Gem Defender: Soyjak Survivors

Coby Dox Chudd Howard · GoonCorp Inc.

Released: Oct 23, 2023
Platforms
Last updated: 13 Sep 2026, 04:01 GMT

Updates & announcements

14 posts

04 Sep 2025Developer post
STEAM COMMUNITY ITEMS
Hello everyone! At long last, steam community items (trading cards, emojis, backgrounds, etc) for Gem Defender are now available! There are also animated avatars and profile frames which can be bought from the points shop. An official upload of the game's soundtrack can be found
21 Feb 2025Developer post
SOY REQUIEM
At long last, Gem Defender: Soy Requiem, is finally out! Get ready to Chud it up like never before with four new worlds, postgame content, and a collaboration with BADLANDS CHUGS!!! New Levels: Level 0 (Chud’s Basement) acts as a quick tutorial to get you started Level 14 (The Ba
At long last, Gem Defender: Soy Requiem, is finally out! Get ready to Chud it up like never before with four new worlds, postgame content, and a collaboration with BADLANDS CHUGS!!!
Watch on YouTube
New Levels:

Level 0 (Chud’s Basement) acts as a quick tutorial to get you started
Level 14 (The Badlands) is a brand-new gauntlet featuring the GOAT BadlandsChugs
Level 15 (Brim) is the definitive, final level of the game
A new post-game world, the Endless Soyscape, has been added with an endlessly-scaling wave system and most weapons in the game. See how far you can get!
New Weapons:

Fatal Thrembosis, shoots out a demonic aoe burst in a triangle
Pacifier MK Ultra, a devilish upgrade to the Pacifier gun
Das Boot, an overcharged sproke-shooter that charges up before firing in giant bursts
Quarterly Bonus, increases health gained from eating bugs and gives Chud contact damage
Experiment 109…?
Weapon Changes:

Improved movement & visuals for Sproke
Squirrel & Ancient Squirrel damage now better scales with its levels
Improved contact damage of Soygirl in Soytham
Increased range & improved visuals of Fauxgems
Improved visual feedback for swords, trails are less buggy
Level Changes:

Pruned grindy waves from Levels 1-5 and added more enjoyable wavesets
Levels 1, 2, and 3 have new enemies
Added a wave to Level Ϫ (for a total of Ϫ waves...)
Level 6 (Diphenhydramine) received some visual improvements alongside some gameplay changes, giving you only one option per-level
Some worlds received more visual polish
The Fallen West now uses Girlbossania instead of Goondoom
UI Changes & Optimizations:

Improved item displays in the Level Up screen
Alternate item screen for Diphenhydramine
Improvements for UI ordering in Diphenhydramine
Duplicate items do not show up, some worlds have alternate amounts of upgrades selectable
Tweaks to the death screen
Fixed positions of enemy health bars
All enemy projectiles now use object pooling
All EXP now use object pooling
Optimized enemy targeting for weapons
And of course, there are multiple brand new achievements to go along with the new content! Thanks to everyone who played the game and never forget, it's great to be goon.
Original post
14 Feb 2025Developer post
GoonCorp lied to us...
I worked for GoonCorp. He's a fraud. He claimed he was going to release Soyjak Requiem on the 14th, when he actually had full intention of releasing the update on the 21st . He also claims to be a "man of honour" despite the fact that he's a dastardly goon who terrorizes innocent
09 Feb 2025Developer post
FINAL UPDATE + STEAM COMMUNITY ITEMS SOON
Hello everyone! The final update for Gem Defender, Soyjak Requiem, is set to release in around a week, on February 14th, 2025! WHAT TO EXPECT: A collaboration with a legend in the soy community, featuring his own custom level and skin in the game. Three new additional levels on t
Hello everyone!
The final update for Gem Defender, Soyjak Requiem, is set to release in around a week, on February 14th, 2025!
WHAT TO EXPECT:

A collaboration with a legend in the soy community, featuring his own custom level and skin in the game.
Three new additional levels on top of that, including a definitive final level.
Five new weapons that appear in various worlds, alongside buffs to plenty of existing weapons.
Overhauls of some of the earlier worlds.
A new post-game world with an endlessly-scaling wave system and most weapons in the game. See how far you can get!
Several in-game optimizations.
The long-awaited Steam Community items! Emojis, profile backgrounds, and trading cards of your favorite 'jaks
DEI Notice:
here at goonCorp, we want to Help make the gaming industry an inclusive space Under every circumstance possible. Going out of our way to fight inequity, we're collaborating with diversity leaders such as bill gates & amazon to save lgbtqia2s+ lives and bring a truly Special and legendary influencer to our game!
stay tuned, and thanks to everyone who already bought the game!
Original post
18 Mar 2024Developer post
Hotfix + performance mode
Fixed duplicate miniboss in Hollow Earth Fixed a miniboss missing from the Fallen West Performance mode is now out as a Steam beta, it may be unstable but it has largely improved performance. If you find a bug with it, make sure to let us know and we will make sure to fix it in t
Fixed duplicate miniboss in Hollow Earth
Fixed a miniboss missing from the Fallen West
Performance mode is now out as a Steam beta, it may be unstable but it has largely improved performance. If you find a bug with it, make sure to let us know and we will make sure to fix it in the future
Original post
18 Mar 2024Developer post
NEW LEVEL + ACHIEVEMENT FIXES
We at GoonCorp are excited to release an extra level alongside a new set of achievements! The Fallen West Bonus level playable after completing the main story up to this point New 30 wave showdown featuring all of the game's minibosses One final duel with an old foe... Achievemen
We at GoonCorp are excited to release an extra level alongside a new set of achievements!
The Fallen West

Bonus level playable after completing the main story up to this point
New 30 wave showdown featuring all of the game's minibosses
One final duel with an old foe...
Achievements

Added VorteX, BABY LOVER, Fallen West Defeated, THE WILD WEST HAS FALLEN, Isac Supreme, Apprentice Chud, Chud Elite, and Chud Eternal achievements
Fixed time-based achievements breaking. If you already received enough hours but didn't get the achievement, you can reopen the game and it will give you the corresponding achievements
Fixed the incorrect achievements being given for defeating Jak'er and Doctor Soystein. Reopening the game will correctly grant the achievements if you already met the criteria to receive them
Bug Fixes

Fixed the final outfit not being received on completing Soytham City
Fixed boss not spawning when going out of bounds in Diphenhydramine
Fixed map UI scaling incorrectly when playing on UHD monitors
Made it easier to spare Grinlook Poggers in Daycare
Minor enemy fixes
Waves will now only end early if there is not a miniboss present
Original post
01 Mar 2024Developer post
UPDATE 2 IS OUT!!!
Update 2 is out! Enjoy five new worlds (alongside reworks of the old worlds), eight new weapons, tons of polishing, and an adventure with our friend Isac Leon! New Content Levels Five new stages Library Hollow Earth Bugopolis Entrance to Soytham Soytham City New skins unlockable
Update 2 is out! Enjoy five new worlds (alongside reworks of the old worlds), eight new weapons, tons of polishing, and an adventure with our friend Isac Leon!
New Content
Levels

Five new stages
Library
Hollow Earth
Bugopolis
Entrance to Soytham
Soytham City
New skins unlockable for each level
4 new cutscenes in-game
Eight new weapons:

Blade of Soyterra - Devastating melee attack!
Mindbeams - Destructive piercing laser attack!
Green Arrow - Recharging protective shield!
Bobr - Genetically-modified attack squad
Pacifier MK2 - Deadly burst-fire shooter!
Soyarang - Skillfully kills haters with a returning projectile
Soygirl - A skilled crime-fighter and an ally of Isac
Isac Supreme - All stats up!
Exclusive weapon variants on certain levels
Quality of Life
Control

The player now has full control of where they would like to aim using the mouse, however autoaim becomes active when not targeting an area.
Full controller support
Additional support for UI navigation using keyboard
Boss Replay

Now when reaching a boss you will have the ability to start at the fight from the menu, even if you have not cleared the level yet.
All of the experience collectable from the level will be given on starting, and you will be able to choose all the upgrades you would’ve been able to get from the level.
Legacy save files have been converted, every cleared level (except Diphenhydramine) allows you to replay the boss.
Props in the scene now fade once a boss fight begins
Gameplay Changes
Boss Fights

Boss fights are much more dynamic, taking up the entirety of the stage. This allows for you to move around freely during the fight.
The camera is still in a similar positions as before, but it has an animation for zooming out and getting the boss in-frame
Bosses will now start exclusive short enemy waves in order to defend themselves, during which they cannot be hurt
Overall, bosses are much more in-tune with the gameplay in levels
To compensate, bosses have been adjusted overall, including many gaining more health and stronger attacks.
Certain bosses are more affected by others
Each boss now plays a unique sound on their fight beginning
Polishing

Added obstacles/big props that block enemy shots on contact.
Custom level border for levels 2, 3, & 10
Much better parity in art-style for props
Props now have more consistency with the colors of their respective levels
Waves

‘Level events’ may happen at certain wave intervals.
These are shown similarly to the way the ‘Wave X’ is shown
Minor changes to the feedback for clearing a wave
UI/UX Changes
Completely overhauled main HUD

Brand new layout and features
Revamped design
Improved distinction between health and experience
New features to track both current level and wave progress
New Visual Feedback

Enemies now have a spawn animation if spawned on-screen
Several enemies now vary in size
Enemies now bleed more when hit
Additional Feedback for defeating bosses
New particles for collecting both experience and health
Effects when both clearing waves and choosing upgrades
Audio Updates

Attack sounds for most existing and new weapons
Improved audio consistency per-level
Fixed the Asoylum using its unmastered track rather than its mastered one
Audio fades out before a VS. screen plays
Boss music continues where it left off before a VS. screen
Graphic Updates

New graphics for upgrade screen
New healthbar types for enemies
Remade several assets for Level Selector screen
Significantly improved compression for all videos ingame
Fixed all UI scaling issues present on non-widescreen aspect ratios
Updated a large amount of sprites for consistency with levels & style, including a large amount of props and enemy attacks
Balancing
Weapon Pools

Most levels have around 7 items, including the starter weapon
Certain levels have exclusive weapons available
Shorter/gimmick levels tend to have less weapons
All Items achievement now only needs all the items in the current pool
Frootville achievement is now harder to get on certain levels than others
Enemies

Enemy spawns locations are weighed off player actions, making for much more dynamic and exciting gameplay
Much more variety in enemy movement, with many old enemies gaining new movement types
Bugs
Each stage now has a limit on how many bugs can be around at once
This is not dependent on bug rarity, and only counts for bugs currently in the stage
Certain levels have vastly reduced bug spawns or even none at all
Weapon Changes

More consistent growth per-upgrade for Apple, Coaltrop, Sproke Shooter, Keyed Lime, Lemon and Fauxgems
Coaltrop Damage Buff
Fauxgems Damage Buff
Sproke Shooter
Increased move speed
Renamed from ‘Spokerino’ to ‘Sproke Shooter’
Increased Pearshooter projectile speed during boss fights
Level-Specific Changes

Shortened wave count & increased enemy variety on levels 1, 2, 4, and 5.
Improved set dressing, post-processing, and ambiance in all levels
Added props and obstacles to all levels
Added pre-boss waves & cutscenes for levels 7 and Ϫ
Diphenhydramine Changes

If time before hunting is over half depleted, it will deplete at a much faster rate (when hiding)
If time before hunting is under half depleted, it will refill at an increased rate (when hiding)
If the boss initiates a hunt, you can quickly hide to save yourself, however this only works if you are fast enough
Hunt times are significantly decreased, making the boss much more aggressive
Boss speed has been decreased to compensate for lower player speed
Boss will instantly initiate a hunt if the player wanders too far from the stage
New waves and much more variety in waves, includes more aggressive enemies which surface later in the level
Extended wave interval to compensate, allowing for some downtime between waves
Revamped hiding spot layout
New obstacles in the level to make traversing it more interesting
Decreased level size & hiding spot sizes
Game pauses when collecting a note
Current hunt time is cleared when collecting a note
Notes now have their own display on the hud, rather than revealing all note spawn locations using tinted rocks on the map
New feedback for a hunt beginning
Reverb in level
Improved attack vignette significantly
New map icons, generally improved map UI
Changed order of note graphics slightly, and two notes have changed sprites
Player arrow is now much more subtle
A new secret ending… Explore the level and find out!
Bug Fixes

Item collection popup no longer blocks player clicking
Fixed a bug where time while the game while pause would not contribute to the achievements for time spent in-game
Fixed several bugs involving pausing at weird times
Fixed only the post-processing button matching the currently equipped skin
Fixed upgrade screen breaking if gaining 2 levels at the same time
Vastly reduced the amount of times a single enemy will take longer to reach the player (this used to make certain waves last longer than they should’ve)
Fixed player color resetting when taking damage while hiding
Several optimizations to game code
Countdowns to next wave now display increased times correctly
Fixed hide screen not showing in Diphenhydramine
Fixed memory leak in cutscenes
Fixed a bug where custom forcefield colors would not be shown
Fixed screenshake breaking when being fed NaN inputs
Several optimizations to boss attacks
Game will no longer enter an infinite loop when depleting an item pool to less than three items
Significant improvements to code structure
Original post
01 Mar 2024Developer post
Bug Fix
fixed rare missing exe bug for windows
fixed rare missing exe bug for windows
Original post
01 Mar 2024Developer post
Update 2 is out!
Update 2 is out! Enjoy five new worlds (alongside reworks of the old worlds), eight new weapons, tons of polishing, and an adventure with our friend Isac Leon! New Content Levels Five new stages Library Hollow Earth Bugopolis Entrance to Soytham Soytham City New skins unlockable
Update 2 is out! Enjoy five new worlds (alongside reworks of the old worlds), eight new weapons, tons of polishing, and an adventure with our friend Isac Leon!
New Content
Levels

Five new stages
Library
Hollow Earth
Bugopolis
Entrance to Soytham
Soytham City
New skins unlockable for each level
4 new cutscenes in-game
Eight new weapons:

Blade of Soyterra - Devastating melee attack!
Mindbeams - Destructive piercing laser attack!
Green Arrow - Recharging protective shield!
Bobr - Genetically-modified attack squad
Pacifier MK2 - Deadly burst-fire shooter!
Soyarang - Skillfully kills haters with a returning projectile
Soygirl - A skilled crime-fighter and an ally of Isac
Isac Supreme - All stats up!
Exclusive weapon variants on certain levels
Quality of Life
Control

The player now has full control of where they would like to aim using the mouse, however autoaim becomes active when not targeting an area.
Full controller support
Additional support for UI navigation using keyboard
Boss Replay

Now when reaching a boss you will have the ability to start at the fight from the menu, even if you have not cleared the level yet.
All of the experience collectable from the level will be given on starting, and you will be able to choose all the upgrades you would’ve been able to get from the level.
Legacy save files have been converted, every cleared level (except Diphenhydramine) allows you to replay the boss.
Props in the scene now fade once a boss fight begins
Gameplay Changes
Boss Fights

Boss fights are much more dynamic, taking up the entirety of the stage. This allows for you to move around freely during the fight.
The camera is still in a similar positions as before, but it has an animation for zooming out and getting the boss in-frame
Bosses will now start exclusive short enemy waves in order to defend themselves, during which they cannot be hurt
Overall, bosses are much more in-tune with the gameplay in levels
To compensate, bosses have been adjusted overall, including many gaining more health and stronger attacks.
Certain bosses are more affected by others
Each boss now plays a unique sound on their fight beginning
Polishing

Added obstacles/big props that block enemy shots on contact.
Custom level border for levels 2, 3, & 10
Much better parity in art-style for props
Props now have more consistency with the colors of their respective levels
Waves

‘Level events’ may happen at certain wave intervals.
These are shown similarly to the way the ‘Wave X’ is shown
Minor changes to the feedback for clearing a wave
UI/UX Changes
Completely overhauled main HUD

Brand new layout and features
Revamped design
Improved distinction between health and experience
New features to track both current level and wave progress
New Visual Feedback

Enemies now have a spawn animation if spawned on-screen
Several enemies now vary in size
Enemies now bleed more when hit
Additional Feedback for defeating bosses
New particles for collecting both experience and health
Effects when both clearing waves and choosing upgrades
Audio Updates

Attack sounds for most existing and new weapons
Improved audio consistency per-level
Fixed the Asoylum using its unmastered track rather than its mastered one
Audio fades out before a VS. screen plays
Boss music continues where it left off before a VS. screen
Graphic Updates

New graphics for upgrade screen
New healthbar types for enemies
Remade several assets for Level Selector screen
Significantly improved compression for all videos ingame
Fixed all UI scaling issues present on non-widescreen aspect ratios
Updated a large amount of sprites for consistency with levels & style, including a large amount of props and enemy attacks
Balancing
Weapon Pools

Most levels have around 7 items, including the starter weapon
Certain levels have exclusive weapons available
Shorter/gimmick levels tend to have less weapons
All Items achievement now only needs all the items in the current pool
Frootville achievement is now harder to get on certain levels than others
Enemies

Enemy spawns locations are weighed off player actions, making for much more dynamic and exciting gameplay
Much more variety in enemy movement, with many old enemies gaining new movement types
Bugs
Each stage now has a limit on how many bugs can be around at once
This is not dependent on bug rarity, and only counts for bugs currently in the stage
Certain levels have vastly reduced bug spawns or even none at all
Weapon Changes

More consistent growth per-upgrade for Apple, Coaltrop, Sproke Shooter, Keyed Lime, Lemon and Fauxgems
Coaltrop Damage Buff
Fauxgems Damage Buff
Sproke Shooter
Increased move speed
Renamed from ‘Spokerino’ to ‘Sproke Shooter’
Increased Pearshooter projectile speed during boss fights
Level-Specific Changes

Shortened wave count & increased enemy variety on levels 1, 2, 4, and 5.
Improved set dressing, post-processing, and ambiance in all levels
Added props and obstacles to all levels
Added pre-boss waves & cutscenes for levels 7 and Ϫ
Diphenhydramine Changes

If time before hunting is over half depleted, it will deplete at a much faster rate (when hiding)
If time before hunting is under half depleted, it will refill at an increased rate (when hiding)
If the boss initiates a hunt, you can quickly hide to save yourself, however this only works if you are fast enough
Hunt times are significantly decreased, making the boss much more aggressive
Boss speed has been decreased to compensate for lower player speed
Boss will instantly initiate a hunt if the player wanders too far from the stage
New waves and much more variety in waves, includes more aggressive enemies which surface later in the level
Extended wave interval to compensate, allowing for some downtime between waves
Revamped hiding spot layout
New obstacles in the level to make traversing it more interesting
Decreased level size & hiding spot sizes
Game pauses when collecting a note
Current hunt time is cleared when collecting a note
Notes now have their own display on the hud, rather than revealing all note spawn locations using tinted rocks on the map
New feedback for a hunt beginning
Reverb in level
Improved attack vignette significantly
New map icons, generally improved map UI
Changed order of note graphics slightly, and two notes have changed sprites
Player arrow is now much more subtle
A new secret ending… Explore the level and find out!
Bug Fixes

Item collection popup no longer blocks player clicking
Fixed a bug where time while the game while pause would not contribute to the achievements for time spent in-game
Fixed several bugs involving pausing at weird times
Fixed only the post-processing button matching the currently equipped skin
Fixed upgrade screen breaking if gaining 2 levels at the same time
Vastly reduced the amount of times a single enemy will take longer to reach the player (this used to make certain waves last longer than they should’ve)
Fixed player color resetting when taking damage while hiding
Several optimizations to game code
Countdowns to next wave now display increased times correctly
Fixed hide screen not showing in Diphenhydramine
Fixed memory leak in cutscenes
Fixed a bug where custom forcefield colors would not be shown
Fixed screenshake breaking when being fed NaN inputs
Several optimizations to boss attacks
Game will no longer enter an infinite loop when depleting an item pool to less than three items
Significant improvements to code structure
Original post
23 Nov 2023Developer post
Incoming Update + OST Release
I am excited to announce that an update will come in around two months that will add new worlds/bosses. Unfortunately, the game still lacks the momentum necessary for Steam to allow us to release community items so hopefully this update should rake in enough 'traction' for Steam
06 Nov 2023Developer post
11/6 Hotfix
- Fix for 'True Chud' & 'Uberchud' achievements Soundtrack coming soon. More is in the works.
27 Oct 2023Developer post
October 27 Patch
- The menu screen background should now work on all platforms - "Totally Nutty Dude", "ACK!", and "Eiriel" achievements now work - Updated Post-Processing for a few levels - All bosses have had their health & bullet patterns tweaked - Waves will no longer be extended indefini
23 Oct 2023Developer post
GEM DEFENDER: SOYJAK SURVIVORS IS OUT
A hotfix will be released Wednesday (Oct. 25) that fixes a couple of bugs related to boss health/projectiles, HUD scaling, and extended wave times. Community items such as trading cards, icons, and hopefully backgrounds will be added once steam allows us.
19 Oct 2023Developer post
Game is expected to release on October 23rd, 2023
I hope you're ready.

Updates & announcements

Hello everyone!

New Levels:

New Weapons:

Weapon Changes:

Level Changes:

UI Changes & Optimizations:

The Fallen West

Achievements

Bug Fixes

New Content

Quality of Life

Gameplay Changes

UI/UX Changes

Balancing

Bug Fixes

New Content

Quality of Life

Gameplay Changes

UI/UX Changes

Balancing

Bug Fixes