ASTRONEER News

[p]Unless you have been under a Research Module for the last year, you probably know that we are working on a brand new game in the Astroneer universe: STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions!! (learn all about it and sign up for our beta tests here: www.starseekergame.com

[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]While we gear up for the launch of STARSEEKER in 2026, we wanted to make sure the Astroneer crew could get in on the fun! Log in (open up Astroneer) at any time for the next few weeks to automatically unlock STARSEEKER's Expedition Suit. Just head to the customization menu and equip it and you are good to go! (It might take a few minutes to unlock).

[/p][p]Stay tuned for more info on our next Astroneer monthly update!!![/p][p][/p][p]-jt[/p]

[p][/p][p]Note: We're currently investigating some player reports over a couple of the items in the Patch Notes and have made some edits for awareness. Keep an eye on the Live Bug Tracker for updates.[/p][p][/p][p]Another month and another patch is out, bringing some notable improvements and a lengthy list of bug fixes. And before we get into it, we have some updates to share.[/p][p]For starters, Megatech finally saw its release on the Nintendo Switch last week! This brought the platform back into parity with all others and added all of the patches released for the game since the original Megatech release. As we hoped, this seems to have been a much smoother release, and there are still further improvements to be made in these monthly patches. If you’re a Switch player, don’t forget to claim your free anniversary hat in the EXO Outfitters store![/p][p][/p][p]Another thing worth highlighting is that we made a final update to the Megatech Troubleshooting Report. At this point, most of the work going into Megatech is related to either fixing bugs or making improvements in response to the community’s feedback. For bugs, we’ll continue to use the Live Bug Tracker, which we’re now using to also track legacy bugs present before the release of Megatech. We want to continue using this tool to give more transparency into the work we’re doing, but do consider that this isn’t a fully comprehensive list of every bug we’re working on, just the ones that get reported the most or will have the most impact on players.[/p][p]As for addressing feedback and implementing more quality-of-life improvements, we’ll continue to share news as we make progress, as there’s plenty that’s still being worked on. The Megatech Troubleshooting Report is no longer a good place to address this simply because its information would quickly fall out of date without regular updates. For example, we listed the feedback we’d received over the high cost of Megastructure recipes, and we’re already addressing that in this patch.[/p][p]Another feedback item we listed was related to the Megastructures themselves. In this patch, we also include some Megastructure improvements made in response to player feedback, like the changes to the Biodome’s Mega Oxygenator that makes it so now its perk can scale and completely negate suffocation planet-wide. Let us know what you think about these changes, we’re curious to hear your feedback and look forward to sharing more of what we’re working on![/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]MEGATECH CUSTOM GAMES[/h2][p]With this update we’ve added new Custom Game options to tailor your gameplay experience with Megatech content to your liking. These settings include: [/p]

• [p]Mega Printer Platforms & Megastructure Component Printers: [/p]
  • [p]Ability to adjust the recipes for Megastructures and their Mega Modules, both in the number of ingredient types in recipes and the quantities of required ingredients.[/p]
  • [p]Ability to adjust print speeds. [/p]
• [p]Intermodal Terminal:[/p]
  • [p]Ability to set fuel in the integrated Hydrazine canisters to be infinite.[/p]
• [p]Orbital Platform:[/p]
  • [p]Ability to adjust the limit to how many Mega Terrain Platforms can be chained together.[/p]
  • [p]Ability to adjust the intensity of gravity on the Orbital Platform.[/p]
• [p]Biodome:[/p]
  • [p]Ability to adjust the growth rates for plants in the Biodome.[/p]
  • [p]Ability to adjust the wilting times and time for plants to die that are planted in the Biodome.[/p]
• [p]Museum:[/p]
  • [p]Ability to adjust the requirements for donation milestones.[/p]

[p]Note: Some Custom Game Modifiers can negatively impact performance and block access to parts of the game, including missions and items. Edit: This disclaimer refers to Custom Games in general, where some settings can affect the spawning rate of Mission items.[/p][p][/p][h2]MEGATECH RECIPE REWORKS [/h2][p]We’re addressing the feedback that some Megastructure recipes were too costly, especially for Megastructures you can build multiples of like the Biodome or that have a function that’s dependent on having multiples like the Intermodal Terminal. We still want to ensure these construction projects represent a challenge while still being a worthwhile investment of resources, so we think these new values will strike a better balance, but please let us know what you think. We’ll be keeping a close eye on your feedback. [/p][p] [/p][p]The following recipes have been changed: [/p]

• [p]Intermodal Terminal:[/p]
  • [p]50 Resin (Down from 150)[/p]
  • [p]20 Aluminum (Down from 30)[/p]
  • [p]10 Ceramic (Down from 30)[/p]
  • [p]5 Steel (Down from 15)[/p]
  • [p]2 Titanium Alloy (Down from 5)[/p]
• [p]Biodome Stage 1:[/p]
  • [p]100 Resin (Down from 250)[/p]
  • [p]150 Organic (Unchanged)[/p]
  • [p]30 Steel (Unchanged)[/p]
  • [p]40 Glass (Unchanged)[/p]
  • [p]40 Ammonium (Down from 100)[/p]
• [p]Biodome Stage 2:[/p]
  • [p]100 Resin (Down from 150)[/p]
  • [p]20 Graphene (Down from 25)[/p]
  • [p]20 Aluminum Alloy (Down from 30)[/p]
  • [p]75 Glass (Down from 150)[/p]
  • [p]80 Nitrogen (Down from 160)[/p]
• [p]Biodome Stage 3:[/p]
  • [p]150 Resin (Down from 300)[/p]
  • [p]20 Rubber (Down from 30)[/p]
  • [p]20 Plastic (Down from 30)[/p]
  • [p]50 Glass (Unchanged)[/p]
• [p]Museum Stage 1:[/p]
  • [p]200 Compound (Down from 300)[/p]
  • [p]30 Copper (Down from 50)[/p]
  • [p]30 Glass (Down from 50)[/p]
  • [p]15 Silicone (Unchanged)[/p]
  • [p]10 Titanium Alloy (Unchanged)[/p]
• [p]Museum Stage 2:[/p]
  • [p]50 Compound (Unchanged)[/p]
  • [p]30 Silicone (Unchanged)[/p]
  • [p]30 Rubber (Unchanged)[/p]
  • [p]20 Aluminum (Down from 30)[/p]
  • [p]5 EXO Chip (Down from 10)[/p]

[p][/p][h2]BUG FIXES[/h2][h3]Megastructures [/h3]

• [p]Fixed an issue that would cause the placement of Construction Anchors to mistakenly show as invalid despite being on valid terrain.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where Megastructures were forced to be placed at the same elevation as the Construction Anchor. The preview hologram will now better match the terrain alignment it's placed on.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that would cause the preview hologram of Construction Anchors to always display red if they were spawned but never picked up before saving and exiting the game, though this would get fixed by interacting with its buttons.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that would prevent the preview hologram from displaying when picking up a Construction Anchor for the first time.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that could cause a Construction Anchor to spawn upside down if the player wasn’t looking when it landed on the landing pad.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a multiplayer issue where the Megastructure Component Printer could fail to display a recipe and instead simply replace ingredient names with the word “Ingredient”. [/p]

[p] [/p][p]DLS:[/p]

• [p]Fixed an issue that could cause the button prompt on the tooltip for the DLS Construction Anchor tubes to not display after saving, exiting, and reloading a game.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that would allow resources to be slotted into the DLS Mega-Component Printer despite not being called for by a recipe.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where non-host players in multiplayer were unable to load or unload Construction Anchors from the DLS with a controller using the prompted interaction button but were still able to do so with the trigger button.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the DLS model shown while the Megastructure is being printed was an older version of the final DLS model. [/p]

[p] [/p][p]Intermodal Terminal:[/p]

• [p]Fixed a game crash that could be triggered by unpacking a shuttle on an Intermodal Terminal.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue with the Intermodal Terminal’s Rail Station Control Panel displaying the incorrect text string for its Tier Mode setting.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that could cause resources in canisters slotted into an Intermodal Terminal’s integrated Rail Station to move to the shuttle on its associated landing pad even after moving the shuttle and canister off of the Intermodal Terminal.[/p]

[p] [/p][p]Orbital Platform:[/p]

• [p]Fixed an issue preventing Repeaters and Power Sensors from drilling into the surface of the Orbital Platform.[/p]

[p] [/p][p]Biodome:[/p]

• [p]Fixed an issue where using a Mega Deconstructor on a Biodome would leave behind all plants within standing. Now, plants turn back into seeds that can be recovered.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where seeds could be planted in an occupied plot in the Biodome Expansion under certain circumstances.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where some of the oxygen display lights on the outside of the Biodome would not light up correctly.[/p]

[p] [/p][p]Museum:[/p]

• [p]Fixed an issue that would prevent players from claiming their rewards after reaching the third milestone in donating power or bytes.[/p]
  • [p]Edit: We're receiving reports from players that this fix may not be working as intended. If this is the case for you, please reach out to our support team with a copy of your save file: [email protected][/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that was preventing Storm Data from being able to be donated as a resource for the Museum.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where tapping the interaction key/button while holding the cursor over the Display Case Platform would also activate your Backpack’s auxiliary slot.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where packaged Display Cases and Display Case Platforms didn’t display the correct icon.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue preventing Display Cases from being repackaged after unpackaging.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue preventing packaged Display Cases slotted into a platform from being unpackaged.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the tooltip that shows while holding the cursor over the Museum didn’t include the Museum icon.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the Galastropod collection could still be activated on a Display Case Platform if the displayed shells were consumed for research directly from the Display Case.[/p][p] [/p]

[h3]Miscellaneous [/h3]

• [p]Fixed an issue that would mistakenly pop up the “Completed Megatech” message every time you enter the main menu for players who own the Megatech DLC.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where Nubcap seeds could grow into Conepod plants.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue preventing platforms from attaching to the surface of the Unidentified Satellite and Sun Room.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where Hydrazine Canisters slotted into a Shuttle’s Oxygenator slot would not refuel Hydrazine Thrusters if they were set to Enable Output.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where players could get stuck indefinitely when trying to load into a game on dedicated servers.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that could cause Wheezeweed vegetation to rapidly flicker in and out of view when approached.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where packaged Melodic Mushrooms didn’t display the correct icon.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the Mega-Mini Training Shuttle could display a placeholder hologram in Creative Mode when selecting it in the research catalogue or while being printed.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a UI issue on the Xbox for PC App where the displayed keys/buttons to close an Astropedia entry would show the corresponding buttons for every platform.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the Power settings UI in a Custom Game’s configuration menu within the Astropedia would be slidable instead of static.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an infinite oxygen exploit.[/p]

[p] [/p][h3]Legacy Issues [/h3]

• [p]Implemented a fix for a legacy issue where placing two or more Proximity Repeaters close to each other could prevent non-host players from rejoining a multiplayer game.[/p]
• [p]Implemented a fix for a legacy issue that could cause some players to not receive their final set of rewards for completing the Glitchwalkers final story mission.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a legacy issue where resources produced by a Portable Smelter that would later get moved over to an open slot would be missing their tooltip.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a legacy issue where the main menu's right-side panel would still show the Glitchwalkers DLC as “Not Owned” after buying the DLC.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a legacy issue where part of the Shelter handle was missing when seen through the opened hatch door window.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]IMPROVEMENTS[/h2]

• [p]Changed the functionality of the Biodome’s Mega Oxygenator so that its benefit now scales with the number of living plants planted within. A full Biodome will now provide a 100% reduction to the planet-wide suffocation rate. Plants planted in Biodome Expansions will also contribute to this scaling, but it cannot exceed 100%.[/p]
• [p]Updated Icon Signs so that now all icons will be mirrored on either side, so now you can use the arrow icons to give directions no matter where you look at them from.[/p]
• [p]Changed how Display Case Platforms work so that you can now stack perks with multiples of the same collection. The associated collection perk will have its effect increased for each active full collection, but the effect will have diminishing returns, with each new collection providing half the benefit of the last one.[/p]
  • [p]Edit: We're receiving reports from players that collection perks may not be working as intended and are currently investigating.[/p]
• [p]Added the power consumption rates to tooltips for Display Case Platforms with full collections.[/p]
• [p]Added collision to the yellow railings around the edges of the Orbital Platform for added safety, but you can still jump over them.[/p]
• [p]Made changes to how Megastructures get placed down so that they now clear all foliage and debris, making them easier to deploy.[/p]
• [p]Made improvements to the UI of the Megastructure Component Printer’s Control Panel.[/p]
• [p]Added new icons for packaged Megatech items.[/p]
• [p]Changed the color of the Megatech icon next to save files to be light blue instead of the previous magenta.[/p]
• [p]Made various animation improvements.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]KNOWN ISSUES[/h2][p]The following issues were identified late into the review process for this update and will be addressed in our next patch in April. [/p]

• [p]In multiplayer, when a player places a Walkway post and then quick stows it to their backpack, collision will remain for non-host players. This can be reset by saving and reloading.[/p]
• [p]The Simulated Aquarium is no longer showing in the Research Catalog, preventing players from unlocking it or placing it down in Creative Mode unless through the use of a Small Printer Cheat Plinth. If you’ve already unlocked it, then it can still be printed as normal.[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p]We look forward to hearing your feedback on the latest changes! Keep an eye on our Live Bug Tracker to check the status on other bugs present in the game, and if you run into an issue that isn’t listed or you have more information to share, please send us a bug report. [/p][p]– Honourael. [/p]

[p][/p][p]The February patch is now available, and we have a sizeable list of fixes and improvements for you to review in the patch notes below. [/p][p]And while you’re here, we also have some more news to share. For starters, work is already underway for the March patch, and with this one we’ll start trying to address not just recent issues in the game but also legacy ones that have been around for some time. It’s worth noting, however, that one reason these legacy issues have stuck around for so long is that they are tricky to figure out. Some of these fixes might end up making it into later patches, but we still thought it worth sharing that work is underway. [/p][p]We’re also working on getting some quality-of-life improvements into the game, as we’ve communicated previously. These should trickle out over the coming months, and we already have a lengthy list of ideas thanks to everyone sharing their feedback and suggestions, so big thanks to you all! We won’t be able to get the whole list implemented into the game in the short term, but we have high hopes that you’ll like what we’re focusing on first, and we know where to focus on in the future. [/p][p]And lastly, for our Nintendo players wondering when the Switch port will get some love, I can confirm Megatech and all our patches since its release will be going out for the Switch later this same month (though a tad later for Asia). And I do want to highlight that all of the fixes that have gone into the game since the Megatech release will be available at launch. We still have some more bugs to squash, but this should be a much smoother launch experience. [/p][p][/p][h2]BUG FIXES[/h2][p][/p][h3]Megastructures [/h3][p]DLS: [/p]

• [p]Fixed an issue that could prevent printing a Construction Anchor Landing Pad from the DLS Mega Component Printer if resources were slotted in the output slots.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue with the DLS where slotting an Orbital Platform package into its launch tube, exiting the game, and reentering would display the launch tube’s status light as green when it should be blue.[/p]

[p]Intermodal Terminal:[/p]

• [p]Fixed an issue where the integrated fuel canisters of the Intermodal Terminal would not be removed and become non-interactable when destroying the Intermodal Terminal with a Mega-Deconstructor. Any previously leftover canisters can be removed by destroying them with Dynamite.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that could cause shuttles on the Intermodal Terminal to become duplicated in multiplayer games.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where client players on dedicated servers might not be able to interact with and use the Intermodal Terminal as intended.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that would cause shuttles to lose launch functionality after placing them on the Intermodal Terminal, entering & exiting them, and removing them from the Intermodal Terminal.[/p]

[p]Orbital Platform:[/p]

• [p]Fixed a couple of issues where plants that were planted on to the soil of the Orbital Platform’s Mega-Terrain Platforms could not be dug up and would persist when removing the Mega-Terrain Platform module.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where saving and exiting while in mid-flight on a stage 3 Orbital Platform would disable and prevent flight upon reloading the game.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that would cause plants that aren’t fully grown and planted on to the soil of the Orbital Platform’s Mega-Terrain Platforms to teleport away when dug up.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue with a gap in the floor of the Orbital Platform that players could fall through.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where increasing the flight speed in Creative Mode would not apply to flight on the stage 3 Orbital Platform.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where teleporting too many items that fell off the side of the Orbital Platform could get stuck in the air and burst into multiple directions when attempting to retrieve any of them.[/p]

[p]Biodome:[/p]

• [p]Fixed an issue where Nubcap plants wouldn’t drop Mega Seeds when harvested in the Biodome.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where a Biodome’s Auto Harvester could place harvested items into a fixed space in the air in the middle of Biodome Expansions.[/p]

[p]Museum:[/p]

• [p]Fixed an issue preventing Display Case Platforms from being repackaged.[/p]

[p]Construction Anchors:[/p]

• [p]Fixed an issue where there was missing text in the tooltip for the Construction Anchor’s deployment button.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue preventing players from exiting a Construction Anchor’s control panel by hitting the escape key on their keyboards.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where players could interfere with resources being used by a Mega-Printer Platform while printing.[/p]
• [p]Made some improvements to multiplayer experience with Construction Anchors.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Miscellaneous [/h3]

• [p]Corrected the storage capacity of pre-existing Large Fluid & Soil Canisters and Large Gas Canisters to match the new increased values introduced with Hotfix 3.[/p]
  • [p]Note: If this doesn’t show correctly at first, then reloading your save file should display it correctly. Trying to store or withdraw items from the canister might also work. [/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where gravity wasn’t working properly for items in the Sun Room or the Unidentified Satellite.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where a partially loaded world could be seen briefly when loading into a save file or saving and exiting.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where all save files on dedicated servers would have the Glitchwalkers icon next to them.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue causing players to be kicked out of dedicated servers when attempting to claim a mission reward if they didn’t own the Glitchwalkers DLC.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where it would fail to show the Megatech DLC as being owned on the starting Main Menu’s right-side panel for players on Xbox and the Xbox PC App.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where storing Conepod seeds into any container would return them as Nubcap seeds when withdrawn.[/p]
• [p]Fixed the animation and sound effects that play for unpackaging a Construction Anchor.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a typo in the unlock description for the Haywire mask cosmetic.[/p]
• [p]Fixed additional game crash instances.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]IMPROVEMENTS [/h2]

• [p]Made improvements to the eligibility of compatible items for the Museum’s Display Case collection. For example:[/p]
  • [p]Now, any different mineral researchable item per planet will count towards the Medium Research Item collection.[/p]
  • [p]Note A: The collection tooltip might not display the updated new list of compatible items right away. If this is the case, try removing the Display Cases and placing them back on.[/p]
  • [p]Note B: Some pre-existing collections might now have more of certain items than needed. If collections aren’t registering correctly, try removing the collection items and placing them back on as requested by the tooltip. [/p]
• [p]Added locking functionality to the Museum’s Display Case Platforms.[/p]
• [p]Made some tweaks and improvements to the sounds, colors and interactions of the Musical Mushroom, including the ability to activate them with target pins.[/p]
• [p]Updated the visuals of wilted plants and added a pulsating effect for fully grown plants in the Biodome.[/p]
• [p]Made additional improvements and added polish to some Megatech art assets, including power visualization for megastructures, adding collision where it was missing, animation improvements, and more.[/p]

[p] [/p][h2]UNDER INVESTIGATION[/h2][p]Some of the issues we’re tracking have proven to be trickier to figure out than others, so we’ve created a new channel in our Discord server to help gather more information. The channel is called #bug-investigations, and if you’re running into either of these high-profile bugs, please share your information with us.[/p]

• [p]Bug Number 1337: The DLS can fail to launch one of the Orbital Platform packages and get locked into a state of "Launch in progress" which stops it from deploying more Construction Anchors.[/p]
  • [p]We believe this patch should significantly reduce the likelihood of this issue occurring, so if you run into this issue after Patch 1.37.4, please join the #bug-investigations channel and share your report.[/p]
• [p]Bug Number 1335: Specific save files on both Xbox consoles and the Microsoft Store/Xbox App for PC are not saving properly, resulting in lost progress.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Keep an eye out on the Megatech Troubleshooting Report for the latest news on emerging issues, fixes, and the state of the game. And if you run into a bug, have a look at our Megatech Live Bug Tracker to check if it’s there. Please send us a bug report to [email protected] if you don’t see it (or if we’re requesting more info). We’re keeping these up to date as we have more information to share.[/p][p]– Honourael.[/p]

[p]UPDATE: Looks like we missed a few more fixes that went into this Hotfix and weren’t noted here when we initially shared these Patch Notes. The previously unlisted fixes have been added in italics to better help distinguish them.[/p][p][/p][p]Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great holiday season.[/p][p][/p][p]We’re starting the year with a new hotfix tackling more Megatech bugs, and we’re already making good progress for the next patch in February.[/p][p]For some context, before the end of the year we shared a message to the community with insight into our plans for ASTRONEER in 2026. We stated that for the first half of this new year we’re committing to monthly updates focused on bug fixes and quality-of-life improvements to the game. You should see more of the latter after the first couple of patches this year, since we already had some prior work in progress towards this hotfix and the update that will be coinciding with the release of Megatech for the Switch.[/p][p]In the meantime, if you have other issues that you want to report that you don’t see on the Megatech Live Bug Tracker, please send us an email at [email protected] so we can get a ticket started to keep track of it. Please include as much info as possible, including which platform you play on, your in-game username, and a description of the problem encountered.[/p][p][/p][h2]BUG FIXES [/h2][p]Megastructures: [/p]

• [p]Fixed an issue where attempting to pick up a Display Case from a Museum’s Display Case Platform with four Display Cases and a partial collection would cause a game crash.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that could cause players exiting from a Shuttle on an Intermodal Terminal’s landing pad to be placed under the Intermodal Terminal.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the indicator light of a DLS launch tube with a loaded Construction Anchor would revert from blue back to green after exiting the game and reloading.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a frame drop that would occur when launching or obtaining specific Construction Anchors from the DLS.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that could cause the DLS to get stuck with a second Museum Construction Anchor in its launch tube after already receiving a first Museum anchor. This could also prevent the Orbital Platform anchor from being launched.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that prevented Museum collection perks from activating for Museums built on the Orbital Platform.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where items slotted into certain slots near the Orbital Platform’s thrusters would flip sideways.[/p]
• [p]Fixed gaps in the Orbital Platform’s collision mesh that could cause players to fall through the floor.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the caging around the Orbital Platform’s thrusters could be misaligned and rotated over the ring platform instead.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that could cause fallen items on the Orbital Platform to be teleported above it and stay stuck there or get scattered.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where players who exited the game while in orbit of the Orbital Platform would reload into the game without being able to interact with anything.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where some Target Pins in the Intermodal Terminal couldn’t be segmented or attached to anything.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where saving and exiting a game while being inside a shuttle on one of the Intermodal Terminal landing pads could make it so that, after reloading that game file, exiting that shuttle would place you at the bottom of the Intermodal Terminal and be stuck.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that could cause wireframes to be visible around Medium Storages attached to a Biodome.[/p]
• [p]Improved the wording of the “Light Bloomer” Biodome Mission to be clearer.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the Megastructure Component Printers would continue to make printing sounds despite being unpowered.[/p]

[p]Miscellaneous:[/p]

• [p]Fixed an issue that could cause Packagers to delete the packaged item and become stuck in mid-air without being interactable.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where Solid Fuel Thrusters could disappear from a Shuttle after running out of fuel, rather than leaving behind scrapable debris.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where Stacked Platforms would not adjust their height to accommodate certain storage modules.[/p]
• [p]Made improvements to the functionality of the Musical Mushroom. Now it will cycle through musical tones upon activations, with different colored lighting per tone. It also changed from “Hold to Interact” to a single tap activation and will now be activated by Target Pins from other modules.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the tones of the Musical Mushroom could become out of sync between players on multiplayer.[/p]
• [p]The Musical Mushroom has been removed from the Creative catalogue for accounts without the Megatech DLC.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the walkable surfaces of Walkways could be left behind for clients on multiplayer after stowing them.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a missing text string in the research settings for Custom Games.[/p]
• [p]Added the Large Gas Canister and Large Fluid & Soil Canister to the list of printable items for legacy printers.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where resources in the output slot of the Extra Large Resource Canister appear very tiny and are nearly impossible to interact with.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where Icon Signs would be slightly offset when slotted into T1 slots.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the cursor for the Drill and Paver were casting a shadow.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Keep an eye out on the Megatech Troubleshooting Report for the latest news on emerging issues, fixes, and the state of the game. We’ll keep it up to date as we have more information to share. [/p][p]– Honourael. [/p]

[p][/p][p]Hey all! Joe here to follow up on our earlier message regarding the plan forward for Megatech and beyond. Now that we have released Hotfix 3, the work continues! Let's talk about where we go from here:[/p][p]TLDR: We are moving to a monthly patch cadence to fix bugs, longtime issues, and make quality of life changes for the first part of 2026 instead of focusing on new content. Megatech bugs and releasing Megatech on Switch will be first on the list, and then we will move on to things we should have fixed/changed a long time ago. Now for the full explanation: [/p][p]The team has been answering tickets, reading online posts, and working with community members to take feedback in the month since Megatech has been out. That being said, releasing any game content this late in the year carries one significant risk barrier: shutdown dates for platforms. Because we are a multiplatform game, we need to prepare patches and then send them out to our platform partners for certification, and platforms have outages for the holidays in December. We worked right up until the deadline to release the first three hotfixes and have continued working on the next updates since then, but additional patches won’t come out till early January, after our platform partners come back from the holiday break. This is standard practice, but we just wanted to be transparent with you all. We haven’t stopped working! We just need to wait a bit while everyone gets a much-deserved rest.[/p][p][/p][h2]The Plan for 2026: [/h2][p]That being said, I have some info about how things in the new year will work, which is a significant change from the last 3 years of development. Since 2022-ish, we have been doing two updates a year: One smaller one in the spring/summer, then work to deliver something BIG in the fall. That cadence worked for the team but required us to go dark for extended periods while we cooked up our big updates for the latter half of the year. That just isn’t going to work this time around, so we are swapping to a monthly cadence with more frequent patches for the first half of 2026. Longtime players might recognize this style, it is how we used to operate in the years around our 1.0 launch, and should help us feel more connected with you all. We can figure out the rest later, but for now, it is clear that we have prioritized new content over fixing long-term bugs and quality of life updates that the game desperately needs. While this isn’t as exciting as announcing a big new content update, I hope that this reprioritization is welcome news for the community who just wants to enjoy what is already in ASTRONEER.[/p][p][/p][h2]Timeline:[/h2][p]The first patch of 2026 will happen in early January, and then we will keep rolling with regular updates after that, keeping you all updated along the way. I don’t have any shiny graphics, my producer Sarah would be frustrated with me if I shared the raw internal calendar she sent me, but it is basically:[/p]

• [p]JANUARY – QOL UPDATE[/p]
• [p]FEBRUARY – QOL UPDATE[/p]
• [p]MARCH – QOL UPDATE[/p]
• [p]APRIL – QOL UPDATE[/p]
• [p]MAY – QOL UPDATE[/p]

[p]But with a lot of other small details in there and some MS paint arrows drawn over it all. The first prioritization is fixing up Megatech and releasing it on Nintendo Switch, and then we will start to triage long term issues and get them on the docket. [/p][p]A note: QOL or quality of life means that we are focused on “updates” to the game that make the current experience better. That might mean fixing a long-term bug, or balancing a recipe, or adding/fixing functionality of an existing item to make it more usable. Feel free to suggest things that you think might be candidates for this kind of focused work, but this time will be focused on content already in Astroneer, not new stuff.[/p][p][/p][h2]What happened?[/h2][p]While I think we addressed it in our apology note, I wanted to be transparent and shed light on some of the factors that got us here in the first place. Astroneer is a nearly 10 year old game, and the underlying technology is so outdated that the very platforms and core code the game was built on are no longer supported by current standards. The engine version that the game had been running was Unreal 4.23, (released in 2019!!!!) before the PS5 platform had even been released. The Xbox platform we released on in 2016 (UWP) has been phased out for a new system. That made continued development of Astroneer very difficult, but we managed for a while.[/p][p]Nearly halfway through developing Megatech, we realized that the game would need an engine upgrade to continue feature development. The upgrade process can sometimes take months because you must upgrade and test all existing content, then verify everything is working across all shipping platforms before moving on to new work. Engine upgrades often introduce tons of bugs on their own, and this year was already full developing Megatech content and getting the PS5 version of the game out, which have their own bug loads. This meant our very methodical process for bugfixing and testing became much more complex, and ultimately led to a rough launch. We weren’t just finding issues with Megatech, we missed some crucial bugs that were introduced in the upgrade, and that made fixing things quickly even harder. We really like Megatech conceptually, but it is plagued by bugs and a lack of polish that is stopping some players from enjoying it, which is where we are now. [/p][p]We are committing ourselves to:[/p]

• [p]Getting back to our process that leaves us with dedicated time to bugfix without new changes going in.[/p]
• [p]Be more malleable about dates. If things aren’t ready, delay, apologize for the delay and deliver higher quality later.[/p]
• [p]Focus on fixing issues in the game now before adding new content, so future content updates will go smoother.[/p]

[p]I could go on about this year, but I think I will leave it there. I appreciate everyone who has been giving us constructive feedback during this process. Please know that our main focus as a studio is to deliver fun stuff for you all to enjoy, and as a studio we’ve internalized that we didn’t deliver the quality you all expect from us. We can’t change our past decisions, but I hope being transparent about what brought us to this point and how we are working to learn from those mistakes helps. Keep holding our feet to the fire, keep the feedback coming, and we will see you in 2026.[/p][p]-jt[/p][p][/p]