Hello Rebels!
It’s time for a quick update from us at 5 Fortress.
We’ve been a bit quiet lately, but that’s not because we’ve been taking it easy — quite the opposite. We’ve been completely absorbed in developing the next experience for Striden, something we truly hope will breathe new life into the game.
As mentioned before, we’ve been working on a PvE game mode set in a massive open-world map, featuring missions you can complete to earn better gear and weapons, updated and more varied NPCs, and a mode designed to be played either solo or with others. However, along the way we were forced to make some major changes.
Our P2P server solution didn’t work the way we wanted and would have taken far too long to reach the level of quality we needed. Together with Yahaha Games, we managed to allow players to host their own servers through our matchmaking system, but a core issue remained: the game’s code is built from the ground up around a server–client architecture.
In a P2P setup, the host must also act as the server, which caused serious problems — including not being able to fire weapons at all, and many sounds and effects disappearing since they’re not relevant for a server to replicate.
Fixing this would have taken a huge chunk of development time away from the new game mode, so a few weeks ago we made the tough decision to scrap the P2P server solution entirely.
Introducing Survival (working title)
The new game mode will now be PvE & PvP, and we’re currently calling it Survival.
This will be a completely new experience compared to what exists in the game today. It’s more hardcore, with a lower TTK — and you can forget about the HUD.
Everything is about becoming the king of Striden: surviving the harsh wilderness of the Swedish mountains, completing missions to earn better equipment, exploring locations to find your perfect loadout, and preparing yourself to face the Soviet army guarding the best loot spots.
There are no teams and no rules — what you do is entirely up to you. We give you the tools; you decide how to play.
Yes, you can team up with others, but forget blue or red armbands. Proximity voice chat will play a huge role here. You’ll have to resolve conflicts yourselves — will you cooperate, or will you go to war?
At the center of the map there will be a safe zone called Rebel Village. Inside this zone, no one can kill you. You’ll be able to trade items with other players or turn in items to quest givers and receive powerful loot as rewards.
Of course, there will be drivable vehicles in the world, allowing you and your friends to travel across the massive mountain landscape.
Server & Progression
With our current server setup, servers will stay online for a full week before being wiped.
If you survive and leave the server, your inventory and loadout will be saved for the next time you join that same server.
If you die, you lose everything and must start over from scratch.
We’ve now reached a stage where we’re playtesting almost every other day, and both internal testers and early players can barely stop playing — it’s that fun.
We’ll share more information soon, but our current plan is to release a Beta for the new game mode in late February 2026.
Some screenshots for our latest playtest.
