Shadow of Ancients – Major Performance Update (Steam Next Fest)

Hello everyone!

With Steam Next Fest approaching, we’re releasing a major update focused primarily on performance improvements, stability, and overall smoothness across the entire demo.

This update lays the technical foundation for the future of Shadow of Ancients as we continue expanding the world and its systems.

Performance Improvements

• Significant optimization pass on the main level environment

• Reduced overall CPU and GPU load

• Improved frame rate stability during exploration

• Improved landscape and world rendering efficiency

• Better memory usage and resource handling

You should experience noticeably smoother gameplay, especially in larger open areas.

System & Simulation Optimizations

• Improved AI processing performance

• More efficient hit detection calculations

• Reduced overhead from background systems

• Improved overall gameplay responsiveness

Combat and traversal should now feel more consistent and stable.

Stability & Fixes

• Fixed various causes of random crashes

• Addressed several edge-case performance spikes

• General bug fixes and internal clean-up

Steam Next Fest Focus

This update ensures the demo runs smoother and more reliably across a wide range of hardware during Steam Next Fest.

Our goal is clear: Deliver a stable, optimized, and immersive experience as we continue expanding the world of Shadow of Ancients.

Thank you for your continued support and feedback — it truly helps shape the game.

See you at Steam Next Fest!

— ActiveWind Studios