ASCENDANT News

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[h2]AAAAAND, WE'RE LIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!![/h2]

Ascend for FREE in the Steam PvP Fest Demo from 🗓️ February 9 through February 16 to not only unlock the exclusive community rewards, but to blast through Harmony's competition once again.

Every day, we're getting closer and closer to the launch of the game and your participation in our Demo not only boosts the numbers so that more people can try our 80s unhinged mayhem, but it also helps us understand what problems have to be fixed (whether these are simple or complex bugs).

If you're looking to keep up with updates and/or find squads, we highly recommend joining our official Discord server:

➡️ ASCENDANT DISCORD - CLICK HERE TO SQUAD UP

Make it radical with us, Ascendants. To play the Demo, simply navigate to the official Steam page and hit "Download". For specific cases, updating your game might be required.

[h2]Demo Patch Notes - February 9, 2026[/h2]



[h3]🔥 Customization[/h3]

Anyone taking part in the playtest will be given a bunch of Valentine's Day themed cosmetics! Exactly which ones will be rewarded depends on the amount of registrations, but the following can be gained:

⦿ ‘Heartbreaker’ title
⦿ Heartbreaker avatar icon
⦿ Pistol skin
⦿ Vehicle skin

[h3]🛠️ Bug fixes[/h3]

⦿ Fixed an issue that caused players (particularly at long distances) to appear as if they were moving in stutters or short teleports.
⦿ Various crash fixes.
⦿ Fixed an issue where some changed keybindings would not visually update in the UI.
⦿ Fixed an issue where a race condition meant that cancelling matchmaking sometimes wouldn’t work.
⦿ A certain type of cliff should no longer let creatures walk into/through it.

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https://store.steampowered.com/app/1803110/ASCENDANT/

Ascendants!

The upcoming Demo is right around the corner, and what better way to celebrate that than with the participation of our game, ASCENDANT, in the official Steam PvP Fest 2026?

We've come a long way since the very first time our players put their hands on our game. Let's all prepare and make this one an amazing ride.

Play the PvP Fest Demo starting on 📅 February 9 at 10 AM PT and being available for the next days, until February 16!

Want to get involved? Let us sort you out. Simply access the following registration page and complete the steps to receive exclusive community rewards. The more players do it, the more goodies will be unlocked for everybody involved.

🔗 https://register.ascendant.com/

And on top of that, you guys have been blasting it. Let's reach that 40,000 registrations together!



Did you know that you can receive an exclusive weapon charm if you complete the "Invite your Friends" feature on the registration page?

Jump into your dashboard (https://ascendant.firstlook.gg/dashboard/) to find 2 unique invite codes. Send them to your crew, get them activated, and just like that: BOOM. You’ve unlocked the Cattermaw Weapon Charm.

ːluvː See you in Harmony.

We’re thrilled to announce that ASCENDANT is running a massive DEMO from 📅 Februay 9-16 – our biggest test yet and the perfect chance to jump back into the 80s biopunk chaos.

This new playtest packs a punch with a brand new dedicated sign-up page featuring community milestones – the more people sign up, the more rewards unlock for everyone (in-game goodies, exclusive decals, etc.).

Your sign-up (and sharing it) directly helps everybody involved!

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[h3]Follow the steps to join up![/h3]

1. Head to our Demo landing page and register: https://ascendant.firstlook.gg/ 2. Enter your Steam ID + email
3. Wishlist the game while you’re there to stay in the loop. Every wishlist is truly appreciated!

Exact times, Twitch Drops, and more details coming soon. To shine with your support in this community event, you'll also receive a nice little role on our official Discord.

ːluvː See you in Harmony,
The ASCENDANT Team

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https://store.steampowered.com/app/1803110/ASCENDANT

[p]The Closed Beta starts tomorrow – or if you’re reading this on Saturday the 13th, it’s launching today. We’ve packed this build with a number of improvements and bug fixes, and we’re genuinely excited to see what you think. Jump into our Discord to share your feedback, report any issues, or just hang out – we’re listening to every word. Most importantly: have an absolute blast!
[/p][p]Haven't joined yet? It's not too late! Head to our Steam page and hit that 'Request Access' Button.
[/p][p] [/p][p][/p][p]Patch notes incoming...
[/p][h2]Leaderboards[/h2]

• [p]For this weekend’s playtest, another Top Dog event will be running![/p]
• [p]You will be able to sign up to a creator clan and earn points for them for the Top Dog leaderboard.[/p]
• [p]Each Biocore your team secures earns you 100 points and each kill or assist you get earns 1 point.[/p]
• [p]Your clan’s placement on the leaderboard can also earn you rewards:[/p]
  • [p]There are decals for 1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place, top 10, top 50, and top 100.[/p]
    • [p]You must have contributed at least 100 points in order to be eligible for the rewards.[/p]
  • [p]In addition to these decals, you will also get a decal representing the creator you’ve joined.[/p]
• [p]The event runs for the whole weekend and rewards will be given out when you next come back.[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Onboarding and Progression[/h2]

• [p]Daily mission rewards have been changed. Previously, they all awarded 2,000 XP, 50 Unlock Credits, and 1 Biocore. Each of the three missions still give 2,000 XP, but now give different secondary rewards:[/p]
  • [p]One of them gives 3 Biocores.[/p]
  • [p]One gives 250 Cosmetic Credits.[/p]
  • [p]One gives 250 Unlock Credits.[/p]
• [p]Long story missions now reward 100 Unlock Credits (up from 50).[/p]
• [p]Large bulk rewards of currency (both Unlock and Cosmetic) are now given out on milestone levels.[/p]
• [p]More gear paints have been added as level-up rewards for various milestone levels.[/p]
• [p]The amount of Unlock Credits rewarded based on match duration has been slightly increased.[/p]
• [p]You now need to unlock the content of a themed tech tree bundle before you can progress to nodes beyond it (to make sure that you own the basic modules required for many of the unlocks that follow).[/p]
• [p]It should no longer be possible for the custom weapon station to be offline if any players are on the onboarding mission to buy their custom gun (it also won’t show up as a vote option if this is the case).[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Events[/h2]

• [p]When you mouse-over an event option on the match event vote screen, some of them now display a short video, showcasing where the event is and/or how it functions.[/p]
• [p]The airstrike console has received a UX uplift. The console should have an appearance more in line with other events, the interact description will tell you what you need to do, and the instruction screen has been made more prominent.[/p]
• [p]The toxic gas console has been given a visual uplift to better match how other event consoles look.[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Weapons & Consumables[/h2]

• [p]Rapid battle rifle triggers have received a bit of a nerf.[/p]
  • [p]Auto - Rapid: This now adds a little bit more pitch to the recoil, spread builds a bit more from firing, and it's a bit more expensive to equip.[/p]
  • [p]Auto - Ultra Rapid: A bit more pitch and yaw recoil and spread builds more from firing.[/p]
  • [p]Auto - Rapid Stabilizer: A tiny bit more pitch recoil and spread from firing is unaffected (it used to reduce the firing spread, but now remains unaffected, unlike the other Rapid triggers).[/p]
• [p]The battle rifle Vein-Wrap stock now spawns a spore cloud when it deals damage with melee, on a 6-second cooldown. It has been made a bit more expensive to compensate, and is now of Legendary rarity (up from Rare).[/p]
• [p]Some of the pre-made weapons that can be found in matches have been buffed:[/p]
  • [p]SLR Vanquisher: Use the 2x Holo Sight (instead of 1.5x).[/p]
  • [p]Onslaught FB-2: Uses the Overheater amp (instead of no amp).[/p]
  • [p]Guardian Angel: Uses the Focus-Burn Mk2 power generator (instead of Flare-Burst).[/p]
  • [p]M19C Ravager: Uses a Standard housing (instead of Small Quick-Load).[/p]
• [p]The Fire Hog no longer has an amp (it used to have Fuse Cutter).[/p]
• [p]The flamethrower VFX has been reworked.[/p]
• [p]You should now see some impact VFX when you hit a friendly player, to avoid that it looks like you can shoot through them.[/p]
• [p]More weapon modules have been given bespoke visuals.[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Abilities & Perks[/h2]

• [p]Floral Senses should now play a sound effect when it causes you to get two items out of one plant.[/p]
• [p]Shield Upgrader will now play a sound effect when your shield is upgraded.[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Creatures[/h2]

• [p]Bots now have a VFX on them while carrying a Biocore.[/p]
• [p]Improved some bot behaviours around Biocores (when they pick them up and when they try to steal).[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Vehicles[/h2]

• [p]The magazine capacity for the machine gun on the three-seater is now 60 (down from 100).[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Environment[/h2]

• [p]Improved collision, in particular around the crater and ravine bases, but also a lot of small fixes around the map.[/p]
• [p]Some more placeholder art has been replaced with real assets.[/p]
• [p]Base vehicles and myco chambers have been given some ambient audio.[/p]
• [p]Some minor uplifts have happened to the tutorial maps.[/p]
• [p]The lobby has received a new lighting pass.
  
  [/p]

[h2]Lobby[/h2]

• [p]You can now access the M1 Energy Bomber from the firing ranges. The pistol has been moved to nearby tables for each firing range.[/p]
• [p]The screens on the various consoles dotted around the lobby should now be sharper.[/p]
• [p]There is now music playing in the Thunderdome.[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Customization[/h2]

• [p]A lot of new clothing and weapon patterns have been added. Visit Dude to browse them.[/p]
• [p]The mannequin for clothing items should now use the same body type as the player.[/p][p][/p]

[h2]UI[/h2]

• [p]Controller settings are now on a separate tab in the settings menu.[/p]
• [p]When a teammate is downed, you can now see their bleed-out timer in their panel on the left side of the HUD.[/p]
• [p]The weapon stats in the weapon customizer will now also show numerical values next to the bars.[/p]
• [p]You will no longer get the level-up pop-up if you level up in the Thunderdome.[/p]
• [p]Your own kill and death entries will now be colored differently in the Thunderdome.[/p]
• [p]You can now see which difficulty category a dawner mission belongs to.[/p]
• [p]Mission updates now last for longer on the result screen.[/p]
• [p]The match result screen now separates rewards earned from missions into their own category (as opposed to lumping them in with rewards earned from the match itself).[/p]
• [p]Items on tech trees that are locked behind missions will now also tell you which vendor gives out the requirement mission.[/p]
• [p]A sound effect now plays when you receive a new text chat message from your team.[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Other Updates[/h2]

• [p]A lot of default controller bindings have been changed following feedback.[/p]
• [p]You can now choose between different sensitivity curves on controller.[/p]
• [p]Controller deadzone settings have been improved.[/p]
• [p]Moving sensitivity sliders in settings with controllers will now let you move in smaller steps.[/p]
• [p]More performance improvements have gone in.[/p]
• [p]Electric damage is now less loud.[/p]
• [p]The jukeboxes in the lobby now display the track name and you can skip songs.[/p]
• [p]The Exchange station has been given some audio.[/p]
• [p]The cooldown time for voicelines triggered by spotting different creatures has been increased.[/p]
• [p]The VFX for shattering windows has been reworked.[/p][p][/p]

• [p]A lot of (hopefully all) crashes from the previous beta test have been fixed.[/p]
• [p]Downed icons would sometimes linger on your teammates on the respawn screen’s map, making it unclear if you can respawn on them or not. This issue should now be resolved.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where you were unable to change your loadout during the event vote sequence on controllers.[/p]
• [p]If a player changes their loadout during the match event vote, it should now immediately update for their teammates.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where some hair styles would behave a bit strange during the winners sequence at the end of a match.[/p]
• [p]If you adjust team colors mid match, they should now immediately update on the minimap and above teammates.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a variety of collision issues around the map and tutorial where you could wedge in and get stuck (under some stairs in the tutorial and between stairs and a wall in vertical farm to highlight the most obvious ones).[/p]
• [p]You should no longer be able to shoot through the myco chamber hatches.[/p]
• [p]A lot of smaller environmental fixes.[/p]
• [p]‘IMMUNE’ hitmarks should now be visible again (when you shoot a player who is under respawn immunity).[/p]
• [p]The ‘Downed’ stat on the result screen should now be tracked properly.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some issues with the inspect animations of pistols and plasma rifles with the female body type.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some bugs with the green filter in the character customizer.[/p]
• [p]‘Escape’ should now close the map, as opposed to opening a menu on top of it.[/p]
• [p]A few nodes in tech trees were not connecting properly and should now be fixed.[/p]
• [p]A few Biocore costs in the tech trees were incorrectly set up. Rare modules should now consistently cost 3 Biocores to access.[/p]
• [p]The inventory screen should now automatically close when the match ends, and not overlap the winners and accolade sequences.[/p]
• [p]Fixed various UI text inconsistencies (when things are in all caps vs not).[/p]
• [p]You should no longer be able to ping resurrection points while dead and out of lives if the match is in Overtime or Hardcore Mode.[/p]
• [p]There should no longer be a few pixels lingering at the bottom of a health or shield bar when they’re 0.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a few issues where fingers would clip with charms on beam gloves.[/p]
• [p]Fixed the vehicle turret sensitivity being too high on controllers.[/p]
• [p]Dawner missions that have their durations reduced should now actually be reduced and not just claim to be.[/p]
• [p]Plants should no longer appear on the map after repeat visits as if you had Floral Senses equipped when you don’t.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some issues with navigating tech trees on controllers.[/p]
• [p]The profile stat for ‘claimed events’ should now listen to area controls, reactor meltdown, resurrection points, and the EMP. [/p]
• [p]You should now get the playstyle select option the first time you ready up even if you’re in a party.[/p]
• [p]Hopefully, the teammate name plate/health bars should no longer randomly disappear (or lose the shield element) when respawning with beam gloves.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some bot navigation issues in the Thunderdome.[/p]
• [p]Grenades should no longer fall through the floor in the molding facility.[/p]
• [p]A couple of map escapes were fixed.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issues with bots going into orbit…somehow.[/p]
• [p]The Pyro - Flame Hurler VFX should be aligned better.[/p]
• [p]Team member accolades should now be correctly displayed on the result screen.[/p]
• [p]A couple of out-of-date codex entries have been fixed.[/p]
• [p]Players should now be properly immune for a few seconds when they spawn in at the start of the match, even when it took someone a long time to load in.[/p]
• [p]Spore traps from the earthtree maintenance area control should no longer think they are gorlizards in the kill and damage logs.[/p]
• [p]Respawn timers should now be synced up again. I.e., if you die and another teammate is already waiting for their respawn, your remaining time will be set to match theirs (unless yours is lower, in which case they are sped up to match you instead).[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the ammo display on your second weapon would display 0 until you have fired it after respawning or reconnecting.[/p]

[p]The last playtest absolutely floored us. We’ve been glued to our screens watching your wild clips, dissecting every piece of feedback, and honestly grinning like idiots at how good this is getting with your help.  

We’re not waiting around - so we’ve locked in the next one already.  December 13–14. Same chaotic energy, big stakes, fresh builds, and all of you making it legendary again.[/p][p] [/p][p]If you want in, get over to the Steam page and smash that Request Access button: [/p][p][/p][p]ASCENDANT on Steam[/p][p] [/p][p]If you've already got access? Sit tight - we'll have more details to share soon![/p][p][/p][p]Timings - 13th/14th December[/p][p]EU Matchmaking Starts: 4PM GMT / 8AM PST /  11AM EST
NA Matchmaking Starts: 2PM PST / 5PM EST / 10PM GMT[/p][p][/p][p]Please join our Discord and check the announcements channel to see these times converted to your local timezone.[/p][p][/p][p]As this is a Closed Beta Test we stress the importance of leaving us feedback on your gameplay experience, please use the ⁠Game Feedback and Bug Report channels of our Discord to do so. Emails will also be sent out to participants after the CBT to gather feedback![/p][p][/p][p]We’ll see you on the battlefield! 💥[/p][p][/p][h3]FAQ:[/h3][p]
Can I stream and make content during the CBT?
Yes, feel free to stream and post clips, we’d love to see your gameplay. Let us know in the Community Streams channel of our Discord when you go live and we might even pop in to say hello!

Will there be controller support?
YES, we finally have controller support - please let us know your feedback!

Why aren’t the servers open for the whole weekend?
To be able to best support players we decided to have set server times so our team can be on stand-by for any potential issues.
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