Firstly, we would like to thank everyone for the incredible support you have shown CROSS PRODUCT MULTIPLAYER since its release last year. The game has had a fantastic first year and we are excited about what lies ahead, including the eventual launch of the first phase of our campaign - Part I: Necropolis.

Since the release of Season 10: Uplink, we have been collecting feedback about the game's new achievements and observing how players have been progressing through them. One recurring concern has been that some achievements, particularly those requiring large numbers of kills, can encourage repetitive farming rather than ordinary play.

We don't want achievements to feel like work.

The 10,000-kill requirement for "The grind is REAL" was originally added in September 2025, while Season 10 was still in active development. Truthfully, it had began as an inside joke inspired by a forum post and, although we knew the requirement was deliberately excessive, we ended up shipping it as our focus afterward was solely on core gameplay.

In hindsight, I underestimated how that requirement might affect the way some players approached the game. While the response has not been overwhelmingly negative we have listened to the genuine criticism surrounding it and we appreciate everyone who took the time to provide constructive feedback, and their feelings.

Achievement eligibility changes

CROSS PRODUCT MULTIPLAYER v2.10 now includes additional achievement safegaurds.

Achievements can now only be unlocked under supported gameplay conditions. Workshop maps will no longer contribute towards achievement progression.

We have made this change to ensure that achievements reflect ordinary participation in the game rather than progression through maps designed solely to increase a statistic as quickly as possible. We would rather players experience the game's maps, modes, and mechanics than feel encouraged to stand in an empty room watching a number increase.

This change is not intended to accuse or punish players who previously used Workshop maps or farming servers; those players were using systems that the game allowed at the time. Instead, we are changing those systems going forward so that achievement progression better reflects the experience we originally intended.

Community servers running officially supported maps and gameplay settings will remain eligible. These restrictions are intended to prevent purpose-built stat farming and external manipulation, not to discourage legitimate community-hosted games.

Preserving your existing kill total

As we prepare to move kill-stat validation to the server, we are also migrating the way kill stats are stored and handled.

To preserve your existing kill total, please launch CROSS PRODUCT MULTIPLAYER while connected to Steam no later than:

FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2026

You should only need to launch the game and reach the menu. We also recommend opening the Service Record menu and confirming that your current kill total is displayed correctly before closing the game.

In some circumstances, a kill total may fail to migrate or may be reset to zero. Statistics that fail the migration may also require manual review, particularly where a value appears to have been inflated arbitrarily.

We do not intend for players' progress to be discredited and removed - if your total does not migrate correctly, feel free to contact us through our usual support channels such as our support Email, or our Discord, with your Steam profile and description of the problem. We will have a look at what's going on for you.

Reducing "The grind is REAL"

We will also be reducing the requirement for the "The grind is REAL" achievement from 10,000 kills to a more realistic total.

The final requirement has not yet been selected, but it will most like be between 2,500-3,000.

We believe this range will still make the achievement meaningful without making it feel like an unreasonable commitment, particularly for a game with a smaller but dedicated community.

For context, several members of the development team reached approx. 4,000 kills through normal play following the game's August 2025 release. However, we also recognize that public servers may be quieter outside of our community game nights, and not every player has the same amount of time to access active matches.

Our goal is to therefore make the achievement attainable through long-term ordinary play rather than repetitive farming.

Looking ahead

I want to handle these changes in a way that benefits new and existing players without dismissing the time already spent by those who have accumulated thousands of kills.

Achievements are not considered a core gameplay feature within CROSS PRODUCT MULTIPLAYER. They are optional novelties and additional challenges for players who enjoy collecting them, and can be a surprise for those who didn't know they had reached a certain feat. However, that does not mean we should ignore problems with their design.

Please accept my personal apologies for any inconvenience of confusion caused by the original requirement and the upcoming migration. We will take greater care when designing achievements in future updates, and we will continue listening to feedback from the community.

Thank you for your support, patience, and understanding.

Sabian Roberts

Lead Developer and Co-founder

The Phoenix Project Software SVG

2026-07-28