DREADZONE news & patch notes

Hello survivors,

As always, we want to start by thanking you for the continued support, feedback, suggestions, and bug reports. To all the kind-hearted players on Steam, Discord, and everyone playing — we truly appreciate you. Your support helps us keep improving the game every step of the way.

We’ve been working on some requested features in this update, focused on accessibility and improving overall gameplay comfort.

We’ve added the option to enable a Screen Crosshair, helping players with hip fire accuracy, bow aiming, and especially improving usability for controller players.

We’ve also added Hit Markers as an optional feature.

All of these options are located in the Gameplay Settings, are completely optional, and are OFF by default.

We’ve also fixed several issues related to graphic settings and upscaling, and we recommend resetting your Gameplay and Graphic Settings to Default, as this may improve performance and stability.

🛠️ Patch Notes:

• Fixed certain optimization issues related to upscaling

• Fixed minor UI config-related issues

• Fixed some graphic settings override issues

• Added option to enable/disable Hit Markers

• Added option to enable/disable Screen Crosshair

• Added new enemy type: Flyable “Mutated Vulture”

• Balancing and tweaking to Patrol Helicopter

• Balancing and tweaking to certain Mutants

• Tweaking to certain AI stats

• New additions and changes to random events

We wish you all a great time, a chill and relaxing period, and as always — happy gaming!

We also wish you all a great weekend ahead, full of good vibes and fun.

— The Dreadzone Team

Hello survivors,

As always, we want to start by thanking you for the continued support, feedback, suggestions, and bug reports. To all the kind-hearted players on Steam, Discord, and everyone playing — we truly appreciate you. Your support helps us improve the game every single update.

This update is another step forward, focusing on AI improvements, performance, balancing, and introducing a new dangerous mutant threat to the world.

🛠️ Patch Notes:

• Fixed AI targeting bugs

• Fixed performance issues caused by certain NPC animations

• Fixed issue related to DLSS

• Fixed certain upscaling rendering elements

• Fixed certain animation bugs

• Improved overall NPC optimization

• Improved and balanced AI targeting precision and prediction based on distance

• Overall AI system improvements

• AI NPCs now have lower weapon accuracy based on range

• Increased Mutant Boss HP

• Added new dangerous mutant: Mutated Crawler

• Added new random world event where the Mutated Crawler wanders and hunts players

• Tweaking and balancing to NPC stats

• Tweaking and improvements to AI behavior

• Increased Abomination mutant stats

This update continues to refine combat and AI systems.

We wish you all a great weekend ahead, full of chill time and good vibes.

— The Dreadzone Team

Hello survivors,

As always, we want to start by thanking you for the continued support, feedback, bug reports, and suggestions. To the kind-hearted players on Steam, Discord, and everyone playing — your support truly means a lot to us, and it helps guide the development of Dreadzone.

This update focuses on fixing and improving several systems, addressing reported issues, and continuing optimization work across the game.

🛠️ Patch Notes:

• Fixed a bug where achievements were not progressing or completing correctly

• Winter weather “Snowing” is now a more rare occurrence

• POI reset duration increased by 3x

• Fixed a bug allowing the Respawn Menu to be closed after death using ESC / Back button

• Fixed a bug where the Wandering Trader could become hostile if the player shot someone nearby

• Fixed issue related to vegetation blur

• Fixed minor bug causing reflection issues

• Fixed certain UI element issues

• Fixed minor DBuffer issue

• Fixed performance issues related to Z-Pass

• Fixed and improved Translucency Lighting performance

• Fixed rendering issues related to Ray Tracing

• Improved overall level rendering performance

• Improved shadow, lighting, and volumetric optimization

• Improved Virtual Texture optimization

• Improved Entity Spawn System performance

• Improved melee weapon hit detection

• Balanced and tweaked melee weapon stats

• Balancing and tweaking to item values

This update is another step forward as we continue refining systems and improving stability and performance across the game.

We wish you all a great weekend ahead, full of chill time, fun moments, and good vibes — and as always, happy gaming!

— The Dreadzone Team

Hello survivors,

We want to start by saying how much we appreciate all the supportive players. We’ve been working very hard to get this update done, and we truly thank you for the support and feedback you continue to give us. To the kind-hearted players — and especially those who have supported us from the beginning — thank you.

This update might not seem big at first glance, but it’s another stepping stone toward the future of Dreadzone. Often, the smaller things take the longest — and the simpler they seem, the harder they are to get right.

This update focuses on fixes, optimization, and highly requested quality-of-life improvements.

🛠️ Patch Notes:

• Major changes to foliage rendering, improving performance

• Improved rendering and overall optimization

• Improved consume animations

• Improved Inventory and other menu UI elements and functionality

• Improved UI tick optimization events

• Improved Game Thread optimization

• Fixed bug related to using different consumables while an animation was playing

• Fixed a bug showing the wrong model for consumed items

• Fixed a bug where modular doors were not destroyed after destroying the doorway

• Fixed UI element selection bug

• Fixed minor UI visual artifacts

• Fixed a bug related to certain surface sound effects

• Holiday present event has ended and was removed from the game

• Winter weather events are now permanent

• Added a highly requested feature: press TAB to close in-game menus

We want you to know that we listen to everyone. We read your feedback, write it down, and do our best to work on it whenever possible.

Thank you again for being part of this journey. We wish you all a great, chill, and relaxing weekend.

— The Dreadzone Team

Hello Survivors,

Happy New Year! and best wishes to everyone! We wish you greatness, happiness, and a successful, fulfilling new year ahead. We’re starting the year strong with a small hotfix update on day one, bringing important fixes, improvements, and balance tweaks.

Thank you for playing and supporting Dreadzone — we truly appreciate you from the bottom of our hearts.

🛠️ Patch Notes

Fixes

• Fixed client character physics replication issues

• Fixed replication issues with mutant animations

• Fixed replication buffering issues

• Fixed overall networking issues and client replication

• Fixed certain hit detection issues in multiplayer

• Fixed rendering optimization issues

• Fixed performance issues related to resolution quality

Improvements & Tweaks

• Improved and tweaked client replication systems

• Improved network and replication performance

• Improved overall rendering performance

• Tweaked and balanced NPC and player stats

• Tweaked and balanced loot tables and drop rates, and more

• Tweaked and improved the effect of certain graphic settings

Note: For anyone experiencing performance issues with DLSS, try switching to FSR and then back to DLSS, or use FSR instead to see if it works better for your system. Players on lower-end PCs can also use the Potato graphics preset and lower the Foliage graphic settings for improved performance.

Once again, thank you for your continued support and feedback. As always, stay safe, chill gaming, and we’ll see you in the zone.

— The Dreadzone Team

Hello survivors,

Happy upcoming holidays! 🎄 As always, we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the continued support, feedback, bug reports, and suggestions. Huge thanks to the kind-hearted members of the community on Steam and Discord — your input truly helps shape the future of Dreadzone, and we appreciate it more than you know.

This update adds some highly requested features, including bed respawn selection and the introduction of seasons, starting with Winter, alongside fixes, improvements, and new gameplay additions.

🛠️ Patch Notes:

• Fixed a minor entity spawn bug

• Fixed networking desync issues in multiplayer sessions

• Fixed minor performance issues related to dynamic fog

• Fixed minor issues related to UI elements

• Fixed minor sound playback issues

• Improved certain sound elements

• Improved and tweaked foliage optimization

• Improved and tweaked loot tables and drop rates

• Tweaked Flamethrower sound and VFX

• Increased Chainsaw durability

❄️ Winter, Weather & Seasonal Features

• Added new weather types: Snow and Snow Storm

• Added interactive snow weather effects

• Added snow footstep effects

• Added new Weather Season: Winter

• Added aurora sky effect during nighttime in Winter

• Added Holiday Winter decorations

• Added Winter Holiday Random Gifts event

Combat & Gameplay Improvements

• Added new Physical Hit System

  • Mutants and zombies now physically react when hit

• Added Bed Respawn Selection Menu

  • When mortally wounded, you can now select a bed to recover at, based on distance

New Items & Tools

• Added new grenade type: Incendiary Grenade

• Added new Gathering Tool: Jack Hammer

• Added new items to the crafting list and loot tables

• Added ability to craft Chainsaw and Jack Hammer at the Fabricator

This update is another step forward as we continue expanding Dreadzone with new systems, seasonal content, and quality-of-life improvements. More updates are already in development, and we can’t wait to share what’s next.

We wish everyone a great, chill, and happy holiday season — and as always, Happy gaming, survivors!

— The Dreadzone Team

Hey everyone,

Thanks to all of you in the community — we truly appreciate every bit of feedback, every suggestion, and every report you send our way. Your support continues to push Dreadzone forward.

We’re excited to announce that we’re currently working on a special holiday update! This update will introduce a new season, new content, and a fresh winter atmosphere to the Zone.

Wishing you all an amazing upcoming weekend — enjoy some chill gaming, stay warm, and stay tuned. The update drops later this month! ❄️🔥

— Dreadzone Dev Team

Hello survivors,

Thank you all once again for the amazing support, feedback, suggestions, and bug reports. To the kind-hearted people on Steam, Discord, and everyone playing the game — we appreciate you deeply. Your support helps shape the development of Dreadzone and keeps us motivated every single day.

This update is another step forward, bringing new features, improvements, fixes, and performance boosts. Bigger updates take time, but we’re progressing steadily — thank you for your patience.

🛠️ Patch Notes:

• Fixed bug related to Antenna Mission horde spawns

• Fixed minor bugs related to UI elements

• Fixed rendering issues that caused performance drops

• Fixed bugs related to mission entity spawns

• Fixed entity spawn performance issues

• Improved fluid physics and performance

• Improved overall optimization and performance

• Improved and tweaked Crossbow equip animations

• Tweaked loot pool tables

• Added new tool: Scanner

• Added new weapon: Flamethrower

• Added new ammo type: Napalm

• Added Napalm crafting recipe to the Ammo Table

• Added Flamethrower crafting recipe to the Fabricator

• Added Burning Active Effect — creatures and NPCs can now be ignited and take damage over time

• Added new mutant variation: Radioactive Mutant

• Added New Mission Giver: Rex

  • Located at the central outpost

• Added new missions and rewards

• Added radioactive objects

• Added new item to the loot table

This update brings new gameplay depth, more updates are on the way — and we’re already working on what’s next.

We want to wish everyone a great, calm, chill, and happy weekend — and as always, happy gaming survivors!

— The Dreadzone Team

Hello survivors,

We want to thank you once again for the amazing support, feedback, and suggestions. To everyone on Steam, Discord, and beyond — your kindness and involvement help shape the future of Dreadzone.

This update is another step forward, bringing new features, fixes, and gameplay improvements. The highlight of this update is the first edition of the Pet System, along with a few new additions and technical tweaks!

🛠️ Patch Notes:

• Added first edition of the Pet System

• Added Buildable Animal Feeder — used to obtain pets

• Added Fox Pet

• Added new sitting and lying animations for foxes

• Added Buildable Vehicle Platform — used to retrieve vehicles

• Added Buildable Small Animal Trap

• Added new weapon: Crossbow

• Added new ammo type: Bolts

• Added new items to the loot table

• Added Crossbow crafting recipe to the Fabricator

• Added Bolts crafting recipe to the Workbench and Ammo Table

• Tweaked and improved vehicle physics

• Tweaked and improved animal AI elements

• Tweaked item loot tables

• Improved and tweaked vehicle sounds

• Improved overall performance and optimization

• Improved certain UI elements

• Fixed bug where buildable metal door spawned as a wooden door

• Balancing and tweaking to weapon durability

This update continues to build the foundation for upcoming larger content updates. We’re working hard to expand the world and systems even further — and your patience and support make it all possible.

We wish all of you a great, chill, and happy weekend — and as always, happy gaming!

— The Dreadzone Team

Hello survivors,

Thank you all for your support, feedback, and suggestions. Huge thanks to the kind-hearted members of our community on Steam and Discord — your input helps us a lot, and your support is truly appreciated.

We’ve been working very hard on this update, like every other one before it. More updates are already on the way — development takes time, and we want to thank you for your patience and dedication.

This update introduces new elements to Dreadzone, including the first drivable vehicle and the foundation of the vehicle system, which will continue to evolve and improve over time. Alongside that, we’ve included major fixes, optimizations, and new buildables.

🛠️ Patch Notes:

• Added Vehicle System

• Added a Drivable Golf Cart

• Added Multiplayer Passenger Seat for vehicles

• Added Vehicle Vendors to outposts

• Added Modular Concrete Buildable Structures

• Added Buildable Production Structure: Mixer

• Added new resource item: Cement

• Improved overall optimization

• Improved terrain physics collision

• Improved and tweaked multiplayer physics

• Tweaked trading prices

• Fixed and improved server-to-client communication

• Fixed minor UI elements

• Fixed minor physics issues

• Fixed minor bug related to buildable doors

• Fixed networking desync issues related to weapons

• Fixed major bugs with client weapon reloads

• Fixed major issues affecting replicated animations

• Fixed several networking and session related issues

• Fixed Falcon client reload bug

• Fixed Pump Shotgun client reload bug

• Fixed Semi-Auto Shotgun client reload bug

• Fixed general optimization and networking issues

This is another big step forward, bringing new gameplay systems and improvements as we continue shaping the world of Dreadzone.

Thank you again for your support and patience — and as always, we wish you all a happy, chill, and fun weekend.

Happy gaming, survivors! — The Dreadzone Team

🌿 Hello Survivors, We want to start by wishing you all a great weekend!

First of all, thank you for all the support and feedback ❤️ We’re listening closely to the community and working hard to implement as many of your suggestions as possible.

🚨 Surprise Reveal – Vehicles! We’ve been working on a vehicle system, and we’re thrilled to announce that the first drivable vehicle will be available in the next update!

Originally, our plan was to expand the map further before introducing vehicles, but we believe this early implementation will be an exciting addition to gameplay.

🏗️ More Buildables The upcoming update will also add new buildable structures, giving you even more ways to shape and survive in the world of Dreadzone.

⚙️ Looking Ahead As we move forward:

• Larger updates (especially map expansions & world content) will take more development time.

• Level design & balancing require careful work, so thank you for your patience. Step by step, we’ll keep improving and expanding the game.

🎉 Thank You Once again, thank you for playing and being part of this journey. We wish you all a happy, chill, and amazing weekend!

— The Dreadzone Team

Hello survivors,

First of all, we want to thank you again for all the support and feedback. To everyone in the community on Steam, Discord, and beyond — your input means the world to us. This update is another step forward, and as we continue to progress, remember that larger content updates will take more time to develop.

🛠️ Patch Notes:

• Added new Building category to the Building Menu: Modular

• Added a library of modular buildable structures with snapping and stability support

• Added notification message when trying to build without required items (will show missing item)

• Added buildable Metal Fence

• Added new blueprints to loot pool

• Added new buildable decorations: Sofa

• Added new melee weapon: Tactical Katana

• Added new items to loot tables and tweaked/balanced the loot pool

• Added item drop sound

• Added item icons to Inventory List View mode

• Fixed a bug where decoration tarp couldn’t be destroyed

• Fixed item repair bug that allowed cheaper-than-intended repairs

• Fixed a bug where items sold for more than their value

• Fixed minor mission bugs in multiplayer

• Fixed minor UI element issues

• Fixed issue where not all equippable items showed under the Equipment category in inventory

• Fixed animal corpses despawning bug

• Improved and tweaked certain UI elements

• Improved dynamic AI navigation to properly react to buildables

• Improved certain inventory UI elements

• Increased animal corpse despawn timer

• Changed and improved skinning animal tutorial mission logic

• Changed and tweaked item display visuals

• Balancing and tweaking to item prices and value

• Tweaking to item trading mechanics

This update is another step in our ongoing progress — and we’re already working on the next update which will bring even more content and features.

Thank you again for all your support, and we wish you all a happy, chill, and fun upcoming weekend — and as always, Happy Gaming!

— The Dreadzone Team

Hello survivors,

This update focuses on fixes, tweaks, and optimizations to improve your experience. Each change is another step forward as we keep preparing for the next major content update.

🛠️ Patch Notes:

• Fixed bug related to Heater sometimes not heating

• Improved and tweaked Heater

• Improved and tweaked Solar Panel

• Added Toggle On/Off option to Turrets

• Added Toggle On/Off option to Mortars

• Fixed collision for certain foliage and bushes

• Improved and tweaked foliage visibility

• Improved certain UI elements

• Fixed minor electricity-related bug

• Added random appearances for certain survivor NPCs

• Added random survivor guards to outposts and certain areas

• Fixed performance issues in specific scenarios

• Fixed minor visual bugs related to reflection

• Improved and tweaked object collisions

• Tweaked foliage shadows and lighting rendering

• Improved background async task optimization

Thank you again for the support, feedback — it truly helps shape the future of Dreadzone.

We wish everyone a happy, chill, and great weekend — and as always, happy gaming!

— The Dreadzone Team

Hello survivors,

This update is focused on optimization, improvements, bug fixes, and a few changes. We’ve also added new graphics settings aimed at helping lower-end PCs run the game better and resolve issues with texture streaming, reflections, and lumen.

Patch Notes:

• Fixed level streaming causing performance issues

• Improved texture streaming performance

• Loot table balancing and tweaking

• Fixed harvesting and gathering bug that caused Interaction issues

• Fixed object tracing and collision issues

• Improved reflection and raytracing elements

• Improved overall performance

• Building repair cost will now only show when Repair Mode is enabled

• Improved Building Menu UI elements

• Added option in Graphics Settings to toggle Hardware Raytracing

• Added new Graphics Setting: Potato Mode

  • Helps lower-end PCs run the game more smoothly

  • Reduces artifacts and graphical issues

• Fixed minor interaction bugs

• Decreased helicopter spawn chance

• Fixed stamina regeneration bug

• Fixed minor foliage issues

Thank you all once again for the amazing support and feedback — every step forward is because of this community. More improvements and content are on the way!

Happy gaming, survivors!

— The Dreadzone Team

Hello Survivors!

First, from the bottom of our hearts — thank you all for the amazing support, feedback, and kind words. We truly appreciate every one of you here on Steam, Discord, and those playing the game daily.

We’ve been working very hard on this update, and while not everything made it in, there’s a lot of new content and improvements packed in. As always, we’re listening, noting feedback and suggestions, and prioritizing what matters most.

Let’s dive into what’s new in this Major Update:

🌍 World Expansion

• The world map is now 2x larger!

• Many new POIs, secrets, and locations to explore.

🎯 New Missions & NPCs

• Added 3 new Mission Givers

• Added 15+ new Missions

• Added new survivor type: Cultists

🛠️ Features & Content

• Added a new Mission tab in the Inventory Menu

• Added new consumable: Peach Cake

• Added new melee weapons: Sledge Hammer and Club

• Added a new tool: Chainsaw

• Added new buildables:

  • Tower (Structure)

  • Mortar (Defense)

  • Decorations: Worn Chair, Bucket, Bowl, Gas Cylinder

• All new items are obtainable via loot or missions

🎮 Quality of Life & UI

• Improved several UI elements

• Improved text readability for items and missions

• Fixed certain UI bugs

• Improved controller UI interaction

• Improved keyhints (displays controller keys properly)

• Added indicator for build-blocked zones

• Fixed minor bug related to building menu UI

• Fixed minor bug with weapon ammo type display

⚔️ Combat, Stats & Balancing

• Improved some melee animations

• Balancing & tweaking to melee weapon damage and stats

• Improved hit detection for all melee weapons

• Fixed bug related to Billhook

• Balancing & tweaking to loot tables

• Added new items into loot tables

• Increased player max stamina by 150%

• Fixed client weapon animation bug

• Snakes noise increased by 200%

⚙️ Systems & Mechanics

• Fixed issue with unloading tasks causing fatal errors

• Fixed Hold/Toggle Run no longer consuming stamina while standing

• Added toggle option for lean in Gameplay Settings

• Added option to disable auto-save in Gameplay Settings

• Added option to disable save-on-quit in Gameplay Settings

• Improved multiplayer networking performance

🐞 Bug Fixes

• Fixed minor bugs across systems

• Fixed collisions for several meshes

🧷 Beta Branch Note

We’ve also enabled the Last_Stable Beta Branch again. If you encounter technical issues, you can switch to this branch to revert back to the previous stable version of the game.

⚠️ Note: Multiplayer will not work across different branches, and Last_Stable won’t include the new features or fixes from v1.5.

We want to wish you all a great, chill, and fun weekend — and as always, Happy Gaming!

— The Dreadzone Team

Hello survivors!

First, we want to thank you as always for your amazing support and feedback. A huge thank you to the players in our community on Discord and Steam.

This weekend, there will not be a new update release. Instead, we are taking the extra time to push forward toward the Next Major Update. Skipping this small update will pay off, because next week you’ll be getting lots of new content!

🔎 Sneak Peeks – Coming Next Week:

• The World Map is Expanding! A brand-new segment of the world is being released, making the map nearly 2x the current size.

• New POIs and places to explore

• New Mission Givers

• New Missions

• New Items

• New Buildables

• More fixes and improvements

• More balancing and tweaking

• QOL additions

We can’t wait for you to experience everything we’ve been working on.

Thank you again to our amazing players and community. We wish everyone a great weekend ahead—chill, fun, and full of good vibes. And as always…

Happy gaming, – The Dreadzone Team

Hello survivors,

We want to thank everyone for supporting us and giving feedback. Special thanks to the kind-hearted members of our community on Steam and Discord, and of course to all the players out there enjoying Dreadzone.

This update is another step forward in fixing and improving aspects of the game while adding a little extra. It’s also part of our progress towards the next major update, which will bring more content, expand the map, and add new locations and missions.

🛠️ Patch Notes:

• Minor UI improvements and tweaks

• Balancing and tweaking to Animal AI

• Balancing and tweaking to NPC stats

• Balancing and tweaking to Animal stats

• Fixed bug related to certain background systems

• Fixed minor Virtual Texture rendering bug

• Improved performance for certain animations

• Fixed visual bug with the Falcon weapon

• Fixed bugs related to leaning mechanic

• Tweaked weapon lean animation

• Fixed bug where Night Vision Goggles (NVG) couldn’t be repaired

• Being starving or dehydrated will now cause more damage over time

• Increased helicopter loot drops

• Increased world animal spawn rates

• Major improvement to the lean mechanic

• Fixed collision issues for certain meshes

• Added 2 new soundtracks to the game

• New Animal Added: Anaconda Snake – dangerous and fond of water

This update continues to pave the way towards our next major content update. We’ll share more details and previews soon.

Happy gaming, survivors! — The Dreadzone Team

Hello survivors,

We’re pushing out a small update with a mix of bug fixes, balancing and tweaks.

🛠️ Patch Notes:

• Fixed interface bug when interacting with the Furnace and Repair Bench

• Balancing and tweaking to item repair costs

• Repair cost is now more affected by current item durability

• Fixed bug preventing Machete repairs

• Improved deck collision and placement

• Fixed minor bug with spike and arrow traps

• Player’s turrets and mines will no longer damage their own structures

• Improved Patrol Helicopter loot drops

• Minor UI element improvements

• Balancing and tweaking to loot tables

• Increased drop chance for all Falcon-type weapons (LMG)

🧷 Important Note for Pre-Update Save Files

The 48-hour grace period for the durability system transition has now passed.

• Any old save that was not loaded during that window will now have broken items that must be repaired using a Repair Bench.

If you missed the window, you can still fix your gear using the FixDurability Beta Branch:

Hello survivors,

First off, thank you once again for the amazing support and feedback. Huge thanks to the community — to the kind-hearted members on Steam, Discord, and everyone who's playing. We appreciate your support from the bottom of our hearts.

This is a major technical update that also impacts the core gameplay loop. With the introduction of item durability, you'll now need to manage your tools, weapons, and armor more carefully — make sure to repair your gear or swap them out before they break.

⚙️ Features & Content

• Added a full Item Durability System

  • Weapons, tools, armor, and more now degrade over time with use

  • Items can be repaired or replaced when worn

• Added a buildable Repair Bench under the Utility category

• Introduced a new weapon variant: RK-47

• Remade and improved the Armor System

• Added a Wandering Trader who moves around the zone with rare items to trade

• Added buildable Gas Canister (explodes when shot)

• Added a large version of the Gas Canister

• Added buildable Plastic Barricade

• Added buildable Storage Fridge

• All new buildables are added to the Blueprints menu

🔄 Changes and Improvements

• Armor stats rebalanced and improved to match the new durability system

• Patrol Helicopter balancing:

  • Increased health, armor, and fire rate

  • Added missile attack ability

  • Despawn after a certain time

  • Loot drops rebalanced

• Reworked and improved the Building Repair mechanic and UI

• Rebalanced building durability

• Balancing and tweaks to:

  • Loot tables

  • Item prices

  • Trading economy

  • Food and drink stats

• Tweaks to AI accuracy and behavior

• Improved AI navigation

• Improved NVG

• Added Toggle Run (Hold) option in Gameplay Settings

• Nearby Camps and Mission Givers now display map markers when close

• Night Time duration increased

• Minor tweakes to tutorial missions

• Various UI improvements and translation fixes

🐞 Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug causing animals to walk slowly after exiting water

• Fixed an issue with water camper

• Fixed minor UI bugs

• Fixed certain translation errors

• Fixed bugs with Night Vision Goggles (NVG)

• Fixed minor animation issues

• Fixed minor issues with buildables and repair functionality

• Fixed multiple small bugs across systems

🔜 What’s Next

This update marks another big step forward as we prepare for an upcoming major content expansion. Currently in development:

• A new large area of the map

• New POIs, missions, and items

• And a secret surprise we’ll reveal soon...

We’ll be sharing progress and sneak peeks in the coming weeks.

🧷 Important Note for Pre-Update Save Files

Due to the introduction of the Durability System, items from older save files (before this update) may appear broken.

To help with this transition:

• For the next 48 hours, all broken items in older saves will auto-convert to fully repaired items.

• After 48 hours, any un-loaded save will keep its broken items, which will need to be repaired using a Repair Bench.

• If you've already loaded your save after the update, you're good — your items are safe.

If you miss the 48-hour window, you can use our special FixDurability Beta Branch:

Hello Survivors!

Firstly, we want to thank all of you for the support, feedback, and for playing Dreadzone. We've got another update for you — this one is focused mostly on fixing issues and improving performance, but also includes a few new additions and gameplay tweaks!

We're also excited to let you know that a map expansion is currently in the works, featuring new POIs, missions, items, and more. We’ll be sharing sneak peeks next week, so stay tuned!

We’re reading your feedback carefully and doing our best to fit in as much as possible. If something you’ve suggested hasn’t been added yet, don’t worry — it may be part of an upcoming update!

🔧 Patch Notes:

• Fixed issue with turrets not dropping items when destroyed

• Fixed minor UI bugs

• Fixed multiplayer networking issues

• Fixed minor performance bugs

• Optimized projectile performance and replication networking

• Optimized zombie performance and replication networking

• Optimized corpses performance and replication networking

⚙️ System Changes & Balancing:

• Balancing tweaks to building durability

• Balancing tweaks to consumable stats

• Balancing tweaks to animal stats

• Lowered overall health of raccoons and foxes

• AI improvements and behavior updates

• Small animals now have a new random behavior that makes them less afraid of players

🐺 New Content & Additions:

• Added a new wolf variant: Black Wolf

• You can now fill empty canteens with water directly from inventory by clicking them

• Introduced a new Survivor NPC Boss type: Heavy Survivor, found in specific POIs

• Added a new random world event (WIP): Helicopter Patrol – You can shoot it down!

For now, we wish all of you a great, chill, and happy weekend. This is just another step on a long journey filled with many more updates to come — so keep the feedback coming and thank you so much for being part of this.

As always, happy gaming! — The Dreadzone Team

Hotfix Released – Fatal Error Crash Fix

We've just pushed a hotfix that addresses a fatal error crash some players were experiencing. Huge thanks to the community member who shared their save files and helped us identify the issue. Let us know if the fix works for you!

Hello survivors,

We want to thank you for the continued support and feedback. Big thanks to the community, the kind-hearted players, and everyone who's been showing love and support for this project — it truly means the world to us.

This update brings another step forward in the development of Dreadzone, with some important fixes, balance changes, and a couple of long-requested features added!

🛠️ Patch Notes:

• Fixed certain UI issues

• Fixed minor performance bugs

• Fixed bullet water penetration

• Fixed VFX-related bugs

• Fixed generator distance bug

• Fixed turret placement issue

• Fixed certain spelling errors

• Fixed animation issues

🔧 System Changes & Balancing:

• Major improvements, rework, and tweaks to the Gathering system

  • The Billhook has been greatly nerfed (beginner tool)

  • Better tools now yield more and have faster swing speed

• Improved barricade durability

• Balancing and tweaks to trading prices

• Balancing and tweaks to armor stats

• Balancing and tweaks to food and drink stats

• Being starved or dehydrated now damages the player more

• Plants in planters now consume 3x more water from water containers

• Balance and tweaks to building durability

⚙️ New Settings:

• 🎥 FOV Slider Added! You can now adjust your Field of View (FOV) from 75 to 110 via the Graphics Settings.

• 🖥️ New Graphics Option: Virtual Textures This new setting is designed to help mid to lower-end PCs, especially GPUs with low RAM. Lowering this setting can reduce crashes and help with texture loading issues — a major benefit for players experiencing instability.

For some of you, it’s the start of a new week — for others, it’s the end of one. Wherever you are, we wish you all peace, strength, and greatness in the days ahead.

As always, happy gaming — and thank you for being part of this journey.

— The Dreadzone Team

Hello Survivors,

We want to extend our deepest thanks to all of you for your incredible support, feedback, bug reports, and suggestions. To the kind-hearted people in this community — thank you. You’re helping shape the future of Dreadzone, and your input plays a direct role in the game's development.

🧪 DLSS, FSR & TSR - Fully Implemented!

Thanks to the players who tested our Beta Branch and provided feedback on the experimental performance features — we’re excited to announce that DLSS 4, FSR 3.1, and an improved TSR are now fully implemented! This also includes Frame Generation, giving players enhanced performance, image clarity, and full control over sharpening and blur reduction.

This is a major leap forward for performance and visual fidelity in Dreadzone.

✨ New Quality of Life Features:

• ✅ Added "Always Show Hotbar" option in Gameplay Settings

• ✅ Added Toggle Aim option

• ✅ Added Toggle Crouch option

• ✅ Improvements to Keybinds UI in Inventory Menu

• ✅ Gathered/Harvested items now appear in the pickup notification feed

🐞 Bug Fixes:

• Fixed a major performance bug affecting multiple systems

• Fixed client replication issues in multiplayer

• Fixed item duplication exploit

• Fixed bed respawn bug

• Fixed "mortally wounded" recovery bug

• Fixed interaction inconsistencies

• Fixed equipped weapon desync issues

• Fixed bug causing exit button to not appear properly

• Fixed shadow and lighting artifacts

• Fixed multiple physics-related bugs

• Fixed general performance issues and minor multiplayer problems

• Fixed a bug that caused the weapon to aim upward unintentionally

⚙️ Features & Improvements:

• 🔧 Added Equipped Armor Durability Indicator

• 🔧 New Keybind: Check Ammo in Weapon Magazine (Default Key: V)

• 🔧 Further balancing and increased battery drop rate

• 🔧 General UI improvements

• 🔧 Adjustments and tweaks to SFX

• 🔧 Balancing and tweaks to player, NPCs, and equipment stats

• 🔧 Bullet Penetration Player bullets can now penetrate more surfaces

• 🔧 Tweaked AI accuracy and responsiveness

• 🔧 Improved recovery stats

• 🔧 Improved performance for the character system

🌍 A Look Ahead: What’s Coming Next

We also want to share what’s ahead for the next major update:

🚧 We’re expanding the world to be 2X larger than it is now! This next content expansion will include:

• 🧭 New missions and mission vendors

• 🧪 New items

• 🏚️ New events and POIs

• 👾 New enemy types

• ❓Potential secret content (we won’t spoil it — if it makes it in, it’ll be a surprise)

This will mark the beginning of ongoing content updates, and it’ll take a little longer to develop. We’ll be sharing progress with you as it comes together.

We remain on standby for hotfixes and small patches for any urgent issues that arise in the meantime.

Wishing everyone a calm and relaxing weekend ahead!

Thank you again for being part of the Dreadzone journey. We’re just getting started.

— The Dreadzone Team

We hope you're all having a great day!

We have something new and experimental for those of you who specifically asked for DLSS and FSR support in Dreadzone. While we've tested both options before, TSR (Temporal Super Resolution) consistently outperformed them in our internal tests, which is why it’s been our default up until now.

However, we want to give you the choice.

We’ve prepared an experimental version of the game that includes:

• ✅ DLSS 4 support

• ✅ FSR 3.1 support

• ✅ Frame Generation option

From our tests, TSR still performs better overall, but your feedback is incredibly valuable to us — especially if you have a different experience on your setup.

If you’d like to try this version and help us gather more data, here’s how:

🔧 How to Access the Experimental DLSS/FSR Version:

Hello everyone!

We can’t thank you enough for the incredible support and feedback. There are truly kind-hearted people in this community, and your encouragement means the world to us. ❤️

We promise to keep pushing forward — soon, we’ll begin working on larger updates that will take more time to develop. Your feedback is always heard, and we carefully take notes on everything you share.

We’ve seen your requests for DLSS and broader optimizations — we're actively working on it! These improvements take time, but rest assured, they’re in progress.

Please also note: some players are currently running the game on hardware below minimum requirements, which may cause issues that we unfortunately can’t fully solve — but we’ll continue doing our best to improve performance for everyone.

As Unreal Engine evolves with new versions, Dreadzone will continue receiving those tech updates, bringing better visuals and more optimization opportunities.

🛠️ Patch Notes:

• Fixed bug with quickslot hotbar items not loading properly

• Fixed bugs related to player and world data loading

• Fixed issues with specific mission elements

• Fixed certain sound-related bugs

• Fixed bug with crops not loading properly after save

• Minor UI improvements

• Minor performance improvements

• Improvements to the Out-of-Bounds system (Hidden Respawn Keybind: X + NumPad 12)

• Improved GPS Device — allows for larger zoom out

• Major balancing & tweaking to AI accuracy

• Balanced/tweaked player and NPC stats

• Improved recovery stats after being mortally wounded (more health, food, and thirst regained)

• Improved mission marker placement

• Reduced TV sound volume

• Tweaked loot table — slightly increased battery drop rate

• Destroyed storage boxes will now drop their contents into a bag

• Construction menu categories can now be selected with a mouse click

• Changes to Jack's missions: certain missions have been merged into one to make them easier and more enjoyable to complete

Thank you again, truly. We wish everyone a great, calm, and happy week ahead.

— The Dreadzone Team

Hey everyone!

We hope you’ve all been enjoying the weekend! Once again, thank you so much for supporting this project, playing the game, and providing valuable feedback. We’re doing our best to read every single bug report, suggestion, and message — and today’s update is the result of all your input.

🛠️ Patch Notes:

• Fixed Package Mission bug preventing package pickup inside the warehouse

• Fixed inventory drop issue in Hardcore Mode

• Fixed numpad keys not working with keybindings

• Fixed Hotbar UI glitch

• Fixed Dom's mission using the wrong voice line

• Fixed object collision bugs and navigation errors

• Fixed minor UI element issues

• Improved shadow cache behavior

• Minor performance optimizations

• Lowered Easy and Normal difficulties by another 5%

• Tweaked and balanced AI behavior

• Increased despawn timer for armed NPC corpses

• Improved the leaning mechanic — you can now more effectively return fire while behind cover

• Fixed zombie behavior — they will now stop after their heads are destroyed or cut off

• Added Blood Drainer Blueprint to the Blood Tube Trader next to Valera (mission giver)

We’re continuing to work hard to improve the experience for everyone. Thank you for sticking with us through Early Access — your feedback shapes the future of DREADZONE.

Wishing you all a great rest of the weekend — and as always, happy gaming!

— The Dreadzone Team

Hey everyone!

Here’s another quick Day 1/2 patch for Dreadzone. We want to thank you once again — your support and feedback truly means the world to us. Every bit helps us improve the game!

🛠️ Patch Notes:

• Fixed a reflection bug that was causing performance drops

• Fixed a background system memory leak

• Fixed missing collision on several objects

• Fixed floating objects in certain POIs

• Minor improvements to UI elements

• Improved navigation mesh for better AI movement

• Tweaked AI behavior: certain enemies will now stop engaging if players are too far from their effective range

• Added a system to detect if the player goes out of bounds — you’ll now be returned to your last relative location + hidden keybind for self-damage (for respawn): \

• Lit campfires now deal damage to anything stepping on them

More improvements and updates are on the way — stay tuned, and keep the feedback coming!

We wish everyone a great, happy, and chill weekend — and as always, happy gaming!

Thanks for playing, The Dreadzone Team

Hello everyone!

Thank you all so much for your support and feedback — it truly means the world to us. We're thrilled to see many of you enjoying the game! This small update includes a batch of important fixes, tweaks, and balancing improvements:

🛠️ Patch Notes:

• Fixed minor UI bugs

• Fixed a background system causing performance issues after 3+ hours of gameplay

• Fixed sound attenuation bug

• Lowered Normal Mode difficulty by 5%

• Fixed a bug causing players to fall through the ground

• Fixed floating foliage in various areas

• Fixed a controller issue where the main menu wouldn't open — you can now open it using the Special Right Button

• Added a hidden keybind for self-damage (for respawn): \

• Improved and balanced:

  • Armor values

  • Damage and accuracy

  • Enemy spawn rates

  • Other combat-related stats

Thanks again for playing — more updates are coming soon!

Stay sharp, The Dreadzone Team

The day has finally come — Dreadzone is officially available to play! As a surprise launch bonus, the game is 15% OFF for the next 14 days!

🧪 This is just the beginning. Dreadzone is launching into Early Access, which means more content, features, bug fixes, performance improvements, networking upgrades, and potentially even dedicated servers are on the way, with your support!

💬 We’re on standby for your feedback, bug reports, and suggestions to help shape the next major update. If you run into any issues or have ideas, we’re here to support you.

🎮 Thank you all for being part of this journey we can’t wait to see you in the zone.

Have fun, and have an amazing upcoming weekend!

— The Dreadzone Team