Nova Roma update adds plagues, Apollo and gladiatorial games

Nova Roma has added a sizeable new batch of systems aimed at making its Roman city-building campaign more dangerous — and considerably more theatrical. Developer Lion Shield Studios and publisher Hooded Horse say the update introduces plagues, a healing-focused god, gladiatorial games, a photo mode and a map editor. ¹

Apollo and the fight against disease

The update adds Apollo to Nova Roma’s pantheon. Players can fulfil his requests to earn divine favour, then develop his temples into shrines dedicated to Asclepius, Apollo’s son and the game’s answer to a medical emergency. That gives the update a new progression thread rather than simply dropping another building into the construction menu. ¹

Plagues are the more immediate problem. A new Clinic slows the spread of disease, giving governors time to contain an outbreak before it tears through the population. The system should make health management a more active part of city planning: players now have to think about where medical infrastructure sits and how quickly it can respond when a settlement starts to fail.

Gladiators bring a darker kind of public order

The update also adds gladiatorial games at the Colosseum. Players can pit fighters against wild beasts or against one another, then decide what happens to the combatants. It is a knowingly brutal addition, but it fits Nova Roma’s broader emphasis on balancing civic ambition with the needs — and demands — of its citizens.

The new spectacles are joined by a photo mode for capturing finished cities and a map editor for creating custom terrain. Together, those tools push the update beyond a conventional content drop: there is a new public-health threat to manage, a new religious path to pursue, a new entertainment system to operate and more room to build outside the campaign’s prepared maps.

Where to play Nova Roma

Nova Roma remains in Early Access on PC through Steam, GOG, the Epic Games Store and the Microsoft Store. The Steam listing identifies Lion Shield Studios as the developer and shows the game at a 35% discount until 22 October 2026 at the time of writing. ²

Our opinion

This is the kind of update that gives a city builder a reason to revisit its existing systems instead of merely adding another decorative layer. Plagues put pressure on the layout and resilience of a settlement, while Apollo and the Colosseum offer contrasting ways to keep a population functioning — one through healing, the other through spectacle. The map editor and photo mode are less consequential to survival, but they should give players more ownership over what they build.

The important caveat is that these details describe an Early Access game, so the balance of disease, divine favour and gladiatorial entertainment may change as Lion Shield continues development. Even so, the combination of new threats, new civic tools and player-created terrain makes this a meaningful update rather than a routine patch.