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Steam News14 June 202621d ago

Major multiplayer update: Just in time for Steam Next Fest!

We’ve made loads of improvements to multiplayer ahead of Next Fest to make lobbies smoother, matches faster, and reconnecting less painful. Players can now join an active standard match as spectators.

In this update1

Full notes

Full SHED update

Read the full published notes in a cleaner layout. The original post stays linked below.

What changed

0 fixes2 additions8 changes1 removal
  • Gameplay
  • Balance
  • Events
  • Store
changedWe’ve made loads of improvements to multiplayer ahead of Next Fest to make lobbies smoother, matches faster, and reconnecting less painful.
addedPlayers can now join an active standard match as spectators. If you’re late to the party, you can still jump in, watch the game live, and you’ll be added to the lobby automatically when the match ends (as long as there’s space).
addedTo help hosts keep things tidy, you can now kick players directly from the lobby list.
changedWe’ve also reduced both the swap phase and turn timer to 20 seconds. This keeps matches moving and stops one player from stalling the whole lobby.
removedAFK behaviour has been improved too. If someone gets pulled away from their PC, they’re no longer booted straight to the menu. After a couple of missed turns, they’re moved into spectator mode instead, and the host can decide what to do with them once the match ends.
changedPlay the SHED demo today!If you’ve not had a chance to boot SHED up for a go yet, here’s some of the key demo features:

SHED changes

changedWe’ve made loads of improvements to multiplayer ahead of Next Fest to make lobbies smoother, matches faster, and reconnecting less painful.
addedPlayers can now join an active standard match as spectators. If you’re late to the party, you can still jump in, watch the game live, and you’ll be added to the lobby automatically when the match ends (as long as there’s space).
addedTo help hosts keep things tidy, you can now kick players directly from the lobby list.
changedWe’ve also reduced both the swap phase and turn timer to 20 seconds. This keeps matches moving and stops one player from stalling the whole lobby.
removedAFK behaviour has been improved too. If someone gets pulled away from their PC, they’re no longer booted straight to the menu. After a couple of missed turns, they’re moved into spectator mode instead, and the host can decide what to do with them once the match ends.

We’ve made loads of improvements to multiplayer ahead of Next Fest to make lobbies smoother, matches faster, and reconnecting less painful.

Players can now join an active standard match as spectators. If you’re late to the party, you can still jump in, watch the game live, and you’ll be added to the lobby automatically when the match ends (as long as there’s space).

To help hosts keep things tidy, you can now kick players directly from the lobby list.

We’ve also reduced both the swap phase and turn timer to 20 seconds. This keeps matches moving and stops one player from stalling the whole lobby.

AFK behaviour has been improved too. If someone gets pulled away from their PC, they’re no longer booted straight to the menu. After a couple of missed turns, they’re moved into spectator mode instead, and the host can decide what to do with them once the match ends.

Finally, connected players always return to the lobby after a match, even if they didn’t press continue. This means hosts can manage their lobby properly without everyone having to rejoin.

Play the SHED demo today!

If you’ve not had a chance to boot SHED up for a go yet, here’s some of the key demo features:

Single player game modes:

  • Quick game against bots (up to 6 bots and 4 decks)

  • Tier 1 of the Boss Bowl game mode (First 4 bosses)

  • Tier 1 of the trials game mode (First 4 trials)

  • Single player tournaments

Multiplayer game modes:

  • Standard multiplayer game modes are available in the demo (up to 8 players and 4 decks per lobby).

  • Unlocks/rewards/achievements:

  • 9 Steam/in-game achievements

  • 21 common shop items

  • 4 common decks

  • 12 avatars

  • In-game currency rewards for playing games both on and offline (No in-game purchases, all credit in-game is earned in-game).

  • Players who play the demo will get a cosmetic reward in the main game on launch!

To play the demo, visit our main store page!

Source

Steam News / 14 June 2026

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