# August recap, our new creative director and Stage 3 in production

> Tag: WORKSHOP. Published 2026-08-28 by Tom and Ollie, FOXFIRE developers. Mirrors https://getfoxfire.com/dispatches/august-dev-update/.

August at FOXFIRE. The Screen Australia grant application is submitted. Siobhan Davis joined as creative director. Stage 3 the Ark Heist moved from prototype into production. Stage 2 continues its playtest-driven polish. The road to Early Access is firmly on track.

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## A major grant application

- Thorough application submitted to Screen Australia's Games Production Fund
- Excited regardless of outcome
- Process helped clarify our thinking, polish our roadmap and raise our professionalism to a standard that ensures our vision will be realised

## Siobhan Davis joined as creative director

- Contracted from August 2026 as the third name on FOXFIRE
- Owns: art direction, style guide, enemy bestiary across stages, hull and weapon art, interface art, pilot animation, weapon-evolution animation
- Brings the skill-set to bridge the quality gap between our strong movement and systems and the earlier visual placeholders and prototypes

## Stage 3 (the Ark Heist) is in production

- Was an in-engine prototype for months; September through November is production proper
- The point of the campaign where we stop running and fly right into the thick of the action
- Unique to space survivor-likes: flying through a maze of procedurally generated compartments within a heavily defended space hulk

## Stage 2 (Viridian Storm) play and polish

- Still undergoing vigorous testing with signs of increased player engagement
- Offscreen indicators getting clearer; mid-run camera behaviours being smoothed
- Playtest cohort finds a handful of things per week (and has been late to their real jobs on occasion)
- Focus this month: boss attack telegraphing and general fine tuning

## What's next

- September: Stage 3, for real
- Siobhan bringing our cast of pilots to life
- Stage 2 finishing touches
- A soon-to-be-released Stage 1-only demo, already getting rave reviews from the playtest team

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## Where to look next

- https://getfoxfire.com/dispatches/viridian-storm-made-fair/ (July build notes for Stage 2)
- https://getfoxfire.com/dispatches/hand-foxfire-to-strangers/ (three days at Supanova Sydney)
- https://getfoxfire.com/game/ (FOXFIRE systems overview)
- https://store.steampowered.com/app/4714090/FOXFIRE/ (wishlist on Steam)

Last updated: 2026-08-28