MISERY News

[p]Hello Survivors,[/p][p]We are happy to announce the start of the second playtest![/p][p][/p][p]80,000 players participated in the first playtest, with over 35,000 players being invited by their friends. Your feedback gave us confidence that you love the experience, but it was a bit rough. We heard you! And we are excited to see how you like the new update.[/p][p][/p][p]The playtest is now open and will be live until the end of Sunday. After the playtest concludes, we kindly ask you to provide feedback in the questionnaire that opens when you close the game (sorry in advance if this is annoying!).[/p][p][/p][p]The game is getting ready to release, and we will participate with the open demo in the Steam Next Fest so everyone will have an opportunity to try the game.[/p][p][/p][p]The playtest is limited to the first 10 days of survival, and it will give you a good impression of how the game feels, but of course, there is much more content beyond this point. In fact, we expect players to have 150+ day sessions to see all the content in one run.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Here is what has changed since the first release (+ many minor bug fixes and improvements):[/p][h3]New Content[/h3]

• [p]Day/Night Cycle. Expeditions are now detached from the time of day. The expedition time is still limited, but now you can explore the zone during the nighttime![/p]
• [p]Siren alarm will notify you about the emission, and it is time to run back to your bunker.[/p]
• [p]Now you have to manage your mental state iand avoid panic attacks and heart attacks.[/p]
• [p]New items: "Detector busel"  (that u can craft in Crafting table), "Vitamins", "Antidepressants"[/p]
• [p]New furniture to steal![/p]
• [p]some small things like bugs and Zaslavie Flags in SIRZEZ[/p]
• [p]New GUI for a cleaner interface.[/p]
• [p]New locations to explore.[/p]
• [p]New mobs and general mobs rebalance[/p]
• [p]New guns: PPSh, Mosin, TT 33[/p]
• [p]New anomalies: "Black Holes", "Wandering Lights", "Hedge", "Deaf Meadow".[/p]
• [p]12 powerful Artifacts with unique mechanics[/p]
• [p]New lighting system for a more atmospheric world.[/p]
• [p]Dynamic weather system. Maybe the weather somehow affects the world and creatures of the zone. We do not know - you have to check it for yourself.[/p]
• [p]New shooting VFX for improved combat feel. [/p]
• [p]Four new emotes (F5–F8)[/p]
• [p]Trader NPC with new items for sale, including ammo [/p]
• [p]Craftable sledgehammer (available at the crafting bench).[/p]
• [p]Drinkable rivers: you can now drink directly from natural water sources.[/p]
• [p]Weapon aiming system for more immersive gunplay. [/p]

[p][/p][h3]Improvements & Changes[/h3]

• [p]Improved smoking animation[/p]
• [p]Now you can pick up fridges![/p]
• [p]Customizable visual setting - FoV, [/p]
• [p]Improved initial 60 sec phase onboarding[/p]
• [p]Server hosting and joining reworked – more stable and reliable.[/p]
• [p]Player stats properly reset after respawn.[/p]
• [p]Death screen updated for a smoother experience.[/p]
• [p]Bomber plane spawn rate increased by 50%.[/p]
• [p]Melee hit detection range increased by 20% for more consistent hits.[/p]
• [p]Sledgehammer spawn rate increased.[/p]
• [p]Shooting mechanics improved – better feel and responsiveness. Melee improvements are coming in the next update![/p]
• [p]Overall optimization pass for smoother performance.[/p]
• [p]Balance tweaks to improve gameplay fairness, especially in the early days.[/p]
• [p]Pistol animations and hands IK updated for realism.[/p]
• [p]New landscape textures for a refreshed visual look.[/p]
• [p]Various bug fixes, optimizations, and polish across the board - collisions, animations, textures, logic, and tech bugs. [/p]

[h3][/h3][p]Thank you for playing, making videos, and all your support![/p][p][/p][p]Love you,[/p][p]Dev.[/p][p][/p][p]PS. Do not forget to wishlist![/p][p] [dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[p][/p][p]Hey friends, we’ve got some exciting news! MISERY is taking part in DevGAMM Awards 2025 — one of the biggest indie competitions out there. If MISERY is a game you’re looking forward to, you can support us with your vote! - https://devgamm.fillout.com/community-vote2025 [/p]

[p]Hello fellow survivors,[/p][p][/p][p]Thank you for joining the first playtest and sharing your feedback. Your enthusiasm blew us away! Thanks to you, we now have a clear understanding of what works and what doesn’t.[/p][p]The biggest takeaway? You love the world - the tension, eerie beauty, and co-op chaos. That gives us the confidence to keep pushing forward.[/p][p]You said the early game feels too punishing. MISERY is supposed to be tough, and survival is supposed to be earned, but the start shouldn’t be THAT crushing. We’re tuning the difficulty curve, making it smoother in the beginning while keeping the deeper zones brutal. Enemy camping at the gate will be fixed, loot balance is in progress. But remember, not every fight is worth it: if you meet knife-wielding bandits in the woods while unarmed - that’s bad, just like IRL! [/p][p][/p][p]We’re already working on requested quality-of-life features: FoV slider, head wobble toggle, improved movement, clearer inventory, better item use, and even a compass![/p][p]This playtest was capped at 10 days to focus on foundational elements, early mechanics and atmosphere. The full game will go far beyond that: many more locations, enemies, loot, and smarter AI with unique behavior. Maewing is already building these systems.[/p][p]Dynamic anomalies, day/night cycle, and weather systems are also in the works to make every run fresh and unique.[/p][p]Bug reports are noted. Most weren’t critical, but a few annoying ones are already fixed. Optimization and stability improvements continue.[/p][p][/p][p]We’re revisiting the day/night cycle. You’ll be able to explore the Zone at night, with extra risk, of course. Days will be slightly longer, but time pressure and decision-making under stress remain key to the MISERY experience. [/p][p]However, we know playstyles vary, and we make MISERY enjoyable for our players. Some of you love the challenge and chaos, others want to just chill with friends and explore. That’s why we’re adding two modes: Survival (hard) and Adventure (more forgiving), plus an optional Hardcore mode with permadeath.[/p][p]Lobby management is being improved. Private lobbies are coming, and we’re working on better seamless cross-region support.[/p][p]Localization is planned for many languages, check the Steam page for the planned languages list. Want to help with translation? Join our Discord and reach out.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]This playtest ends Sunday. Wishlist now and join us in the next test in September. Current testers are in for all future waves.[/p][p]Thanks for playing, streaming, sharing, and spreading the word. You keep us going. We’re a very small, enthusiastic team and hardcore gamers ourselves, and we are building something weird and special here, so every bit of attention helps.[/p][p][/p][p]Full release: October 23. [/p][p]Love you,
Dev.[/p][p][/p][p]PS. Do not forget to wishlist![/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[p][/p][p]\[UPDATE July 18th][/p][p]Thank you so much for joining the first playtest! Over 60,000 players joined in just two days, and more than 20,000 invites were sent to friends - this is amazing, we never expected that! We collected thousands of reviews, bug reports, and suggestions, and are now working through them. [/p][p]We are now stopping the acceptance of new playtesters, but the game will still be playable for the next week. You can still apply for the next playtest, coming with major bugs fixed, balance and overall experience polished, and new content available. [/p][p][/p][p]If you want to discuss collaborations, streams, reviews, etc, please contact us at: creator \[a] ytopia \[.] gg[/p][p][/p][p]Thank you all once again![/p][p]\[/UPDATE][/p][p][/p][p]Life in MISERY is divided into days. Each day, you go outside to search for resources and artifacts. The longer you survive, the more advanced locations you can explore, with new enemies and anomalies to encounter. [/p][p][/p][p]You can play solo, but MISERY is much more fun with friends, so invite them to join the playtest with you - you will receive 3 extra keys to share - you can find them on the MISERY page in your library.[/p][p][/p][p]This playtest is limited to the first 10 in-game days. After that, you can start a new run, and another one. Every run is unique. In the full game, there will be MUCH more content and no limit on days, and you’ll be able to survive as long as you can, exploring new, mysterious locations.[/p][p][/p][p]NOTE: The game is in active development and constantly evolving. We want you, the players, to be part of that process![/p][p]In this playtest, you may encounter bugs, glitches, or balance issues. After playing, please share your feedback and bug reports, let us know what you like, what you don’t, and what you'd like to see changed or improved. We will analyze all feedback, align it with our vision, and use it to shape future updates.[/p][p][/p][p]Do not forget to Wishlist and Follow MISERY and feel free to share and stream any content from the game: reviews, shorts, TikToks, tweets - it helps us a lot! There is no NDA, embargo or censorship. We encourage you to spread the word and let your favorite streamer or YouTuber know about MISERY, ask them to play, and share their review. Your support and activity are greatly appreciated and motivate us to make MISERY the best game it can be.[/p][p][/p][p]Access will be granted in waves, so please be patient, everyone who applied for the playtest will eventually have the opportunity to play the game.[/p][p]We’ll be launching multiple playtests before the release, each one following major updates so you can experience new content. [/p][p][/p][p]Thank you, and please wishlist MISERY![/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink] [/p]