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Thanks for checking! The “v1.1.1 compatible progress” message is actually part of v1.2. It means your existing company is continuing under the legacy IPO rules. Sorry—that label makes it look as though the update hasn’t arrived.

To try the new M&A/reinvestment path with your existing progress, finish your current IPO. On the post-IPO screen, look for “Choose your next chapter” and select “Review transfer to M&A →” before starting another legacy company. If you’re already on that screen, you can review the transfer now.

The preview shows the Shares and Seed conversion and the Talent, Process, and Brand levels you’ll keep. You can cancel before confirming. Once confirmed, it’s a one-way switch to the new M&A economy, where the legacy Shares/IPO route is no longer available.

Please don’t reset your save or clear your browser data. Thanks for flagging the confusing label!

That was a fair criticism. Once the team was waiting for new contracts, buying more speed didn’t help much.

In v1.2’s new M&A path, Sales unlocks Marketing at level 4 to bring in contracts more frequently, and Design unlocks higher-value contracts at level 4. The aim is to make further upgrades change what your company can do, not just make the progress bars faster.

With your existing save, you can choose to transfer to this path on the upgrade screen after an IPO. The preview explains what happens to your assets and that the transfer replaces the legacy Shares/IPO route—there’s no need to manually reset your save.

Thanks for pointing this out!

Thanks for the detailed feedback—your Sales and Design suggestions directly influenced v1.2.

Testing confirmed the bottleneck you described: increasing worker speed alone could leave deliveries unchanged because contracts were still arriving every five seconds. In the new M&A path, Sales can now improve contract arrival rates from level 4, while Design can make every fifth contract it processes more valuable from level 4.

I also added Operations Lab after the first exit. You can choose Growth to strengthen contract acquisition or Premium to strengthen higher-value contracts. It’s a small strategy layer rather than a full research tree.

M&A exits now lead into reinvestment, too: spend the sale proceeds on permanent upgrades, keep the remainder as cash for your next company, or balance the two.

For your existing save, the transfer option is available on the upgrade screen after a legacy IPO. It previews the asset conversion before you commit. You can also stay with the old route; transferring is a one-way switch to the new M&A economy.

I’m still tuning the balance, so I wouldn’t call the repetition problem completely solved. Does the second company feel meaningfully different to you now?

Thanks for the feedback!
I’ve just updated IDLE HQ with a new IPO / prestige system, permanent upgrades, new goals after full automation, repeatable company challenges, and a reworked automation balance.
Your existing save progress is preserved, so you should be able to continue from where you left off.
I really appreciate you taking the time to play this far — your feedback directly influenced this update.

Thanks for the feedback, and for playing far enough to point this out. You were right that the game needed more to do beyond hiring all five workers.

The earlier update added IPO/prestige, permanent upgrades, new goals, and repeatable company challenges. v1.2 now goes further with a new M&A and reinvestment path: sell your company, invest the proceeds in permanent upgrades, and carry every unspent dollar from the sale into your next company.

That path also gives you more reasons to develop the team beyond level 3. Sales unlocks Marketing at level 4 to bring in contracts more frequently, while Design unlocks higher-value contracts at level 4. After your first exit, you can choose Growth or Premium as your next company’s strategy.

There’s no need to reset your existing save. You can continue your current company on the legacy IPO path. After an IPO, the upgrade screen lets you either stay with that system or preview a one-time transfer to the new M&A economy. The preview explains the Shares and Seed conversion and which upgrades carry over before you confirm. Transferring is a one-way switch; the legacy Shares/IPO route is not available afterward.

Your feedback helped shape these changes. I’m still tuning the balance, so I’d be interested to hear whether the next company feels more rewarding—or where it still feels repetitive.