Full notes
Full Expedition: Backrooms update
Read the full published notes in a cleaner layout. The original post stays linked below.
What changed
- Gameplay
- Server
- Performance
- UI and audio
Expedition: Backrooms changes
Over the past few months, we have been reading your thoughts on the previous version of the project very carefully. Your feedback has been crucial for us - it showed us what works, what needs to be rebuilt, and what should be created from scratch.
That is why we do not see this as just a regular update. This is a deeply rebuilt version of the project, shaped by your feedback and by our own vision of what Backrooms should be.
Expedition: Backrooms is not just another simple “entity runner.” It is not a game built only around jumpscares or running through yellow corridors.
Expedition: Backrooms is our original vision of Expedition Survival - a combination of hardcore survival, open-world exploration, psychological horror, and narrative co-op, set within the endless world of the Backrooms.
Players take on the role of members of a scientific expedition who, after a catastrophic portal experiment, become trapped inside the Backrooms - a place that is not a world, a dimension, or a game level. It is a distorted reality built from memories, errors, and things that have “gone missing” between worlds. The entire experience focuses on survival, organizing expeditions, and slowly uncovering the mystery of this place.
So, you may be asking: what’s new?
In the new version, you will find a vast, interconnected world filled with anomalies, contaminated zones, and locations that break the rules of reality. Key locations are essential for both technological and story progression, and some of them can be developed and defended against the entities inhabiting the Backrooms.
The resource management system has been designed to work perfectly with hardcore survival - together, they create gameplay that does not forgive mistakes. Every bullet, every bite of food, and every minute of light has real value. Here, survival depends on how well you manage what you have, not on what you wish you had.
The inventory system has been redesigned from the ground up. A hybrid grid inventory lets you manage every centimeter of space, including your backpack and storage, while every item has weight, size, and real importance during an expedition.
Atmosphere, loneliness, tension, and the relationships between people are extremely important to us. We
focus on emotions built through silence, things left unsaid, and subtle interactions, where the presence of another person is just as meaningful as their absence. We want the player to constantly feel that somewhere on the other side of the story, there is someone watching, listening, and waiting - even if it is not always said directly.
The story can be experienced alone or in multiplayer, where the experience changes depending on whether you are on your own or part of an expedition team. Shared expeditions become a key part of survival - sharing resources, planning routes, and saving each other in critical moments will often decide whether anyone makes it back to the base.
After returning from an expedition, the game slows down, and the base becomes a temporary shelter. This is where small interactions appear, allowing you to catch your breath and regain a sense of normality - playing cards, rolling dice, or simply sitting together under the flickering light of a lamp. These moments are not just an extra feature, but an important part of building relationships between expedition members and creating contrast with what awaits outside.
Communication is also a major focus for us. Proximity voice chat makes conversations feel grounded in the world - you only hear other players when they are close to you. This creates natural tension, but also a sense of another human being’s presence in a place that is constantly trying to isolate you from each other.
We wanted the world to feel alive, not empty. During exploration, you will discover traces of other people, past experiments, and abandoned camps. You will learn the stories of Sergei Petrov, Susan Carter, and other expeditions that may have never returned home.
Thank you!
We want to sincerely thank everyone who gave us honest feedback - even the brutal kind. Many things were rethought from the ground up precisely because of you.
Expedition: Backrooms has become a much more mature project, with a clear identity and a concrete vision of what this game is meant to be.
We also encourage you to visit the updated Steam page and watch the new teaser - they offer a closer look at the new direction, atmosphere, and vision behind Expedition: Backrooms.
If you want to support the project, we strongly encourage you to add Expedition: Backrooms to your Steam wishlist. It genuinely helps us reach more people with the game and shows that this vision of Backrooms makes sense.
We also invite you to join our Discord, where you will find more information about the game, production updates, and a place to talk with us and the community:
https://discord.com/invite/HB7CAWtPby
Thank you for being part of the expedition! ✈️
Source
Changelog.gg summarizes and formats this update. How we read updates.
