Winter Survival News

[h2]Hey Survivors! ❄️[/h2][p]This hotfix brings quality-of-life improvements, better performance in long sessions, and a number of crash fixes and bug fixes to make your survival experience smoother and more reliable.[/p][p][/p][p]Quality of Life:[/p]

• [p]Dropped items will now be destroyed after 10 minutes to increase performance in longer played games as we noticed players tend to drop a lot more items out than us in internal playthroughs. You can observe time remaining on the tooltip of the item.
  [/p]

[p]We tried to make sure that important items / quest items don't destroy but if anyone notices any that can get destroyed - please let us know.
[/p][p]Crash Fixes:[/p]

• [p]Fixed a crash on the Cold Wave end of match when calculating points and adding Summary. [/p]
• [p]Fixed another crash related to the Shelter Campfire that is inbuilt into the wall when Loading the game.[/p][p][/p]

[p]Bugfixes:[/p]

• [p]Fixed an issue with crafting nails in the smelter, if the nail mold was in a chest instead of your inventory.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where a campfire would remove Unease at any range, as long as it was in line of sight.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where bait would not save on the fishing rod or bayonet on the gun if they were stored in a chest. (Primarily issue with magnets since not replenishable).[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue with bait disappearing when fishing rod breaks. (Primarily issue with magnets since not replenishable).[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where Rabbits or Foxes would have respawning loot tables.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where corpses of animals would not disappear ever (they now disappear after 40 minutes when not looted).[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]In regards to the above two issues: On old already killed animals in existing saves, skinning might not work in some specific edge cases, however on any newly killed animals there should be no more issues. The game will also attempt to clean up dead looted animals earlier.[/p]

[h2]Hey survivors [/h2][p]We implemented a mix of long-requested quality-of-life features, a brand-new survival scenario, system reworks, and a tribute to our most resilient players. Here’s what’s new:[/p][p][/p][h2]Free Crafting Option (Story Mode) 🪚[/h2][p]You can now toggle Free Crafting in the Gameplay Settings for Story Mode.[/p][p]This option is available only in Story Mode and can be enabled or disabled at any moment, giving you full control over your experience.[/p][p][/p][p]Why did we add this?[/p][p]We received a lot of feedback from players who love the narrative, atmosphere, and characters of Story Mode, but don’t necessarily enjoy the resource-gathering loop. This feature lets you focus entirely on the story, exploration, and decision-making — without removing the survival mechanics for those who still want them.[/p][p]Your story, your pace.[/p][p][/p][h2]New Survival Scenario – Accident 🩸 [/h2][p]In this scenario, your goal is simple:[/p]

• [p]Keep Joel alive for as long as you can.[/p]

[p]Joel starts in critical condition. You have supplies, but time is against you. This scenario is not about extended base building; it is about triage, rationing, and crisis management.[/p][p][/p][p]This scenario is less about long-term planning and more about moment-to-moment survival under stress. Your success depends on how well you balance caring for Joel, managing limited resources, and adapting to the environment as it pushes back harder and harder.[/p][p]How long can you last?[/p][p][/p][h2]Adaptation Disorder Rework 🧠 [/h2][p]We’ve reworked the Adaptation Disorder system to make it and less cumbersome.[/p][p]The number of steps required to recover from a disorder has been reduced, and the flow is now much easier to understand.[/p][p][/p][p]Once you complete the challenge associated with a disorder, the recovery process automatically completes the section you started recovering. No extra micromanagement, no confusion about what happens next, progress is clearer and more rewarding.[/p][p]This keeps the system meaningful while reducing unnecessary friction.[/p][p][/p][h2]Antipsychotic Pills – Re-enabled 💊 [/h2][p]Antipsychotic Pills are back.[/p][p]They once again allow you to:[/p]

• [p]instantly resolve an active disorder challenge[/p]
• [p]immediately recover the disorder that was in the recovery phase[/p]

[p][/p][p]In addition, they can now be used even when no disorder challenge is active. In this case, they reduce trauma by 50 points, allowing you to:[/p]

• [p]prevent a disorder from appearing[/p]
• [p]or avoid symptoms entirely[/p]

[p]This gives you more strategic flexibility and another powerful tool for managing your mental state — especially in high-pressure situations.[/p][h2]
Join Our Discord Community! 🎮[/h2][p]Whether you want to chat, report bugs, share ideas, or just hang out — you belong here.[/p][p][/p][p][/p]

[p][/p][h2]Hey Survivors! ❄️[/h2][p]We appreciate all the feedback and information that you are providing us from the in-game bug reporter, on the forums, and on Discord. We're currently focusing on stability (especially crashes and any story blockers) and bugfixes across the board. [/p][p][/p][h3]Stability & Crash Fixes[/h3]

• [p]Fixed a crash related to animals that was causing issues at game ending.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a crash related to animals that was causing a crash at approaching Act 2 Gate.[/p]
• [p]Fixed crash when destroying walls, windows and doorframes.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a crash in Cold Wave when adding things to the totem.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a crash in Cold Wave related to Golden Bear site selection.[/p]

[p]
If you have any crashes that are not GPU crashes, that are reproducible by doing something please get in contact with F7, on Discord or on Forums as fixing them is our top priority. Same for any blockers related to the Story mode where you need to reload, or get stuck on something.[/p][p][/p][h3]New & Reworked[/h3]

• [p]Free Crafting Option - New option in Gameplay Settings that lets you build tools, clothing, shelter parts and other crafted items without gathering resources. Only works in Story mode. The option can be enabled / disabled at any moment. (We received a lot of feedback that some of you really enjoy the story mode and want to experience it in whole - but really don't find the gathering of resources to be interesting so providing an option to skip that part.) [/p]
• [p]New Survival Scenario - Accident - you’re tasked with keeping a badly injured Joel alive for as long as you can. You start with generous supplies, but his condition demands constant attention, smart rationing, and addressing new threats. How long you last depends on how well you balance tending to Joel, managing your resources, and adapting to the environment’s pressure. [/p]
• [p]Adaptation Disorder Rework - the whole adaptation disorder system has been reworked slightly to be less confusing and have less steps. As soon as you complete the challenge from the disorder - it will now automatically recover the section that you started the recovery on. [/p]
• [p]Antipsychotic Pills - are now enabled again and let you bypass the entire recovery process. Using them immediately resolves the active challenge and recovers the disorder you had in recovery. They can also be used without a disorder challenge being active to reduce trauma by 50 (in order to avoid disorder or symptom completely.)[/p]
• [p]Cold Wave Pioneer Tournament - tournament has ended, and the top five players have earned a permanent place in the world. A new in-game board now displays their nicknames for all future runs as a tribute to the best survivors of the event.[/p]

[h3]Balance[/h3]

• [p]Rope weight adjusted to 0.3 from 0.75 so it's not heavier than the ingredients it's made out of.[/p]
• [p]Added new recipes to get Tree Bark.[/p]
• [p]Berry bushes and plank weight changed.[/p]
• [p]Balanced fishing of metal parts to now be able to drop in multiples instead of 1 on some of the metal pieces.[/p]
• [p]Joel heating handling rebalanced to be slightly harder on easier difficulties.[/p]
• [p]Changed amount of energy gained after fainting to be higher on all difficulties, to allow you to react when passing out and not just pass out repeatedly.[/p]
• [p]Added more obsidian knives and spears on the map[/p]
• [p]Improved selection of closest Golden Bear treasure sites.[/p]

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]

• [p]Fixed an issue where you could sometimes regain movement by dodging after shimmy on Wolf Spear tutorial.[/p]
• [p]Fixed swamp island collision and IK response on track mounds.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue on Truffle Pasta Quest where the objective to interrupt the boar would not complete and the boar would respawn.[/p]
• [p]Fixed Treasure Hunter quest auto-completing when chest was already dug out.[/p]
• [p]Fixed Cold Wave rabbit quest.[/p]
• [p]Added validity checks for player state and Treasure Sites.[/p]
• [p]Added core tutorial to Adaptation widget when core unlocks.[/p]
• [p]Fixed resource range for several crafting stations so they have proper range for chest detection.[/p]
• [p]Fixed missing journal updates and multiple tutorial trigger issues.[/p]
• [p]Updated Hot Spring journal and added Act 2 and Act 3 tutorials.[/p]
• [p]Updated "First come first served" journal and Act 1 → Act 2 slide journal.[/p]
• [p]Fixed Flashlight issue during Bear Boss fight.[/p]
• [p]Fixed XP gain from collecting notes.[/p]
• [p]Fixed padlock door light that was missing.[/p]
• [p]Fixed disorientation tree pivot, distances, and world placement.[/p]
• [p]Reset Insanity properly at the start of the final bear fight.[/p]
• [p]Fixed Act 3 objective triggering at proper time and not too early.[/p]
• [p]Fixed Endless Sarah shelter foundation location.[/p]
• [p]Fixed Cold Wave collect-objective logic.[/p]
• [p]Fixed book-reading objectives auto-completing when the required book was already read which could cause blockers in quests that required reading of a book.[/p]
• [p]Added AI behavior to ignore players while sleeping.[/p]
• [p]Added missing Catgut String schematic in Story.[/p]
• [p]Fixed one of the cases where "New Objective" could be spammed in screen repeatedly.[/p]
• [p]Fixed Transfer All button not working in storage boxes or when looting animals after applying items with Left-Click → Right-Click apply mode (Batteries, Cloth Patches etc).[/p]
• [p]Gave Woodcutter Knife the same tags as Metal Knife (fur collection now possible).[/p]
• [p]Fixed gun hiding behavior when approaching Beth for shooting range (only hides now if the player has no gun in hand).[/p]
• [p]Fixed bait item tags and quest worm item being recognized as a quest item.[/p]
• [p]Fixed Beth Hut Dream fence doors.[/p]
• [p]Prevented building in Puzzle Cave (Cold Summit) and added an additional fireplace.[/p]
• [p]Fixed Cold Wave Rabbit miniboss scale.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some of the hunting tower positioning so that you are less likely to fall through the world.[/p]
• [p]Fixed various minor quest and objective logic issues.[/p]
• [p]Fixed various localization issues.[/p]
• [p]Corrected naming of large Tinder stacks - (“Haystack”).[/p]
• [p]Various AI Behaviour fixes.[/p]

[h3]Visuals[/h3]

• [p]Fixed landscape without affecting existing Endless foundations.[/p]
• [p]Fixed floating resources.[/p]
• [p]Fixed Fishing Village visual bugs.[/p]
• [p]Added missing Boar marker asset.[/p]
• [p]Fixed VO text issues.[/p]
• [p]Removed static meshes that looked like Garlic from the map so that there is less confusion.[/p]

[p][/p]

[h3]Our very first Cold Wave Tournament has officially come to an end — and what an unforgettable ride it has been! [/h3][p][/p][p]We were genuinely blown away by the determination, skill, and sheer resilience you brought to the challenge. The battle for survival continued right up to the final moments, keeping us all on the edge of our seats. The excitement, tension, and competitive spirit were absolutely unmatched.[/p][p][/p][p]Below, we proudly present our Cold Wave Tournament pioneers. A big round of applause for you![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Your enthusiasm exceeded all our expectations. Seeing so many players push their limits and support one another throughout the event was truly inspiring. Because of the incredible level of interest and participation, we’re thrilled to announce that the Cold Wave Tournament will return at the beginning of next year. And, of course, we’ll introduce brand-new rewards to make the next edition even more exciting.[/p][p]Thank you once again for joining us in this frosty, adrenaline-packed adventure. Your passion fuels our work and motivates us to keep delivering unforgettable experiences.[/p][p]Stay warm out there, survivors — and see you in the next Cold Wave![/p][p][/p]

[p]I’m thrilled to announce that the first ever Cold Wave Tournament is starting RIGHT NOW and will be running until December 10th! Fight the worsening weather, collect gold bars, complete side quests, and eventually escape and climb up the ladder to claim your title.[/p][p][/p][h2]But first, let’s talk about the prize 🏆[/h2][p]When December 10th ends, we’ll take a look at the leaderboard and see who claims the first five spots. The prize? Well… being part of Winter Survival forever, literally. Those who finish the tournament in the first five places will be included in the special pioneers board that will be implemented within the game later on.[/p][h2]How to Join? 🤔[/h2][p]It couldn’t be simpler, to be honest. All you have to do is hop into Cold Wave Mode and put your skills to the test. That’s basically it. Your goal? To achieve the best cumulative MMR score this world has ever seen! Every attempt counts, so no matter how many times you fail – there is always room for improvement.[/p][h2]We’ll be hosting an AMA on Reddit! 📢[/h2][p]Want to ask the devs anything about the game, the tournament itself, future updates, or maybe how many litres of coffee have been poured during the development of the game? Well… you’ll have a perfect opportunity to do just that. We’re hosting a Reddit AMA on Wednesday, December 3rd at 5 PM GMT. Join us right here: \[AMA on Reddit] [/p][p][/p][h2]Nominate Winter Survival! 🎮[/h2][p]If you’re enjoying Winter Survival or if it regularly kicks your butt, you can nominate us in the “Best Game You Suck At” category for the Steam Awards. It takes just a moment and helps the game tremendously. Thank you! ❤️[/p][p][/p][h2]Stay up-to-date 📰[/h2][p]So, that’s it for today. Before we finish, I would like to wish all of you good luck with the tournament. May the wolves leave you at peace, gold bars come easy, and the Marshal mind his own business while you test your skills against the others. Last but not least, if you want to help us improve the game, consider leaving a review. Until the next announcement! 👋[/p][p][/p][p]
[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]~Sewek[/p]