2026 | v0.4.9-38 Patch notes |
| 20 Oct 2026 | New map: Z3sM1-261019 Patch notes |
| 17 Oct 2026 | v0.4.9 - Simplicity Update Pt. 1 Update |
| 17 Oct 2026 |
| App | Players now | Latest build |
|---|---|---|
| Substrate: Emergence Alpha Playtest · App 4312400 | Not yet | 23722707 · |
Separate Steam apps for test, staging and playtest versions of Substrate: Emergence. They have no store page, so they aren’t counted as games or releases. Builds come from Steam’s client network, players from the Steam Web API every few hours. Steam gives no count for an app nobody can launch. How we count
| v0.4.8-28 Patch notes |
| 15 Oct 2026 | v0.4.8-26 Patch notes |
| 10 Oct 2026 | v0.4.8-3 Patch notes |
| 10 Oct 2026 | v0.4.8 - A Viral Update! Update |
| 9 Oct 2026 | v0.4.7-16 Patch notes |
| 6 Oct 2026 | v0.4.7-11 Patch notes |
| 6 Oct 2026 | v0.4.7-9 Patch notes |
| 4 Oct 2026 | v0.4.7 Update |
| 2 Oct 2026 | v0.4.6a-47 Patch notes |
| 1 Oct 2026 | v0.4.6a-36 Patch notes |
| 28 Sept 2026 | v0.4.6a-21 Patch notes |
| 28 Sept 2026 | v0.4.6a-19 Patch notes |
| 28 Sept 2026 | v0.4.6a-17 Patch notes |
| 28 Sept 2026 | v0.4.6a-15 Patch notes |
| 27 Sept 2026 | v0.4.6a-14 Patch notes |
| 26 Sept 2026 | v0.4.6a-13 Patch notes |
| 26 Sept 2026 | v0.4.6a-11/12 Patch notes |
| 25 Sept 2026 | v0.4.6a-10 Patch notes |
| 25 Sept 2026 | v0.4.6a-9 Patch notes |
| 25 Sept 2026 | v0.4.6a-8 Patch notes |
| 24 Sept 2026 | v0.4.6a-7 Patch notes |
| 24 Sept 2026 | v0.4.6a-5 Patch notes |
| 24 Sept 2026 | v0.4.6a-4 Patch notes |
| 23 Sept 2026 | v0.4.6a-1 Patch notes |
| 22 Sept 2026 | v0.4.6a Patch notes |
| 20 Sept 2026 | v0.4.6: Watching over the BIONET Update |
| 18 Sept 2026 | v0.4.5a-7 Patch notes |
| 17 Sept 2026 | v0.4.5a-6 Patch notes |
| 14 Sept 2026 | v0.4.5a-2 Patch notes |
| 12 Sept 2026 | v0.4.5a-1 Patch notes |
| 9 Sept 2026 | v0.4.5 Update |
| 2 Sept 2026 | v0.4.4a/b/c Patch notes |
| 29 Aug 2026 | v0.4.4: Divide & Conquer pt. 2! Update |
| 11 Aug 2026 | v0.4.3a Patch notes |
| 9 Aug 2026 | v0.4.3: Divide and Conquer! Update |
| 17 Jul 2026 | v0.4.2a: UI refinements, tutorial pacing, nerfed contaminants and more Patch notes |
| 13 Jul 2026 | v0.4.2: Major tutorial, UI and Gameplay Updates! Update |
| 25 Jun 2026 | v0.4.1: New tools and controls! Update |
| 19 Jun 2026 | v0.4.0b Patch notes |
| 17 Jun 2026 | v0.4.0a Patch notes |
| 15 Jun 2026 | v0.4.0 Update |
| 15 Jun 2026 | Substrate: Emergence Demo - v0.4.0 "Synthesis" Update |
| 14 Jun 2026 | v0.3.5 Patch notes |
| 9 Jun 2026 | v0.3.4a - Hotfixes Patch notes |
| 8 Jun 2026 | v0.3.4: More gameplay changes! Update |
Showing the latest 50 of 70. Show all
Steam keeps no record of past build numbers, so before 21 Oct 2026 a game’s update history comes from its own Steam news: posts tagged as patch notes, and untagged posts that plainly announce a patch or a released update. Older posts are still being read in, most played games first. How we count