Getting started

This page takes you from download to a first career that is running well. The short version: install the game, start in Great Lakes 2000 on Standard difficulty, take over the running company, leave prices on automatic, and spend your first ten weeks learning the screens before you spend money.

Download and install#

Get the game from the download page:

https://lakesidegames.net/download/corporate-warfare/

Corporate Warfare is free while in development. There is no account and no sign-in.

• Windows. Run the .msi installer. Windows may show a SmartScreen warning for a new publisher; choose More info, then Run anyway.
• Linux. Install the .deb with your package manager, for example sudo apt install ./corporate-warfare_*.deb.
• Android. The APK installs outside the Play Store. Allow installs from your browser or file manager when your phone asks.

Offline play, saves and updates#

The game is single-player and plays fully offline. Saves stay on your device. Use Save in the in-game menu to keep a save beside the autosave, and Load game to pick any save; each one shows its company, game week and date.

Big releases can change the economy enough that older saves do not load, and the changelog says when. Careers saved in 1.7.1 and the 1.8 previews load in 1.8.0.

At launch the game can check the public release list for a newer version (you can switch this off in Settings). In Settings, Updates you choose between full releases and previews, and you can install any version from 1.8 preview 3 on. Going back to an older version backs up your saves first and warns you that a career saved by a newer version may not open. On Windows, Update now downloads and installs the new version and reopens the game. On Linux, Mac and Android it opens the download.

The game can also send an anonymous market snapshot every five game weeks: prices, sales and stock per good, with a random install id and nothing about you. It never stops play if it fails, and the Analytics switch in Settings turns it off.

Your first career#

The game opens on the main menu: Continue, New game, Load game, Settings and, on desktop, Quit.

New game walks you through:

1. Scenario. Pick one of the four scenarios, or a custom scenario you made in the scenario editor. For a first game, take Great Lakes, 2000: the fewest rivals, one currency and a plain start with a farm in central Ohio.
2. How you start. Take over a running company (you hold 60 percent of it, with $1,000,000 in company cash and a $500,000 loan repaid over 104 weeks), or found your own: name it, pick a headquarters region, a first strategy by sector and how much capital to put in. Founding costs a $25,000 formation fee and needs at least $250,000 of capital. Taking over is the easier start.
3. Difficulty. See the table below.
4. The economy on day one. Historic (as the scenario's year really was), Calm (on trend, little credit built up), Boom (running hot, a bust likely later) or Downturn (weak demand, cheap money, a recovery ahead). Choose Calm to learn, Downturn if you want a recovery tailwind.
5. World price path. Historical (the real shape on the real dates), Historical with variance (the same shape, with the timing and depth of each swing shifted by your game's seed) or Random. Each scenario sets a default. See The commodity exchange.

Difficulty changes starting money and how aggressive rivals are. It does not change prices or rules. You can override the starting capital on the new-game screen. Losing a company does not end your career; see Your holding company.

A guided tutorial of eight steps ticks off as you do them, each with a Show me button: open the CEO Office, play a week, set a price, find an action in the Command Center, fund research, read the economy card, build a plant and check Stats. You can restart it from Settings.

The first ten weeks#

On the take-over start in Great Lakes, you run a five-block farm in central Ohio. A practical opening:

1. Week 0. Open the CEO Office. Read cash ($1,000,000), the loan (about $4,800 of principal due each week) and what the farm makes and sells. Leave every price on automatic. Automatic pricing follows sell-through and never moves a price more than 2 percent a week.
2. Weeks 1 to 4. Press Next week, or set the speed to 1x and let time run. Watch stock and cash. Farm output follows the season (80, 110, 130, 80 percent of full by quarter), so low output early in a quarter is normal.
3. Weeks 2 to 6. Open Research and set a small weekly budget. Research that costs more than the company earns is a loss.
4. Weeks 4 to 8. Open the Map and look for a region with room to build, meaning it imports what you could sell. Adding a plant to a division you already run has no entry fee. Opening a division in a new region costs a $100,000 fee and the founding plant is half price.
5. Week 10. Open Stats. Check that revenue exceeds costs and that cash is not falling faster than the loan repayments. Cash running low is the first thing that sinks a company.

Pause when the Inbox shows a decision. The game stops for choices that need you.

The screens#

On desktop: Space plays or pauses, N plays the next week and 1, 2 and 3 set the speed to 1, 2 or 4 weeks a second. On Mac, Command K, Command N and Command P do the same.

Common questions#

• How do I win? In five-year mode, the game pauses at week 260 and gives a score out of 100, then lets you carry on (see Overview). Otherwise play on as long as you like.
• Which scenario is easiest? Great Lakes, 2000.
• How do I pause or speed up? Pause, 1x, 2x and 4x buttons on the status bar; keys above.
• Can I recover from bankruptcy? Yes, your career continues; see Your holding company.

Last checked: 2026-10-29, version 1.8.0