Hey Operators,

Welcome to our latest dev update covering November through January. It’s been a packed period at the studio as we charge toward our upcoming milestones. With Recon One in December and the holidays right after, we’re bundling these months into one post.

Before we dive in, huge shoutout to the team for the push since Recon One — the progress has been genuinely incredible, the momentum is stronger than ever, and we’re stoked about what’s next. We’ll share more soon on timelines and play opportunities.

P.S. Our next post will break down your Recon One feedback: what we’ve fixed already and what’s in the works. Stay tuned!

Haven’t wishlisted us on Steam yet? Now’s a great time — we’d love your support, it means a ton!

• Combat feels tighter: We overhauled shot resolution on the server side, fixing critical bullet registration issues. This didn’t make Recon One, but it’s live now and makes hits feel more reliable. We paired this with dynamic weapon spread (crouch for accuracy, sprint for bloom), ADS recoil tuning, and scalable hitboxes that adapt when you’re running or jumping. The shooting feels consistent and smoother.

• The game looks and sounds better: Sigma abilities got refreshed VFX — and we heard you: no more Wave dust clutter. Audio also got a full pass. Drones now roar, hover, and take off with new sounds, and weapons like the SMG and DMR feel punchier and more distinct. Environments pop with wet footsteps, wind chimes, and rain, plus ambient touches like crows and rats. Last but not least, updated in-game lighting and Operator material tuning improves readability and overall visual experience .

Now, let’s dive into the key wins. The highlights below show some of the biggest strides, while substantial behind-the-scenes efforts — including China launch preparation and core engineering work — remain largely unseen but essential.

Shot resolution is fixed. We dug deep into server-side code and resolved issues where some bullets weren’t registering properly. This was a major overhaul tied to bullet pooling and ticking. It’s the foundation everything else builds on.

Movement and weapon spread work together. Crouch for accuracy. Sprint and your bloom increases. Jump and you’re at max spread. Reticle bloom tuning, movement penalties, and fall-damage adjustments now reinforce a ‘move → stop → shoot’ rhythm, significantly reducing any benefit from techniques like bunny-hopping.

Hitboxes got smarter. We added a system that lets hitboxes scale with player actions (and made it easier for designers to tune).

Fairer Matches, Safer Respawns. We implemented and are actively iterating on our first version of skill-based MMR with adaptive logic for team sizes, wait times, and skill ranges. The new dynamic respawn system prevents spawn kills by placing you near teammates and away from objectives. Backfill keeps matches full, i.e. if someone disconnects, a new player can drop in, and you may join games already in progress.

Weapons and loadouts are expanding. The DMR is in-game with scope support, and the LMG is nearing completion. Loadout screens are ~80% refined with more consistent and clearer controls, and post-launch we’ll focus on optics, suppressors, and more customizations.

Pickups are being cleaned up. We’ve been prioritizing weapon pickup behavior and simplifying “what auto-picks up vs what should be manual,” while keeping Sigma interaction intentional.

The front end is getting a premium facelift. The main menu is now presented in 3D, replacing flat backgrounds with rendered environments, weapon animations, and Sigma previews. We also improved character lighting in the menu and cleaned up visual bugs like model clipping (where gear or body parts can intersect incorrectly). We’ve loved how these changes come together, especially paired with crisp UI audio that makes every interaction feel snappier.

VFX and lighting improvements are paying off. Sigma abilities went through a VFX refresh pass to reduce visual clutter and improve distinction between effects- Sigma Wave and Wind, for example, no longer look too similar. Drone presentation has also leveled up with new arrival/departure animations, particles, and lighting. Drones now animate into stockpile locations instead of simply appearing, and ambient drones patrol map boundaries to make the world feel more alive. Areas like Flood Town received more thematic details. Updated in-game lighting plus Operator material tuning has improved readability and made the overall experience easier on the eyes.

Animations are smoother, and small details add life. We’ve made strong progress on blending for crouch, ADS, shooting, reloads, and mantles. Grenades throw cleanly without skipping or getting stuck. On top of that, we added ambient critters like crows and rats for the atmosphere.

Audio is doing more work for gameplay clarity. Sigma abilities now have clearer, distinct sound signatures, with improved level-up and recharge SFX plus HUD cues. A cool sound effect to indicate respawning has been added too. Weapon audio got a full balancing pass: SMG and DMR in particular now feel sharper and more identifiable (the SMG audio is a team favorite). Environmental clarity also improved with context-sensitive footsteps (wet/mud), map emitters like wind chimes and rain, and a complete drone audio suite (roar, hover, takeoff, extraction).

We want every moment to feel intuitive — from login to post-match.

HUD UI continues to evolve. We’re iterating on in-match HUD elements to improve clarity and support moment-to-moment decisions during a match. The Sigma carry indicator has been redesigned to better show capacity and transfer rates when stealing or depositing. Health display has been improved for greater accuracy. Sigma ability, team, and fallen Sigma icons have also received a visual refresh to improve readability and situational awareness.

Launcher, public profiles, and localization are advancing. Public profiles are in place visually, and we’re integrating game stats and inventory displays, waiting on backend hooks. Localization is in progress for Chinese, French, and LATAM Spanish, including custom fonts.

End-to-end flows are working. We’ve successfully tested purchase-to-game (buy a skin> see it in-game). We also consolidated the essential UI screens into one cohesive system: Battle Pass grid, Operator progression, loadouts, post-game unlocks, and purchase/confirmation/economy modals — so it feels like a connected experience, not a pile of disconnected screens.

Progression and missions are in a solid spot. The account progression MVP includes Operator slots, loadouts, and Battle Pass integration. Daily and weekly missions are designed.

Narrative & Lore

We’re making the world feel real, and the story is continuing to deepen. Dave Mongan is leading world-building, and we’re reviewing and updating all in-game text and VO to reflect Valdacha Corporation’s perspective. Our goal is for players to enter the Zone with clear context: why they’re fighting, and what Sigma actually means.

Cohesive tone and voice. We’re aligning narrative tone across every touchpoint: in-game, store pages, and throughout marketing, so the backstory stays consistent.

Finalized Cinematic. Cinematics are moving through finalization with updated moon/meteor shots, female VO, and narrative hooks tied to Sigma and drones.

Terminology Updates

• “Sigma Score” → “Grav-Kilos” (weight-based measurement reflecting extraction quantities).

• “Victory/Defeat” → “Contract Fulfilled/Terminated” (reinforcing corporate framing).

• “Stockpiles” → “Grav-Sync” (reflecting Sigma extraction technology and the drone collection system).

Behind the scenes, we’ve been locking in the foundation that lets everything ship cleanly at scale. We’ve set up Steam infrastructure for internal testing builds, and playtesting workflows have shifted there.

On the backend, player data is now unified and security has been hardened with stronger encryption and core infrastructure improvements. Anti-cheat integration and enforcement tools are in progress. Telemetry and stats tracking are operational, giving us real data for informed balance refinements. We’re also targeting performance and stability aggressively — profiling and reducing hitching on both client and server, improving boot and session flow, and upgrading crash reporting with symbolicated dumps so issues are faster to trace and fix. We’ve also built a robust batch render pipeline for dynamic thumbnails and 360° weapon spins, accelerating polished content delivery.

China launch prep is also moving forward with infrastructure and partner work on track.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this update and look forward to hearing your thoughts, comments, and questions. Until next time!

Thanks,

Team Shrapnel