February Update: Don’t Sleep On It!

The Early Access launch last year generated a lot of new feedback, which we have been taking to heart to plan for improving on the core survival experience of Go Wayback!

We are currently working on improving some of the core systems that are at the foundation of the game, and this first update of 2026 focuses on those foundations, alongside some early iterations of a few highly requested features.

New Features

Nights can be long and cold in Go Wayback! especially if the weather brings a thunderstorm or a blizzard. It’s totally fair if you don’t feel like spending that time watching the crackling fire or listening to tunes on your cassette player. Now, you can sleep.

This is still a very early version of the feature. At the moment, the game decides how long you’ll be able to sleep based on your vitals (just to make sure you don’t die in your sleep), with a maximum duration of 8 hours of game time. In the future, we’ll introduce tools that allow you to decide how long you’d like to sleep.

Can’t sleep? It’s probably because you’re too hungry, dehydrated, or about to freeze to death.

Before the holidays we encouraged our teams to think out of the box with creative ideas. The Glider is one of the ideas we came up with, and it’s now available to test and experiment with in Free Roam mode. Find a good spot and spawn it with the K key on your keyboard. We’re eager to hear what you think of this new way to traverse the world!

Landscapes have also received an update to surfaces, with more rewarding (or punishing, depending on the situation) effects on gameplay. Different types of terrain surfaces now have a direct impact on how you traverse the world. Frozen icy snow = delayed directional changes.

Fixes & Quality of Life

The UI also received a visual pass over the past month. Setting sliders now offer more precise control, missing key prompts in the inventory and help screens are no longer missing, and we’ve added confirmation pop-ups when overwriting save files.

Another change we made affects how clothing behaves when it comes into contact with fire: it now burns! Well, unless you’re wearing it. For now. So maybe pay attention to where you drop your clothes next time if you’re trying to dry them.

Upgrades & Improvements

With this update, we’ve taken a step closer to improving certain in-game systems, including looting. This means fewer meme opportunities for us (no more screenshots of radios spawning in the fridge), but a much better chance for you to find items in more natural and consistent places.

We’ve also reworked forest traversal. Stepping over small obstacles should now be much smoother, with less blocking on rocks, branches, and uneven terrain.

New Languages

Last but not least, you can now experience all of this in three newly added languages: Korean, Traditional Chinese, and Russian.

We hope you enjoy the new changes, and as always, we’d be thrilled to hear your thoughts on Discord!

Patch Notes: 0.24443

New Features

• Mud can now freeze and has different states in-between, affecting traversal and movement

• Added first implementation of Sleep system (hold Z key to start sleeping while not at risk of death)

• Clocks can now be found in the world to track time

• Glider added to Free Roam mode

Upgrades & Improvements

• Weather visuals upgraded with improved atmosphere, clouds, fog, and lighting balance

• Improved cabin looting logic, making item placement feel more natural and consistent

• Forest traversal improvements:

  • Smoother stepping over small obstacles

  • Improved mantling and vaulting

  • Reduced blocking on rocks, branches, and uneven terrain

• New languages:

  • Korean, Russian and Traditional Chinese

Fixes & Quality of Life

Traversal & Movement

• Fixed cases where vaulting over logs or obstacles could fail

• Improved mantling animations and camera transitions to reduce snapping

• Added missing height checks for vaulting and ladders

• Removed forced get-up animation after sliding

• Improved dangerous traversal feedback with FOV bloom and vignette effects

Items, Inventory & Interaction

• Fixed items ignoring gravity when dropped (map, clocks, etc.)

• Fixed step counter counting steps while standing still or not registering correctly

• Fixed thermometer and pedometer display issues

• All dropped clothing items are now burnable

• Improved battery usage consistency for flashlights, radio, and cassette player

UI & Menus

• General UI visual pass and alignment fixes

• Fixed stretched images and misaligned text in menus

• Improved sliders for more precise control

• Fixed incorrect or missing key prompts in inventory and help screens

• Added confirmation popups when overwriting save files

• Pause menu navigation and layout improvements

• Added increase / decrease indicators on vitals

• Custom Settings page now merges Custom Settings, Seed and Edit Map

• The Display Prompt UI is now located in Settings

World, Environment & Visuals

• Improved tree, foliage, and rock collisions to prevent snagging or clipping

• Fixed snow, wetness, and overcast lighting inconsistencies

• Improved river depth handling to prevent unintended soaking

• Rocks and buildings now cover the ground from snow and rain building up

Audio

• Fixed crashes and inconsistencies related to audio shutdown

• Resolved issues with custom audio settings reverting on launch

• Fixed a bug where it sometimes sounded like the player was outside when they were inside

Game Logic & Progression

• Fixed achievements unlocking incorrectly or not tracking properly

• Fixed poison, wetness, temperature, stamina, and hunger edge cases

• Fixed scenarios and custom games incorrectly disabling achievements

• Fixed save/load issues affecting shelters, poison state, and player stats

Custom Games & Settings

• Fixed custom maps and seeds not loading correctly

• Added missing custom game settings (day duration, weather change speed)

• Prevented incompatible settings from being selected simultaneously

• Improved custom seed input validation and UI behavior

Stability & Performance

• Fixed multiple crashes related to traversal, audio, UI, and world loading

• Improved memory cleanup and asset handling

• General stability improvements across gameplay and menus

Currently in Development

• Liquids & Fuel system

• Improved foraging and cooking

• Additional updates to landscape surfaces

• Previously played Seeds history

• Improved sharing options for Custom Settings, Maps, and Game Modes