Shady Job Launch Checklist

Shady Job unlocks on September 10, 2026 on Steam (app 4190710, GAZE IN GAMES). Playtests already ended on August 31, 2026. This page is a pre-launch checklist, not patch-day busywork and not a fake countdown widget. Tick boxes in the week before you clock in. Calendar detail lives on the release date page. Hardware detail lives on system requirements.

Price is not posted. Do not write one in. Local split-screen is not listed. Plan for online co-op, 1–4 players, with mics. If a box fails the spec table, fix that before you argue about who is Flex.

T-minus 7 days

• Wishlist on Steam. Notification beats a group chat at midnight. Store and social links are collected on links.
• Confirm every PC against the spec table. Minimum is Windows 10 64-bit, i5-8400 / Ryzen 5 2600, 8 GB RAM, GTX 1050 Ti / RX 560, DirectX 12, 10 GB. Recommended steps to Windows 11, i5-8600K / Ryzen 5 3600X, 16 GB, RTX 3060 / RX 6600 XT. Steam Deck is unknown — do not promise a handheld.
• Free 10 GB plus slack. The posted install size is 10 GB. Leave room for Steam, a driver, and a voice client.
• Friends list is not a surprise. Add the crew on Steam now. Online co-op needs invites that already exist, not usernames typed while the bag is loose.
• One person owns the calendar. If September 10 slips or a preload appears, they watch updates and patch notes so the rest of you are not guessing.

T-minus 3 days

• GPU driver current. NVIDIA or AMD, matching the card you actually have. Do not install a “game ready” package for a different title and call it done. Reboot once. Confirm DirectX 12 still runs a game you already own.
• Mic test in the same app you will use. Push-to-talk bound, mute bound, levels not red. Typing “ice” is not a callout.
• Read Getting Started once. Then controls. You need plunger prompts (SHOOT, PULL/RELEASE, DROP) in muscle memory, not during Floor 13.
• Assign roles with the squad planner. Write names: Carrier, Builder, Plunger, Flex. Ranks if you want them: co-op roles. Do this in chat, not in your head.
• Agree the default strategy out loud. Path-first, gentle carry, walk the bag, yank to recover, ice and fans veto. Letters: strategy tiers. Do not “figure it out in the elevator.”

T-minus 1 day

• Bag rules recap (60 seconds). One owner. No punching cargo for speed. Aggression scales with rough handling — Punchy Bag is the nickname, not a dare. Handling notes: body bag.
• Builder recap. Unstable blocks can dump the stack. Cranes and platforms are tools, not toys. Break walls and windows on purpose. Technique: building.
• Plunger recap. Gun and bag are different people at 2+. Rescue first, highway second. Technique: Plunger Gun.
• HUD watch list. Green bar exists — glance, do not invent a stat. Slots 1 and 2 may show SANDWICH and INDUSTRIAL FAN. Ice freeze is real. Props (toilet, barrel) are physics, not furniture. Floor 13 is a callout landmark.
• Co-op habits. Who hosts, who invites, what you do on a disconnect (collapse to the smaller template). Social layer: co-op.
• Close the extra junk. Overlay, browser, 40 Chrome tabs, a second store client. 8 GB minimum boxes feel this immediately.

Morning of September 10

• Steam is signed in on the right account.
• Download / preload / first patch is actually finished — watch patch notes if a day-one drop lands.
• Driver still loaded after the night’s Windows update.
• Mic still works after that same update.
• Seats still match headcount. Late friend? Drop Full site → Triangle → Bag and Path. Do not leave Flex and Plunger both empty.
• One person still has walkthrough available if you get geographically lost. Do not all open it mid-span.
• Nobody is still negotiating jobs in overlay after the bag is in someone’s hands.

If the game does not appear at the time you expected, you do not need a new checklist. You need the release date page and patience. This list does not claim a clock hour, a preload guarantee, or a price.

What you can skip

Skip buying a new GPU the night of the 9th unless you failed the spec table and you already had the card in a closet. Skip writing custom keybind bibles beyond the plunger prompts we can actually document. Skip inventing SANDWICH numbers. Skip a fifth unofficial job. Skip promising Steam Deck. Skip arguing review scores before you have played — the review page can wait until you have a session, not a checklist.

Do not skip wishlist, driver, friends list, mic, Getting Started, seats, and bag rules. Those seven are the reason this page exists.

Crew message you can paste

Shady Job, Sep 10. Wishlist done? Driver current? Mic tested? Specs: 1050 Ti / 8 GB min, 3060 / 16 GB rec. Seats: P1 Carrier, P2 Builder, P3 Plunger, P4 Flex (fold down if fewer people). Path-first, gentle bag, gun ≠ bag. Ice calls stop. See shadyjob.wiki tools.

Send it once. If someone replies with a new theory, send the squad planner and stop the thread. The checklist is finished when the boxes above are ticked, not when the chat has discovered a fifth role.

After the first session (optional, ten minutes)

This is still a launch list, not a live-service log. One pass is enough:

• Did anyone fail hardware? Update the spec fork, not the bag rules.
• Did seats survive contact with Floor 13? If not, rerun the planner, do not add jobs.
• Did a patch land? Read notes, then tick driver again.
• Did playtest habits linger? Playtests ended August 31, 2026 — launch rules are whatever the live build is, not whatever a July test taught you. Recap on the playtest page if you need the history, then close it.

When those four are answered, stop living in Tools. Go play. The next useful tab is a guide for the thing that actually wiped you, not a second copy of this checklist with the same boxes.