Hey, survivors! ❄️
Last week, we shared an information with you, that you can expect one more update before Winter Survival leaves Early Access on November 19th, 2025. However, we didn't reveal any dates just because we didn't want to throw a random date at you, and then do not meet that deadline due to whatever reasons.
Today, I can proudly say that the team has done a tremendous amount of work and a brand-new update is already available for you to download. What's included in that update, you may ask? Apart from the reworked animal AI, improved performance, and more clarity, you can expect a plethora of bugfixes as well. For the full list of fixes and what's new, check the patch notes below!👇
Quick disclaimer: Cold Wave is temporarily disabled while we work on Season 2, it will return on November 19th. 
New or Reworked:
We rebuilt the whole animal AI system from the ground up, which mainly allows us to fix animal-related issues significantly faster and have more control over what animals do. In an ideal scenario, on average, you should not see any differences. Animals affected:
Boar
Deer
Wolf
Adjusted experience curve on Survival Game modes to be faster at the early game and slower at the end game.
Added another 10 levels to Survival Game Mode (New cap is now level 60). New levels include features that will be unlocked only later in the story in Act 3.
New Fear indicator for scaring Wolves with the Torch.
New slo-mo impale for combat with Wolves on Survivalist difficulty.
Redesigned the Torch and Spear tutorial so it fits better in the questline and offers more freedom for players to train.
Reworked Paratrooper sidequest to make it fit into the main questline with new story elements.
Tutorials have been redesigned into smaller segments and are now presented in a more relevant context.
There is a new intro video. For some people the focus of the game is lost, so you might need to use the mouse button to skip the video instead of the keyboard. We will fix this in the next update.
Quality of Life:
Added water type and % to the Action Bar when the Canteen is in the Action Bar.
Updated expected NVIDIA minimum driver version suggestion.
Added back button to booklet when going deeper to be able to return to what you were previously crafting. (Eg. crafting something that needs rope, you go into rope, and have no way of going back to what you were actually crafting before.)
Added a warning when starting Survival Game mode if you haven't played Story Mode yet.
You can now drag and drop cloth patches for repairs/batteries onto items that are valid for them.
Inside inventory, a small hand icon appears next to the item you are currently holding to help you locate it more easily.
Torch can now be turned on with primary weapon action (LMB by default).
Added various improvements in crafting UI.
Completely reworked the Display Settings to give players better control over graphics.
Completely reworked the Action Bar to make it easier to use and more intuitive.
Bugfixes:
Fixed an issue where food buffs were not visible on the Status Tab.
Fixed an issue where replacing the battery in an item didn't visually update the Equipment Slot.
Fixed an issue on the Bonfire quest, which, when loading it would sometimes show multiple objectives repeated.
Fixed an issue where quickslots would not be properly updated.
Fixed a bug where an empty symptom showed up in the status tab.
Fixed an issue where you could stand on top of pushable boxes and still push them around.
Fixed an issue where sometimes you had to interact with doors multiple times after unlocking them to open them.
Fixed an issue where uncooked items could not be picked up if you dropped them from your inventory.
When crafting items that don't need specific items but subgroups like Berry Piles, it will now properly remove the proper amount of items from the inventory when crafting.
You can now only get wet in Story after the first night.
Fixed an issue where dropping items wasn't working.
Fixed an issue when Alt-Tab would make right clicks unresponsive in-game.
Fixed many issues related to inputs being blocked on various actions.
Fixed an issue on walkie-talkie quests where sometimes the Walkie-Talkie would not show a signal if too far from the goal.
Fixed an issue where save games could get too large due to garbage data inside the save game. Save sizes for a normally played game should never exceed 40 MB per single game. If you have any saves that are above that size, please contact us at [email protected]
Fixed an issue where you could sometimes lose all schematics when dying and being reset by 'quick reset'.
Fixed an issue where you could not drag-and-drop items into empty slots. (Like to drop items into an empty storage chest.)
Fixed an issue with Cargo Quest in the story that would sometimes not complete.
Fixed a bug where the Wrong Address objective would fail to correctly find the proper zone after loading a saved game.
Fixed various issues with the quest objects outlined in the Paratrooper quest.
Fixed a bug where the Passive Hunting was not handled properly after setting a trap in the rabbit quest.
Fixed a bug where fall damage was not properly disabled at the start of Act 1, which could kill the player.
Fixed various errors in dialogues.
Fixed a bug with the quest Wolf not working when setting up the blockade in Stonehenge.
Fixed a bug with pre-placed ropes that weren’t intractable.
Fixed a bug where the Tinkerer quest objective to install the cowcatcher sometimes did not complete properly.
Fixed a bug where the ghost indicating where to build components for the trolley during the Tinkerer quest did not work properly.
Fixed a bug where the player could become blocked on the hunting tower during the hunting quest.
Fixed a bug where the player could die falling from a tree while running from the wolves in Act 1.
Fixed a variety of issues where players could get stuck using the unstuck button in specific locations.
Fixed a bug where the wooden roof in the Relocation quest could not be properly placed, and the shelter would sometimes become indestructible.
Fixed a bug where the recovery challenge could not be started in certain conditions.
Fixed a bug causing a crash when loading Act 2 saves twice.
Fixed a bug where the weather could incorrectly appear as “none.”
Fixed a bug in Act 1 where the No Smoke Without Fire objective HUD did not update correctly after sleep save/load
Fixed a bug in Act 2 where two bears could spawn at the same time.
Fixed a bug in Disorder Challenges, causing save/load issues.
Fixed a bug where the hammer highlight was missing when dismantling items.
Fixed a bug in the Paratrooper ques, allowing the player to climb without cutting the nearby tree.
Fixed a bug where a floating trunk asset appeared near the home scenario cave entrance.
Fixed a bug where flashlight batteries appeared depleted after loading a save, even if they were removed earlier.
Fixed a bug in Act 2 where upgrading the shelter caused issues with the wooden roof.
Fixed a bug in the Building where green/red placement outlines were missing during construction.
Fixed a bug in Act 2, preventing players from building a new wooden roof over the shelter firepit.
Fixed a bug in the Paratrooper Quest where loading a save after cutting the tree near the climbable wall blocked climbing.
Fixed a bug in Disorder Challenges where Adaptation Disorder could start the recovery challenge for a locked adaptation level.
Fixed a bug in Symptoms where delusional animals did not despawn properly.
Fixed a bug in Symptoms, causing issues during the second symptom selection.
Fixed a bug where a note near the big bonfire camp could not be picked up.
Fixed a bug in Act 2 where tall “swamp” grass was not interactable.
Fixed a bug in the Paratrooper Quest where hitting certain quest trees caused them to change into a different tree type.
Fixed a bug in the Introduction where being killed and respawned in wolf bushes caused the hiding buff to disappear.
Fixed a bug in the Introduction where the “Go through the bushes” objective would not appear if the player skipped the Joel animation and entered the bushes too quickly.
Fixed a bug in the Introduction where the Outsmart the Pack quest allowed players to pass through a checkpoint undetected.
Fixed a bug in Act 1 where the bear chase sequence at the end would not trigger if starting a new game from Act 1 without loading a save.
Fixed a bug in the Soak quest where the conditions to trigger the quest were too difficult to achieve.
Fixed a bug where Wooden Cup and Bowl recipes were missing from the carpentry station.
Fixed a bug in Act 1 where player input was blocked after completing the axe tutorial.
Fixed a bug where the inventory coal limit setting did not function correctly.
Fixed a bug in Act 2 where outlines were not removed after saving and loading the game.
Fixed a bug where dropping and picking up the same item incorrectly completed item collection objectives.
Fixed a bug in Act 1 where checkpoints were missing at the beginning and after completing the Neighborhood side quest.
Fixed a bug in Act 1 where the Leg Stabilizer item had no inventory category.
Fixed various issues with missing or wrong Keywords describing inventory item abilities in tooltip.
Fixed various visual bugs with the landscape object clipping through each other.
Fixed a bug where truffles could incorrectly turn into spoiled liberty caps.
Fixed a bug where walls could not be placed on pre-built bases if a wheelbarrow was blocking the area
Fixed a bug in Act 1 where the camera clipped through the cellar roof in Babcia House during the Neighborhood side quest.
Fixed a bug in Act 1 where a floating environmental asset appeared near the hole with the Walkie-Talkie.
Fixed a bug causing a strange or misplaced water source to appear near the hot springs.
Fixed a bug where the skin drying rack and small skin drying rack appeared in different categories in the Crafting UI.
Fixed a bug causing unevenly placed water meshes in the hot springs area.
Fixed a bug in Act 2 where the cowcatcher mesh floated in the air if the player skipped the “failed gate attempt” cutscene.
Fixed a bug in Act 1 where a floating environmental asset appeared in front of Babcia House during the Neighborhood quest.
Fixed a bug causing the water effect to appear inside the cave near the “shortcut to Fountain of Youth.”
Fixed a bug in the Introduction where the “You can’t unstuck right now” HUD popup was missing.
Fixed a bug in the Paratrooper Quest where the paratrooper NPC remained after the quest was completed.
Fixed a bug in the Home Scenario where quest descriptions for “Cave” and “Abandoned Ruins” appeared incorrectly.
Fixed a bug where using a spear inside buildings caused unnecessary durability loss and hit VFX.
Fixed a bug where the bear did not sleep correctly after saving and loading the game.
Fixed a bug where the large prey bait recipe used an incorrect number of berries.
Fixed a bug in the UI where item description keywords were missing icons.
Fixed a bug where the cornering debuff could become stuck.
Fixed a bug where players could become stuck while interacting with the fireplace or campfire UI.
Fixed a bug where the workbench crafting UI incorrectly required a fire source, potentially causing a softlock.
Fixed a bug where right mouse button input could stop working randomly, often related to alt-tabbing.
Fixed a bug in the Paratrooper Quest where player input was blocked during the Take a Look Around objective.
Fixed a bug where input became blocked when lighting a torch after being attacked by a wolf.
Fixed a bug where axe and spear input could become blocked after repeatedly equipping them.
Fixed a bug where axe input was blocked when chopping and interacting with a log simultaneously.
Fixed a bug where input was blocked on the torch when equipping it via the E key in the inventory.
Fixed a bug where pressing two quickslots at the same time could block weapon input.
Fixed a bug where lighting a torch while climbing a ledge broke input due to an interrupted animation.
Fixed a bug where player input was blocked if attacked by a wolf while fainting.
Fixed a bug where the player could not continue moving after squeezing through a rock crack with an equipped item and active sprint.
Performance:
Moved quest information loading to background threads to reduce the number of hitches during quest objective changes.
Adjusted PSO Precaching to do less work during the game itself (reducing hitches) and instead added a time ~25-second screen when loading into the story for the first time. (If changing settings between medium <-> high presets, it will run it again a single time.)
Crash Fixes:
Fixed a crash related to trolley storage.
Fixed a crash related to splitting logs.
Fixed a crash related to trolley upgrading.
Fixed a crash when looting a chest when the loot could not generate inside the chest properly.
Fixed a crash on traversals (shimmy).
Fixed a crash during fainting if you had animals in combat.
You can now boil parasite-infested water into usable water.
Fixed a crash on cooking items.
Fixed multiple crashes on loading the game.
Balance:
Slowed down tiredness on Survivalist by 37.5%
All cookable foods have their resources needed dropped significantly (about between 50-75% decrease per ingredient in one meal).
Herbal Ointment now needs 2 medicinal herbs instead of 4.
Calming Herbal Extract now needs more water (50 from 30).
The weight of alcohol decreased by 30% to 50%.
Branch weight reduced to 0.1 from 0.5
Large branch weight reduces to 0.2 from 1.0
Adjusted Deer Sight to make it easier for them to notice players.
Clams and Nightcrawlers will now decay after 30 minutes.
Hunting Hut Storage Chest (Act 2 Starting Hut) - Capacity increased to 350 from 100.
All jaw trap recipes now create 3 traps instead of 1.
Added more resources in all of the environments.
Visual:
Added icicles in relevant spots.
Reworked the shader of foliage for better light response.
Added visual feedback when trying to repair items or put batteries into items.
In campfires, actions are now based on items. (Eat / Drink) Instead of eating everything.
Fixed an issue where the "Footsteps of Friends" quest text in the pop-up was garbled.
Clearer tooltip when targeting a log (it now informs you that it should be hit with an axe, or that it can be carried).
Added a tooltip when hovering over symptoms in the bottom right corner of the Status screen.
Items when there are multiple should now show "x6" instead of "6" on the tooltip as an example.
Descriptions added to game mode selection to make it clearer what each game mode includes.
Added outlines to various objects and improved rules for displaying them.
Overhaul UI improvements, including;
New objective markers
Added clothes status indication on HUD
New way of displaying and searching through active quests
Visibility of short tutorials
New Main Menu
Stay up-to-date
And that’s it! So, how do you like the changes? Don’t hesitate and let us know what you think. If you want to help us shape the game and future updates just like you’ve done already, consider leaving the review for Winter Survival. It helps us continue following our journey and make the game even more enjoyable for everyone! Until the next announcement!
~Sewek