Hello Riftbreakers!

We have some good news for you today! The Riftbreaker World Expansion IV will be released on Thursday, March 5th, 2026!

This free update brings you an entirely new way to play the game in the form of the Open Campaign mode, a new biome to explore, and new buildings to expand your logistical and defensive options. In just one week, it’s all going to be in your hands. Let us remind you what awaits you in this update:

Open Campaign Mode

If we had to describe this game mode in one phrase, it would be “freedom of choice.” In Open Campaign, you decide where you want to start your adventure on Galatea 37: chilling in the Tropical Zone, or fighting for your dear life from the first minutes in the Volcanic Area. All the biomes are available right from the get-go. There are no dialogues, no story-based locks, or objectives to tell you what to do next. Your only task is to build the Prime Rift Station and get it running. How you go about it is entirely up to you. This is a game mode designed for those of you with previous Riftbreaker experience who do not need any hand-holding. It is also a great starting point for new players looking for an extra challenge in learning all the game’s mechanics on their own. Open Campaign can be played solo or in Co-Op.

Cryo Fields Biome

This is a previously unexplored, permanently frozen region in the northern parts of Galatea 37. Mr. Riggs has discovered large Palladium deposits in this region, making it a valuable travel destination for Ashley on her mission. The Cryo Fields biome will not allow you to take its resources without a fight, though. It is home to various species of creatures and plants (some of which are thirsty for your blood!) that are uniquely adapted to the freezing cold conditions. You will have to develop new tactics, adjust your weapon loadout, and learn how to build outposts here. Resource deposits are plentiful, but spread far apart. You’ll have to decide whether to expand your outpost or build independent extraction points. The Cryo Fields also feature natural sources of supercoolant. It might be a good idea to compress it and send it to your other outposts to maximize the benefits. The Cryo Fields biome is available from the start in the Open Campaign. In the regular Story Campaign, it unlocks right after researching palladium handling. You can also play it in Survival Mode - we believe it is the most intense Riftbreaker experience up to this point. Do you accept the challenge?

New Buildings

World Expansion IV also addresses some niches in the Riftbreaker technologies that you have been reporting to us. First, we have added new tech items to the research tree that will give you access to larger versions of Solid Materials Storage and Energy Storage. These buildings are much bigger than their regular counterparts and cost much more. However, their storage-to-space-taken ratio is far higher than that of the trusty old storages. These buildings are available in three advancement levels and will give you the extra capacity that is very much needed in the later stages of the campaign.

We have also introduced three new defensive tower models, all utilizing elemental damage types that were somewhat underrepresented. The first is the Icicle Tower. It shoots ice projectiles on a straight path that shatter on impact and create a cloud of ice shards that slow down passing enemy units. It is a great tool for crowd control, and can deal a decent amount of damage if used against the right enemy. Next, the Inferno Tower. It is a mid-to-high range tower that lobs cluster fire grenades at hostile creatures. These grenades split mid-air and burst into flames on impact, covering large areas with sustained fire. It’s like a mini-HCM at a fraction of the cost. Last, but not least useful is the Shredder Tower. It is a rapid-firing tower that shoots acid-laced spikes. The spikes split when hitting enemies, and the splinters travel on further to damage more enemies. This allows the Shredder Tower to not only excel at dealing direct damage, but also counter large hordes to some extent. All of the towers are available in three levels.

And there’s more!

We have some really cool news for our Japanese audience. At the end of last year, we partnered with ACROVE Inc., a publishing company, to release a complete guide to The Riftbreaker in Japanese. We are happy to announce that The Riftbreaker Campaign Strategy Guide is available today in the e-book format, with printed copies arriving on store shelves in March. The guide features a detailed walkthrough of the Campaign, along with strategy tips, descriptions of weapons, upgrades, mods, as well as creature stats. It is also updated with the latest information from World Expansion IV. If you would like to get your copy of the guide, you can do so here:

https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0GP6XRMYM

More information available on the official site: https://pcgame.acrove.co.jp/

We have also published a new Experimental version of the World Expansion IV for those of you who want to test it ahead of time. First, our usual disclaimers:

This update is (most likely) incompatible with any current mods. Please remove all mods before playing. MAKE SURE TO MAKE A BACKUP COPY OF YOUR SAVE FILES! Make a copy of 'The Riftbreaker' folder from your documents and keep it safe.

1. Create a backup copy of your save folder (Documents/The Riftbreaker)
2. Disable Steam Cloud save backup for The Riftbreaker
3. go to your Steam Library
4. right-click on The Riftbreaker
5. select 'Properties,’ then 'Betas,’ and use the following password: IknowWhatImDoing

After that, you will be able to choose 'experimental' from the drop-down menu. Download the update, play the game, and let us know if you encounter any issues. We also have a channel on Discord: #rb-experimental-feedback. We encourage you to join and share your feedback.

Changes:

• Open Campaign objectives don't have the "Always Visible" flag any more. Only the final Prime Rift Station opening sequence has the "Always Visible" status. This change will only affect newly started campaigns
• All research items are now visible in Open Campaign Mode. Their research requirements are unchanged.
• Added new Ambient Creature Spawner feature
  • creature nests can now be placed in missions during map setup
  • ambient nests are initially inactive
  • ambient nests are activated on player proximity
  • spawn numbers based on biome, map size and threat level

• Added ambient creature nests across the story campaign
  
• Added new flora species and decoration prefabs to the Cryo Fields biome
  
• Updated Mr Riggs' lines with with final VO recordings and Ashley with temp silence
  
• Added dedicated Bioanomaly meshes for the Cryo Fields biome
  
• Added translations for WE IV for all languages
  
• Added ice material to ice spawners
  
• Added idle effect with sound to all spawners - to easily identify direction and distance
  
• Added missing advanced resource cost to some mech superior upgrades
  
• Added ice flora missing icons
  
• Added specimens for new creatures and flora species
  
• Added Colgan nest objective to debug menu for testing
  
• Added Cryo Fields creatures to the discoverable system
  
• Added missing new species icons
  
• Added loot to new big loot containers in ice biome
  
• Added new creature and loot spawners to precache
  
• Added new player skins to debug menu
  
• Open Campaign Prime Rift Station final attack waves support metallic, caverns and swamp waves if there are outposts built in these biomes
  
• Improved fighting music blend between DOM based attack waves
  
• Tweaked emissive time and factor in all new towers
  
• Removed duplicated BurstWeaponComponent from icicle towers
  
• MainMenu: new_headers, and new label for Open Campaign and Survival screens
  
• Objective markers - changed material on sparks, less particles
  
• More loot drops from Shegrets
  
• Changed destruction particles in all frospore props
  
• Changed ammo fire rate and ammo cost limits to fix the ammo powerwell
  
• SettingsMenuScreen: added a hint on how to change monitor setup
  
• Inventory: fixed crafting parameters display
  
• Improved palladium, titanium and uranim handling research description for Open Campaign mode
  
• WeaponItemUtils: fixed ammo cost modification (min scale is set by config variable weapon_max_ammo_cost_modification_factor )
  
• Fixed specimen names for new species
  
• Fixed Cryo Fields creature names in blueprints
  
• Fixed metallic biome spawners appearing in ice biome survival mode on easy
  
• Fixed partially missing loot from all elite spawners
  
• Fixed loot missing from elite alien towers
  
• Fixed "no wind" weather event in ice biome
  
• Fixed the scale of units that walk out of crevices
  
• Fixed Minimap solar power display value
  
• Fixed elapsed playtime gameplay statistic
  
• Fixed quicksand damage announcement
  
• Fixed alpha mask in new vegetatiuon props
  
• Fixed debris limit calculation - improved performance in high density scenarios
  
• Optimized destructible parts limit for the Steamdeck
  
• Open Campaign: fixed hardcore mode
  
• Open Campaign: fixed open campaign warning popup saving
  
• GameServerOptions: fixed SetServerPassword
  

Grab your gear, team up with your buddies, get some warm tea, and get ready for the next weekend - you will be spending it in the Cryo Fields. Or not, if you play the Open Campaign. Then, you are free to choose where you want to go!

EXOR Studios