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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFishing Inc on Steam now protects offline progress from a silent cloud overwrite. In patch v2.9.0, the game added a conflict prompt when local and Steam Cloud saves differ, showing both versions before you choose one. Prestige deliberately starts a new series: the official description says, “Start a new series with everything reset except your binder.” Your binder is the only persistence item explicitly named in the published notes; the game has not published a complete currency or upgrade-survival inventory.
If money or upgrades appear to vanish, treat the save state as the first suspect. Check the local-versus-cloud conflict, relaunch on v2.9.0 or later so broken cloud saves can be repaired, and contact Steam Support if the result still does not match your intended save. Do not apply mechanics from the separate mobile app named Fish-Inc to this Steam game.
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How offline progress works in the Steam game
Fishing Inc is a cozy incremental fishing game from BigBonk Studio. Its Steam loop is straightforward: catch fish, travel among ponds, fill the Fish Log, and spend earnings on upgrades. That design makes offline calculation and save selection important, because progress can accumulate while the game is closed and then be reconciled with a cloud copy at the next launch.
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The official v2.9.0 patch notes say offline progress is no longer silently overwritten by Steam Cloud. When the local save and the cloud save disagree, the game displays a conflict prompt with both saves. This is a protection mechanism, not an automatic merge: you must inspect the two versions and select the one you want to continue using.
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- MULTIPLE GAMEPLAY OPTIONS - Choose to fish in a lake, stream or deep sea!
- JUST LIKE THE "REEL" THING! Cast, catch and reel 'em in to score points!
- SHARE - Perfect for fans or collectors looking to share this classic with the new generation!
- INCLUDES 2 AAA batteries for immediate play! Age: 8+
What to do when the conflict prompt appears
- Stop and read both entries. Do not click through immediately. Compare the displayed progress, money and any other identifying details the prompt provides.
- Identify the newer legitimate session. A local save may contain the offline progress from your last play session, while the cloud copy may represent an older or different machine state.
- Select the save you intend to keep. Choose the version that reflects your latest trustworthy play. The prompt exists so you can make this decision instead of having one copy replace the other invisibly.
- Let the game finish loading and saving. Avoid closing the game or interrupting Steam while the selected state is being written.
- Recheck the result in the main game. Confirm that your ponds, Fish Log, money and upgrades correspond to the version you selected before starting another long offline period.
The published notes do not describe a button that merges individual items from both saves. Treat the choice as selecting one complete save state, and preserve any screenshots or details of the other version if you may need help from Steam Support.
Why an old cloud save might show zero money
The same v2.9.0 notes document a previous cloud-money bug. It could display an incorrect amount and load a player with zero money. The notes state that old broken cloud saves are repaired automatically at launch.
Recovery sequence for an implausible balance
- Update and launch the Steam game with patch v2.9.0 or a newer version installed.
- Allow the launch process to complete; do not force-quit while the save is being checked.
- If a local-versus-cloud prompt appears, inspect both versions before choosing.
- After entering the game, verify the money balance and the upgrades you previously bought.
- If the balance is still wrong or the save repeatedly returns to zero, record what each save entry shows and contact Steam Support. The published notes do not provide a player-facing rollback or manual restoration procedure.
Automatic repair applies to old broken cloud saves identified by the game. It is not a guarantee that every accidental overwrite, corrupted local file or mistaken save selection can be reconstructed, so avoid repeatedly launching and selecting a version at random.
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What Prestige resets and what it keeps
Prestige is a deliberate reset, not a routine save operation. A Steam Community update defines it as: “Start a new series with everything reset except your binder.” In practical terms, you begin a fresh progression series and retain the binder. The wording does not publish a separate inventory of every currency, skill, boost or upgrade, so do not assume an unnamed item survives.
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- All gamer appeal: four modes of entertaining and competitive gameplay. In Career Mode, gamers will need to understand the equipment, topography of the lakes, & fish behaviour in order to succeed.
- amazing lakes: ten of North America's greatest lakes are realistically depicted, so players can recognize key landmarks and find their favorite fishing spots.
- abundance of fish: the strike features a variety of fresh water fish & each Lake contains a legendary fish of record proportions that will challenge even the best players and experienced fishermen.
- variety of equipment: players can tailor their equipment by going to the bass Pro shops in-game store to select lures, rods, and reels. Players can also win new boats by winning tournaments.
- online leader boards: players will be able to post their fishing stats to online leader boards for the world to see their results
Progression states at Prestige
| Item or state | Published behavior | How to interpret it |
|---|---|---|
| Current series progress | Resets | Prestige starts a new series rather than continuing the old progression track. |
| Binder | Persists | The binder is the one item explicitly exempted from the reset. |
| Money or cash balance | Included in “everything” unless the current game UI says otherwise | The official wording does not publish a separate currency-by-currency exception list. |
| Purchased upgrades | Included in the reset wording; no named survival list is published | Plan to rebuild ordinary progression upgrades after Prestige rather than relying on them remaining active. |
| Other currencies, skills or boosts | Not itemized in the available Steam notes | Check the current in-game confirmation screen; do not infer persistence from another game. |
Before you press the Prestige control
- Read the confirmation text in the current build and note exactly what it lists as retained.
- Spend or record money only if doing so helps your current series; do not expect the balance itself to carry over unless the confirmation explicitly says so.
- Take screenshots of your binder and important milestones so you can distinguish an intentional reset from a later save problem.
- Finish any session you want to preserve and allow the game to save before activating Prestige.
After Prestige
Expect a new series with ordinary progression rebuilt from the beginning while the binder remains. If an item that the confirmation screen explicitly promised to retain is absent, treat that as a save or implementation problem and use the cloud-conflict checks described below. If the item was never named as persistent, the available documentation cannot establish that it should survive.
Which currencies does Fishing Inc use?
The documented cash loop
The Steam store description establishes a general money or cash loop: you earn from fishing and spend those earnings on upgrades. That is the only currency behavior the authoritative Steam description clearly documents.
Why a complete currency list is not available
The published Steam materials do not provide a complete named-currency taxonomy or a table showing which currencies survive Prestige. Because of that gap, it would be misleading to claim that a particular premium currency, token, boost currency or skill point persists. Use the names and balances shown in your current game UI, and treat any persistence claim as confirmed only when the Prestige confirmation or an official update states it.
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- Cast, hook, and rebels! choose your tackle and hone your skills in three different modes in this arcade-style fishing game
- Challenge yourself with Career mode, featuring 80 missions to take you from Casual angler to legendary fisher
- Perfect your techniques to unlock 10 different venues with varied fish in four seasons and different weather conditions
- Play with up to four friends or family and challenge them into catching different types of fish
- Nintendo Switch system: use motion controls with the Joy-Con Controllers to cast (classic controls also available)
Why upgrades can appear to be missing
Missing upgrades have two fundamentally different explanations: an intentional progression reset or a save-state mismatch. Decide which one fits before attempting recovery.
Reset-related disappearance
If you activated Prestige, ordinary series progression is expected to start over. Upgrades bought in that series fall under the official “everything reset except your binder” wording unless the current confirmation screen names an exception. Their absence after a successful Prestige is therefore not, by itself, proof of corruption.
Save or cloud-state mismatch
If you did not Prestige, or if an upgrade was present immediately before closing the game and absent after reopening, suspect the save state first. A cloud copy from an earlier session can differ from the local copy, and the v2.9.0 conflict prompt is designed to expose that difference.
Symptoms and the appropriate response
| What you see | Most likely category | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| All ordinary progress and money are back at a starting level after you chose Prestige | Intentional series reset | Check the confirmation wording and verify that the binder remains. |
| Progress differs between local and cloud entries | Save conflict | Compare both entries and select the complete state that is correct. |
| Money is implausible or zero after loading an older cloud state | Historical cloud-money bug | Run v2.9.0 or later and allow the documented automatic repair to run. |
| An upgrade is missing with no Prestige and no useful conflict choice | Unresolved save discrepancy | Relaunch once on the current patch, document the result, then contact Steam Support. |
Step-by-step checks for a missing upgrade
- Confirm whether Prestige was used. Check your recent actions and the series state shown by the game.
- Check the build. Make sure the game is running v2.9.0 or a later patch so the cloud-conflict protection and cloud-money repair are available.
- Relaunch normally. Wait for the save check to finish and watch for a local-versus-cloud prompt.
- Inspect both save versions. Use their progress and money details to identify which one contains the upgrade.
- Choose the complete correct save. The documented workflow is selection, not item-by-item copying.
- Verify after loading. Check the upgrade, money, ponds and Fish Log before playing further.
- Escalate with evidence. If neither version is correct, provide Steam Support with the observed balances, dates or session details and screenshots of the prompt when available.
There is no documented in-game command that restores one missing upgrade from a discarded save while preserving another save’s newer progress. Avoid third-party file edits or guesses about hidden folders; they can make the remaining state harder to diagnose.
Rank #4
- Play with up to four friends or family and challenge them into catching different types of fish.
- Challenge yourself with career mode, featuring 80 missions to take you from casual angler to legendary fisher.
- Nintendo Switch system: Use motion controls with the controllers to cast (classic controls also available).
- Perfect your techniques to unlock 10 different venues with varied fish in four seasons and different weather conditions.
- Cast, hook, and reel! Choose your tackle and hone your skills in three different modes in this arcade-style fishing game.
Do not confuse the Steam game with the mobile Fish-Inc app
An Apple App Store listing for a separate mobile app named Fish-Inc advertises an Auto Fisher, offline money, more than 10 upgrades, boosts and permanent prestige multipliers. Those claims belong to that mobile listing, not to the Steam title. The similar name is the source of many misleading answers about offline income, persistent multipliers and currency behavior.
| Comparison point | Fishing Inc on Steam | Fish-Inc mobile listing |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | Steam PC game | Separate mobile app listed in the Apple App Store |
| Offline behavior documented here | Offline progress is protected from silent cloud replacement in v2.9.0; conflicts show both saves | Listing advertises offline money and an Auto Fisher |
| Prestige documentation | New series; everything resets except the binder | Listing advertises permanent prestige multipliers |
| Upgrade and currency details | Steam materials do not publish a complete named list | Mobile listing mentions 10+ upgrades and boosts |
Use only the platform-specific instructions for the game you actually installed. A mobile feature such as a permanent multiplier cannot be used to predict what survives Prestige on Steam.
A safe playbook for offline sessions and resets
- Before closing: finish the action you want saved and give the game time to write its state.
- On the next launch: read any local-versus-cloud conflict instead of accepting the first option automatically.
- After a suspicious balance: stay on v2.9.0 or newer and allow automatic cloud-save repair to complete.
- Before Prestige: read the confirmation, record the binder and understand that ordinary series progress will restart.
- After Prestige: verify the binder first, then rebuild series upgrades without assuming unlisted currencies or boosts persisted.
- If something still disagrees: stop making new progress, capture the save details and contact Steam Support rather than repeatedly switching between copies.
These steps separate the three states that players often mix together: normal offline accumulation, a cloud conflict, and an intentional Prestige reset. Keeping them distinct is the fastest way to tell a designed reset from a recoverable save problem.
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