'83 - Developer Tapes #8 - Early Access Patches & Progress

02 Jun 2026Developer post

Source: Steam Community (opens in a new tab)

’83 launched into Early Access late April. For us, this was a huge milestone and a major moment for the team, but it is fair to say the launch was also rockier than we would have liked.

At Blue Dot Games, we really value the feedback of our players and community, and since launching ‘83, we have been listening closely and using that feedback to guide our priorities.

This Dev Tape takes a look at what we have already done in response, what we are continuing to work on, and how we intend to keep improving ’83 through Early Access.

Our key priority has been regular hotfixes and patches, with a focus on quality-of-life improvements, balance changes, bug fixes, performance optimisation, and updates that improve the overall player experience.

Watch on YouTube

Server and Performance Improvements

Launch day saw poor performance on certain servers, so this was one of our first major priorities. Since then, server performance has improved significantly, and our servers now rarely drop more than 10% below the desired 30 ticks per second, even under full load.

We have also continued chipping away at optimisation, both on the network side and the graphics side. This is often a gradual process, a few microseconds gained here, a few MB of VRAM saved there, and over time, these improvements add up.

Animation and Weapon Handling

Animations were highlighted in your feedback, and we have already improved a wide range of first-person and third-person animations across weapon handling, equipment use, and locomotion.

This includes the now-integrated MP5 slap reload, as well as improvements to weapons and equipment including the Škorpion, LAW, M653, M3A1 Grease Gun, bandages, and melee.

We have also worked on third-person animation issues, including players getting stuck on prone characters, unusual reload animations, and broader polish across character movement and presentation.

Audio, VFX and Battlefield Atmosphere

A big part of the feedback we have received has been about making the battlefield feel more intense, dangerous, and immersive.

Audio and VFX have been major areas of progress here. We have increased the impact of artillery, bullet impacts, penetration effects, and other battlefield feedback. We have also added new context-relevant battle chatter lines More battle chatter, including death screams, friendly fire callouts, kill confirmations, and other VO additions to give the game more depth, atmosphere, and richness during combat.

UI, VOIP and Player Interaction

We have also been improving the UI and the ways players interact with the game as a whole.

Steam Friend Join has been added, and we have continued refining the Commander and armor crew experiences. VOIP has also been a big focus, both in terms of improving reliability and giving players better control when they need to mute comms.

Scoring, Teamwork and Progression

We are also building out a scoring system that rewards a wider range of useful actions beyond simple kills.

The goal is to better recognise teamwork, cooperation, and objective play. Over time, this scoring system will also connect into an XP system, giving players more ways to feel rewarded for contributing to the team.

Community Servers and Server Tools

Community servers are incredibly important to the long-term life of ’83. Since launch, we have made progress in giving both official and community servers more of the tools they need.

This includes ban lists, map voting, and the ability to use specific map playlists, giving community hosts more control over the experience they want to provide, and there is still a lot more to come.

Map Balance and Match Flow

We have also been making balance tweaks and changes across all maps, with the aim of creating tighter, more exciting matches.

The classic ’83 Assault mode experience is both sides running low on reinforcements, fighting over the final objective, with the timer ticking down to zero. Of course, not every round will play out that way, every match is different but based on the data and feedback we have gathered so far, our changes are helping those close, dramatic finishes happen more often.