Survivalist

Bob · Ginormocorp Incorporated

Released: Jan 30, 2015
Platforms: Windows
Last updated: 04 Sep 2026, 20:21 GMT

Updates & announcements

20 posts

03 Feb 2026Developer post
Czech translation in publicbeta!
Hey everyone, new patch! Jiří Linhart who did the Czech translation for Survivalist: Invisible Strain has now done Survivalist too! This patch will be in the publicbeta branch for a little while before moving to the main branch. To find it, right click on the game in Steam, go to
29 Jun 2025Developer post
Steam Deck Verified & Brazilian Portuguese
Hello, it's Survivalist patch time! As mentioned last month , Valve's testing team delved deeply enough into their back catalog to give Survivalist a yellow Playable tick for Steam Deck - meaning they judged it playable with a few minor controls issues. I've now fixed those issue
Hello, it's Survivalist patch time! As mentioned last month, Valve's testing team delved deeply enough into their back catalog to give Survivalist a yellow Playable tick for Steam Deck - meaning they judged it playable with a few minor controls issues. I've now fixed those issues in a new patch (v78) and they've given it a green tick! This is on Proton-9.0-4RC.
I think it's the sort of game that works really well on a handheld as the graphics and UI (which were designed for XBox 360 when CRT TVs were still a consideration) look nice and readable on the small screen. Also the top-down view feels logical as it matches the angle you typically hold the Steam Deck at on your lap if you're playing sitting down. So I'm glad it's finally got that tick.
Also included in this patch are some updates for the Brazilian Portuguese translation by the indefatigable Arthur Nunes. And speaking of Brazilian, the translation for Survivalist: Invisible Strain is also now complete!View game page
Here are the full patch notes for v78:
Fix for not being able to drag map screen and command mode camera using touchscreen on Steam Deck
Fix for mouse and keyboard prompts showing if you use touch screen controls on Steam Deck
Fix for Set Greeting not showing virtual keyboard on Steam Deck
Brazilian Portuguese translation updated
Linux Notes
Since this patch is for Steam Deck and I know people sometimes try to run it on Linux PCs with Proton perhaps it's worth reposting what I wrote in for a previous patch, where I added some command line arguments to enable that. You can enter those by right-clicking the game in your Steam library and putting them in the general tab under Launch Options.
force_steam_deck - This makes the game pretend it's running on Steam Deck, which enables all the various hacks I added to get it working (which normally would only be enabled if the game detects it's on Steam Deck). You need this to run it on Linux with Proton on a PC, otherwise it will crash!
force_not_steam_deck - This disables all those hacks even if it detects it's on Steam Deck.
To be clear, this game doesn't officially support Linux as a platform, I'm just trying to ensure it works on Steam Deck and if that means it also runs on Linux with Proton that's just a nice bonus.
Original post
26 May 2025Developer post
Steam Deck Playable rating + Survivalist: Invisible Strain launch!
Hello, not a patch but a few updates: Valve have given Survivalist a Playable rating on Steam Deck! Evidently their testing team have been working through their massive back catalog and they've now reached Survivalist! The Playable rating means it works fine but there are a few i
03 Jan 2025Developer post
New patch with Brazilian Portuguese updates (v77)
Hello, I've released a small patch with improvements for the Brazilian Portuguese translation. Arthur the translator has been diligently playtesting it and making corrections over the last couple of months, and these are the results :) Happy New Year! ːJoeWheelerApprovesː
17 Oct 2024Developer post
Brazilian Portuguese Added
Well, you wait years for an update and then two come along at once. The game now has a Brazilian Portuguese translation! Many thanks to the translator, Arthur 'Loki' Nunes for producing what looks like a a very comprehensive translation, e.g. with good support for gender agreemen
27 Sep 2024Developer post
Another Steam Deck patch! (v75)
It turns out that the latest Proton patch for Steam Deck (Proton 9.0-3) broke Survivalist again. I didn't realize that for a while as I stupidly didn't twig where some crash reports people sent me had come from, but I've now released a new patch to fix it - many thanks to those w
It turns out that the latest Proton patch for Steam Deck (Proton 9.0-3) broke Survivalist again. I didn't realize that for a while as I stupidly didn't twig where some crash reports people sent me had come from, but I've now released a new patch to fix it - many thanks to those who reported it! ːJoeWheelerApprovesː I also found some Out of Sync errors playing online co-op between a PC and a Steam Deck and fixed those.

Look, it works! ːGreenStrainː
So it's now working on Proton 9.0-3. Previously I had it working on Proton 7.0-6 and I believe it still did on Proton 8.0-5. I have some concerns about the current "Experimental" Proton build so I advise you not to use that. If you read this news post in the future and you have a problem with the game on Steam Deck, try going to Settings -> Compatibility and switching to one of the above versions of Proton (and let me know at [email protected]).
I've also added some command line arguments, which might be of interest to people running the game with Proton on a Linux PC or Steam Deck. You can enter those by right clicking the game in your Steam library and putting them in the general tab under Launch Options.
force_steam_deck - This makes the game pretend it's running on Steam Deck, which enables all the various hacks I added to get it working (which normally would only be enabled if the game detects it's on Steam Deck). So in theory it might also run on Linux with Proton on a PC.
force_not_steam_deck - This disables all those hacks even if it detects it's on Steam Deck.
To be clear though, this game doesn't officially support Linux as a platform, I'm just trying to ensure it works on Steam Deck and if that means it also runs on Linux with Proton that's just a nice bonus.
Original post
15 Jan 2023Developer post
Steam Deck patch (v74)!
It has come to my attention that Survivalist crashes on Steam Deck as soon as you start a new game - or at least it used to, as I've now issued a patch which fixes that. Hooray! I've tested that you can at least start a new game and get as far as Fort Kohai on Proton 7.0-5 and Pr
25 Jun 2022Developer post
Italian update!
I've released a new version of Survivalist, v72, which greatly improves the Italian translation. Michela, who did the Italian translation for Survivalist: Invisible Strain has gone over it and carefully re-written most of the lines to be more fluent. We've also taken a few featur
01 Jun 2020Developer post
The sequel to Survivalist is out now!
If you liked Survivalist you'll probably like Invisible Strain even more ːsteamhappyː It has the same basic mechanics - talking to anyone you meet, recruiting survivors, building a base, battling the infected and human enemies, online co-op, etc. But there are a huge number of im
18 May 2020Developer post
Survivalist: Invisible Strain - Early Access Launch Date - June 1st 2020!
It's happening! The sequel to Survivalist, " Survivalist: Invisible Strain " has been in beta for nearly a year and it's time to make it available for everyone. Early Access starts on 1st June 2020! Of course, early access is just the beginning - it'll be in there for a pretty lo
27 Mar 2020Developer post
Survivalist: Invisible Strain - coming soon!
Many people know I've been working on a sequel to Survivalist for the last few years, called Survivalist: Invisible Strain . But I realize it has now been a very long time since I posted about it here ! So I figured it's time for a quick re-introduction. Survivalist: Invisible St
06 Apr 2019Developer post
Sequel Store Page is up!
Hello, I've now finally added the Steam store page for Survivalist: Invisible Strain! . So you can click Follow on it to make sure you get informed of news updates - though I'll probably post them here as well for the forseeable future. There's actually now a bunch of different p
Hello, I've now finally added the Steam store page for Survivalist: Invisible Strain!. So you can click Follow on it to make sure you get informed of news updates - though I'll probably post them here as well for the forseeable future.
There's actually now a bunch of different places you can subscribe for Survivalist-related stuff:

The community have created a Discord channel: https://discord.gg/P8aMp4X
I've got a Youtube Channel where I post gameplay videos every now and then
I also have a mailing list, you can email me if you want to be added to it.
I've also posted a very minor patch for Survivalist, here's what's in it:

Stop traded backpacks from being deleted
Fix for not being able to complete the game if you don't get the quest from Alice before the Missing storyline ends
Small fixes in French translation
Original post
21 Mar 2019Developer post
Sequel Playthrough Video
Hello again, I've uploaded another video of the upcoming sequel, which I'm now calling Survivalist: Invisible Strain. This video is a playthrough that I did of Sandbox Mode (i.e. a randomly generated map), starting from the title screen and going through character customization,
08 Sep 2018Developer post
Turkish Translation!
I wasn't expecting to do another patch so soon after the last one , but the Turkish translation has just been finished! Many thanks to Murat Sarı for getting through it all. Enjoy! (The change list is.. that's the only change in this patch)
01 Sep 2018Developer post
The sequel will have bunnies, and stealth!
Hello, time for another update on Survivalist 2. I've got a new demo video for you showcasing the ability to use stealth to take down zombies and bunny rabbits! Also includes a bunch of stuff I haven't shown before like the new bow and arrows, chopping down trees and building cam
Hello, time for another update on Survivalist 2. I've got a new demo video for you showcasing the ability to use stealth to take down zombies and bunny rabbits! Also includes a bunch of stuff I haven't shown before like the new bow and arrows, chopping down trees and building campfires for cooking, and demonstrates how to use the wind direction to your advantage when hunting. Check it out here!
Here's some screenshots too:
I've also released another small patch for Survivalist 1 to fix a few bugs that people reported recently. Here's the changelist:

Don't allow alcoholic drinks to increase the thirst of NPCs that are not simulating survival factors (fix for Bat Jacobs dying as soon as he joined your community due to being given too much wine)
Traders delete items the player sold them when restocking so they can't just get full up and not restock anymore
Don't show the double click to enter building hint if you've done it already
As always, if you want to be informed whenever I post news about the sequel, just email me and ask to be put on my mailing list.
Original post
28 Apr 2018Developer post
Minor Patch and Sequel Melee Weapons Video!
Hello, I've uploaded a small patch for Survivalist today - here are the fixes: New out-of-breath sounds Fix for looters getting stuck in an unkillable state with their hands up I've also uploaded a video showing the melee weapons combat in the upcoming sequel! I've been iterating
Hello, I've uploaded a small patch for Survivalist today - here are the fixes:

New out-of-breath sounds
Fix for looters getting stuck in an unkillable state with their hands up
I've also uploaded a video showing the melee weapons combat in the upcoming sequel! I've been iterating on it for a while now and I guess there might be more changes in future, but I think it's mostly there. Basically I didn't want it to be just a case of going up to enemies and hitting them repeatedly, so there's blocking and dodging, and you can aim for the head or legs as with the shooting system. If you aim high your legs are vulnerable, and vice versa, and of course there's fatigue to worry about. Check it out!
Finally, I've also been working on the zombies, here's a pic from the menus:
P.S. if you want to be informed whenever I post news about the sequel, just email me and ask to be put on my mailing list.
Original post
11 Mar 2018Developer post
Sequel Screenshots - Character Variation!
Hello, I've been working a lot on the character variation and clothing system for the sequel recently, so I thought it's time for me to post some screenshots to show how it's all going! Due to me changing the engine from XNA to Unity, I wasn't able to keep any of my character ass
11 Mar 2018Developer post
Sequel Screenshots - Character Variation!
Hello, I've been working a lot on the character variation and clothing system for the sequel recently, so I thought it's time for me to post some screenshots to show how it's all going! Due to me changing the engine from XNA to Unity, I wasn't able to keep any of my character ass
24 Sep 2017Developer post
Sequel Screenshots & Translations fixes
I've mentioned in the forums that I'm working on a sequel to Survivalist - here's some actual screenshots from it! (Right click and select Open image in new tab to view them full size). There's still a long way to go and I can't say too much about it yet. What I can confirm is th
24 Sep 2017Developer post
Sequel Screenshots & Translations fixes
I've mentioned in the forums that I'm working on a sequel to Survivalist - here's some actual screenshots from it! (Right click and select Open image in new tab to view them full size). There's still a long way to go and I can't say too much about it yet. What I can confirm is th

Survivalist

Updates & announcements

Czech translation in publicbeta!

Steam Deck Verified & Brazilian Portuguese

Linux Notes

Steam Deck Playable rating + Survivalist: Invisible Strain launch!

Valve have given Survivalist a Playable rating on Steam Deck!

Survivalist: Invisible Strain has left Early Access, and launched on XBox Series!

And finally, it's the Steam Zombies vs Vampires Fest this week!

New patch with Brazilian Portuguese updates (v77)

Brazilian Portuguese Added

Another Steam Deck patch! (v75)

Steam Deck patch (v74)!

Italian update!

The sequel to Survivalist is out now!

Survivalist: Invisible Strain - Early Access Launch Date - June 1st 2020!

Survivalist: Invisible Strain - coming soon!

Wanderer no more:

The adventures of Hank Cabbage:

Co-op gameplay (Russian):

Gameplay from back July:

Sequel Store Page is up!

Sequel Playthrough Video

Turkish Translation!

The sequel will have bunnies, and stealth!

Minor Patch and Sequel Melee Weapons Video!

Sequel Screenshots - Character Variation!

Sequel Screenshots - Character Variation!

Sequel Screenshots & Translations fixes

Sequel Screenshots & Translations fixes