Sword of the Sea news & patch notes

Thank you for supporting us on this epic sesh. Sword of the Sea is OUT NOW.

If Sword of the Sea was "music to your ears", consider nominating it for Best Soundtrack 🏆 Sword of the Sea marks the 3rd collaboration with composer Austin Wintory who blends a familiar yet entirely new soundscape consisting of intimate piano moments and a layer of vocals that began as a playful experiment. The Grammy Nominated Score includes musicians from all around the world such as: Kristin Naigus, Malukah, Paul Cartwright, Tina Guo, & Tom Strahle among many, many others.

Thank you for your support - the Giant Squid team!

We are incredibly grateful to see Sword of the Sea has been nominated for Best Self-Published Indie Game, Best Soundtrack, and Best Visual Design in the Golden Joystick Awards 2025! We didn't realize it had made such a splash and are so happy and thankful to hear fans are enjoying Sword of the Sea. If you'd like to support us, you can vote here: https://www.gamesradar.com/goldenjoystickawards

• Fixed issue where a trophy/achievement would not be awarded correctly if the final level was started from the chapter select screen

The official soundtrack selection of Sword of the Sea.

Presented by Austin Wintory.

Sword of the Sea marks Austin's 3rd collaboration with Giant Squid, and 4th with its founder Matt Nava (who had been Journey's Art Director). At the heart of this album was an electronic soundscape enveloping a piano. Then came vocals, which actually began as a joke when Matt found a podcast in which Werner Herzog speculates that he'd use Orthodox monk chanting as underscore were he to make a skating documentary. Austin began writing for children's choir (performed by the magnificent Phoenix Boys Choir), and the rest soon followed. Many, many musicians from around the world ended up performing on this score and we're deeply indebted to them all. Contains 16 tracks. Total Time: 1hr, 24m

Composed and Produced by: Austin Wintory. SOLOISTS:

• Kristin Naigus: Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Native American Drone Flutes

• Tina Guo: Cello

• Malukah: Vocals

• Paul Cartwright: Violin, Viola

• Tom Strahle: Electric Guitar, Electric Basses, Mandolin, Tagelharpa

VIOLA ENSEMBLE:

• Bruce White, Reiad Chibah, Edward Vanderspar, Lydia Lowndes-Northcott, Nicholas Bootiman

LONDON VOICES CHOIR:

• Ken Burton, Fraser Collins, Guy Cutting, Michael Dore, Edmund Hastings, Matthew Howard, Benedict Hymas, Timothy Murphy, Sam Oladeinde, Edmund Sadington, Andrew Tipple, Steve Trowell

• Phoenix Boys Choir Artistic Director and Conductor: Herbert Washington

• Phoenix Boys Choir Recording Coordinator: Ryan Gunderson

• Phoenix Boys Choir Engineer: Aidan Briggs

• Added Invert Camera (Horizontal), Invert Camera (Vertical), and Camera Sensitivity photomode options that can be set separately from the the regular game camera
• Added a collectible tracker to the chapter select screen
• Added a collectible tracker to the pause screen in new game plus
• When using the Restart Chapter option in the last chapter or starting the level from the chapter select screen, the intro cutscene will be skipped, allowing for quicker restarts
• Improved resolution settings- full range of resolutions are now accessible, with better handling of multiple monitor configurations

• Fixed issue where the count of collected items could be displayed incorrectly, leading to an associated trophy not triggering appropriately
• Score now has a maximum value to avoid overflowing and displaying as a negative number
• Fixed issue where some Japanese and Traditional Chinese characters displayed incorrectly
• Fixed issue where music faded incorrectly at the beginning of levels
• Fixed issue where certain particles and sound effects could remain active incorrectly during some cutscenes
• Improved camera rotation assist behaviour in some areas
• Improved visibility of photo mode effects menu elements
• Fixed issue where a guide beam could reset incorrectly after returning to gameplay from main menu
• Fixed issue where some sound effects would no longer play after returning to gameplay from main menu
• Improved visibility of some interactive objects
• Made tetra around certain halfpipes easier to collect
• Fixed issue where sound effects for grinding could remain active
• Fixed issue where some snow effects could disappear abruptly
• Fixed issue where UI for remapping analog sticks may not work as expected
• Fixed minor character animation pops
• Fixed geometry pop-in in some cutscenes
• Fixed minor seams in geometry across the game
• Improved minor environmental collision shapes across the game
• Improved falling reset zones across the game

• Some Intel Arc GPUs have been reported to crash on startup

• Added prompts to activate photomode in certain scenarios
• Allowed photo mode access during some scripted sequences
• Added 120hz framerate option
• Increased text reveal rate slightly
• Increased photo mode camera movement range
• Added UI animation when collecting secret shells
• Added a tetra reward when all boats are lit
• Made platforming to reach certain secrets less demanding
• Improved snow particle fade distance
• Added loading indicator when Restart Chapter or Rewind 5 Minutes options are used

• Fixed issue where higher resolutions could be inaccessible in the Options/Graphics screen
• Fixed Invert Camera (Vertical) setting not applying to photo mode camera
• Fixed rare audio issue when entering cutscenes
• Updated credits with missing entries
• Fixed rare issues where the combo display could appear incorrectly
• Fixed various places where the player could get out of bounds
• Removed several inaccessible chests that were buried underground
• Fixed issue where the player could get stuck in a reset loop when falling off certain edges
• Fixed several areas where the player could become stuck in an out of bounds area
• Fixed issue where the “New High Score” achievement could be awarded on the first playthrough
• Fixed issue where the player could sometimes appear at the wrong start location when using the restart chapter option
• Removed unused loading area in Lost Grotto
• Fixed issue where the “Long Distance Jumper” achievement could sometimes be triggered during a cutscene
• Fixed issue where the “Water Whisperer” achievement may not have triggered correctly, despite requirements appearing to have been met
• Fixed issue where advance icon could be missing on certain text boxes

• Some Intel Arc GPUs have been reported to crash on startup
• Some reported cases of the “Water Whisperer” achievement not triggering may still be outstanding

Update:

• Added cloud save support

Fixes:

• Fixed issue where photo mode could be activated when dialog boxes were open, causing a progression blocking state
• Fixed out-of-bounds protection in certain areas
• Fixed miscellaneous minor audio and music issues
• Fixed cases where the player could get stuck in the halfpipe air animation state
• Fixed issue where a red screen effect would continue during a cinematic moment
• Fixed issue where progression could be blocked by making a certain jump in Shadow Tundra
• Fixed issue where a gate that would not open in Veiled Sea if the level was started from chapter select
• Fixed game not pausing automatically when losing focus

Known Issues:

• Rare audio issue that can cause certain gameplay sound effects to persist during cutscenes
• Some Intel Arc GPUs have been reported to crash on startup
• In some configurations, maximum resolution may not be accessible in the Options/Graphics screen (known current workaround: set Windows display scale setting to 100%)
• Invert Camera (Vertical) setting does not apply to photo mode camera

Just 7 days until Sword of the Sea launches🌊 The wait is almost over! On August 19th take your Hoversword and surf across breathtaking ruins, forgotten shipwrecks, and shifting sands all brought to life in stunning detail! Launches on PlayStation 5 & PC Wishlist today so you're ready to ride the waves the moment we go live!

Check out coverage from this year's Day of the Devs featuring a short segment with Creative Director Matt Nava explaining how it's all about movement and flow: Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2025 Skip to 02:09;00 for Sword of the Sea

We're excited to share more gameplay and deep dives as we approach our launch of Sword of the Sea August 19th, 2025.

Our websites: Sword of the Sea Giant Squid Learn more and join the discussion: Discord Server

Catch-up on our Sword of the Sea Gameplay Preview!

Sword of the Sea is launching August 19th, 2025.

COMING AUGUST 19th 2025!