The Riftbreaker News

We have just published a minor update for The Riftbreaker Closed Co-Op Beta, which includes fixes for the most common crashes you have been reporting. This build does not contain any other contant changes.

EXOR Studios

We’ve got fantastic news to share today – our Closed Co-Op Beta is going strong, and we’re about to ramp things up! Thanks to your feedback, our network architecture and Survival Mode gameplay are shaping up nicely. We're now ready to speed up the invitation process and welcome even more of you into the action. In this post, we’ll walk you through what’s happening next and why we’re still keeping things closed – for now. Let’s dive in!



[h3]Everyone gets in![/h3]

Over 12,000 players signed up for the Closed Beta through Google Forms – and we can’t thank you enough for that. If you’re one of them and haven’t received your key yet – don’t worry. You’ll get your invite by the end of April.

Once that’s done, we’ll close the form and switch over to Steam Playtest sign-ups. That doesn’t mean the Beta is over – quite the opposite! You’ll be able to join the test through our Steam Store Page, and the first wave of Steam invitations will go out right after the first weekend of May. After that, we’ll keep rolling out keys regularly every couple of days.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/780310/The_Riftbreaker/

Click 'Request Access' right below the demo option on out Steam Store page to sign up for Beta.



[h3]Why not just go Open Beta already?[/h3]

We hear you – and we get the excitement! But there are a couple of good reasons we’re still keeping it invite-only for now:

• The Closed Beta doesn’t yet reflect the final quality of online co-op. Bugs are expected, and sometimes new builds cause more issues than they solve. It’s all part of the process – and we want to make sure that only players who are OK with that kind of chaos are diving in.
  
• By limiting access, we can respond to feedback faster. Every report matters, and we don’t want anything slipping through the cracks. A smaller test group lets us iterate in a more controlled way.
  

[h3]What’s next?[/h3]

If all goes well, we’re planning to launch an Open Beta in early Summer. No promises – but that’s our current goal.

This next phase will focus on Campaign Mode Co-Op, and we’ll make it available through the experimental branch of The Riftbreaker on Steam. That will be our big stress test before calling the update ready for prime time.



[h3]Thanks for being here[/h3]

We’ve come a long way – and it’s been quite the journey.

We started working on online co-op back in 2021, rewriting huge chunks of our engine to support a custom-built network architecture from the ground up. It was a massive challenge, but we knew it was worth it.

Our journey is well-documented in our "Co-Op when" articles – you can find them all here.

Thanks to your support, we ran our first tiny PVP connectivity test in August 2023. That laid the groundwork for the full-scale Survival Mode Co-Op Beta that began a year later – and we’re only gaining momentum from here.

Your feedback, patience, and enthusiasm have made this progress possible. We’re beyond grateful.



We’re just getting started – and we can’t wait to show you what’s next.

EXOR Studios

We have just published a new update for the Closed Beta build of The Riftbreaker. It features a new Survival Mission in the Acidic Plains biome, the prologue mission adapted from single-player, as well as a lot of fixes and improvements. Full changelog below.

[h2]The Riftbreaker Closed Co-Op Beta Update, April 28th, 2025 Changelog:[/h2]
[h3]Changes[/h3]

• Added the Acidic Plains Survival Mission to the mission pool in the Closed Beta. We will be grateful for all error reports regarding this new biome.
  
• You can now find Mech Upgrade modules with additional randomized and unique Item Drops. The stats are very far from finished, and there might be some OP combinations - let us know if you find anything that is out of order.
  
• All melee weapon attacks and some projectile weapon attacks are now treated with lag compensation mechanisms, which should provide you with instant input response and a much smoother experience. Please let us know about all the issues you encounter with mech attack animations, inconsistent hitboxes, phantom hits, etc. This change has the potential to break a lot of things before it does its job properly.
  
• Added the Prologue mission to the Beta build. Try to break it - we're pretty sure it works fine, but we'd like to get a confirmation on that!
  
• Decreased the lightning strike Omega skill spawn frequency and damage.
  
• Added a new Omega skill - Cryo Orb.
  
• Changed the visual and sound effects for finding underground treasures.
  
• Custom Difficulty settings have been temporarily removed from the Beta build
  
• Reduced the Easy and Normal Tropical Zone survival mission difficulty - Omega creatures will arrive later than before.
  

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed GUI button hitboxes for both gamepad and keyboard and mouse navigation on many screens.
  
• Fixed some issues with the Load Save option in the Lobby.
  
• Fixed gamepad navigation issues in many places, but it's not final yet.
  
• Fixed chat layout and color coding.
  
• You should now only see the base stats for mech upgrades during crafting.
  
• Fixed some issues with the Decompressor production display and equip menu.
  
• Fixed mismatched icons for Root Gun Extreme and Superior.
  
• Fixed an animation glitch that caused weapons to behave strangely.
  

EXOR Studios

Last week, we gave you a glimpse into the structure of the new Expanded Story Campaign endgame. It was the first time we showed off our megastructures. Constructing these massive buildings will be the main point of your new mission on Galatea 37. Adding such an enormous extension to the structure of the Story Campaign requires us to reflect on various areas of the game and introduce improvements wherever necessary. You could already read about the overhauls of the weapon and loot systems and the addition of the Randomized Mission Generator. Today, we will tell you about another area of the game that will receive a makeover to facilitate our endgame design - the research system.

Click the image to view it in higher resolution. Here you can see two new additions to the research screen - a bar with all your stored resources and a fourth research tab. The megastructure research items are located in that additional tab. You will only see that tab if you enter the endgame.

Let’s start with the most significant change to the research system in the history of The Riftbreaker. Starting with the 2.0 version, all research items in the Story Campaign will cost not only time but also resources. Adding a research item to the queue will require you to pay a one-time resource fee. We understand this will sound controversial, but hear us out. In a rework as extensive as the one we are attempting, we must ensure that all elements are in harmony. The addition of the new loot system, the abundance of biocaches, the ability to generate infinite numbers of missions, and the increased rewards you’ll get from the Omega creatures have drastically increased the pace at which you can fill your resource storages and progress through the Campaign. Adding resource costs to research items adds more meaning and incentive to stockpiling resources and building up your economy.

Hovering over an item will reveal its cost. The amount of required resources will gradually go up as you progress through the research tree.

The one-time payment for research items also allows us to solve an additional issue. Previously, a player could add all the research items to the queue without worrying about the order. It was simply a waiting game before they unlocked all the items from the current tier. The new system adds a degree of strategy and depth to setting up the research queue. You must prioritize the technologies you need over those that could be useful later. Resource costs will also necessitate maintaining the economy for the entire campaign duration, as you will always have a use for the advanced and rare resources previously used only for specific buildings and weapons. It is also worth pointing out that these changes will only affect the Story Campaign. The rules stay the same in Survival Mode.

If you can't afford a research item you will be notified about it in the tooltip, as well as a small icon representing the missing resource next to the research item node on the research tree itself.

To make research management easier, we have also added one quality-of-life feature you requested. The research screen now features a search option. Simply click the magnifying glass icon in the bottom-right corner and type in what you’re looking for. The search option will highlight the research items corresponding to what you typed. It works for the name of the research item and the individual buildings or weapons that research grants you. For example, you can type in ‘Liquid Resources Handling’ and ‘Pipe’ - both will show you where to look for that technology.

The search bar will highlight all tech items that are relevant to your search. The search sticks when switching between pages, so you can check out all the branches without having to type again.

This is a significant change, which might seem radical. However, after playtesting the campaign several times, we concluded that it makes gathering resources much more rewarding. We encourage you to approach this change with an open mind. Not too long from now, we will start an Open Beta of the Campaign Mode on the Riftbreaker’s usual experimental branch, which will allow you to test these changes ahead of time and provide us with valuable feedback. If you want to know about this first, sign up for our newsletter, join our Discord at https://www.discord.gg/exorstudios, and watch our streams at https://www.twitch.tv/exorstudios every Tuesday and Thursday at 3 PM CEST. That way, you won’t miss any exciting news coming your way - and we have some great news coming at the beginning of the next week!

EXOR Studios

We have just released a patch for The Riftbreaker Closed Co-Op Beta. The full changelog is available below:

[h2]The Riftbreaker Closed Co-Op Beta Update, April 14th, 2025 Changelog:[/h2]
[h3]Changes:[/h3]

• Removed Grid Culler from various medium-sized trees and other props to make building large structures easier. You won't have to cut down all the trees before you set up your HQ anymore.
  
• Removed the 'Drop' button from the inventory screen.
  
• Bomb Cascade and Lightning Cascade Omega skills now have lower speed and decreased splash radius to better match the warning signs.
  
• Removed the loading hint about modding towers, as this option has been removed altogether.
  
• Damage reflection limit has been added to Gulgors to prevent them from getting one-shot by reflective armor builds.
  
• Removed the 'Healing Aura' Omega skill from Omega spawners.
  
• One rock removed.
  

[h3]Fixes:[/h3]

• Introduced multiple improvements to network code and prediction algorithms.
  
• Fixed some issues with the DPS value display.
  
• Fixed issues with healthbar display for Fungor Omegas.
  
• Fixed localization issues on the statistics screen.
  
• Fixed an error that prevented other players' stats from showing up in the Statistics screen.
  
• Fixed several crashes and small bugs.
  

EXOR Studios