Steam News 30 January 20263mo ago

Dev Log #3: Learnings from SunderBound’s first Open Playtest

Attention, citizens of Haven! We’ve just closed access to SunderBound’s first open playtest build, and firstly, we want to genuinely thank each of you who signed up for, wishlisted, and played this very early version of…

Update log

Full SunderBound update

The complete published notes, normalized for clean reading and source attribution.

Extracted changes

0 fixes1 addition5 changes0 removals

Gameplay
UI and audio

changedCombatWe’ve taken your feedback regarding the combat gameplay to heart, and we’re hard at work refining it. The main direction of improvement is towards a more deliberate and precise combat, full of possibilities and variety. One where the individual and the cooperative choices matter, one where action changes dynamically, and adapting well to the circumstances is well-rewarded. Some of you pointed out quirks regarding player input and ability aiming that we are looking into.

addedCombatThe general gunplay of SunderBound was a hit and miss (pun intended) - some of you really liked it when the action picked up, some felt it needed more depth. Our aim is to add more ways for players to express their skill without adding too much complexity. We’re especially grateful for your feedback on the limited ammo system and the cover ability, which will allow us to make the necessary adjustments to these features.

changedUIThe UI was not the highlight of this playtest. However, we picked up a lot of useful insights on how you interact with it, which will help us a lot with the next iteration.

changedUIThis is a good time to mention that we are currently looking for a UI artist to help us do exactly that! So if you have ideas and would like to become involved in the development of SunderBound, send us a message! Check out the opening here !

changedTutorialThe tutorial has room for improvement. Some features need additional explanation (Co-Op High-Five Ability and Co-Op Voting), while we overdid it in other aspects (movement and crouch). That being said, we are discussing a different tutorial, with less obtrusive prompts for each action, as well as some more interesting environmental pieces and cameras.

changedAudioThroughout the playtest, there were comments about missing sound effects/feedback where many players expected there to be some, which disturbed their immersion. For example, when the player character breaks the boxes in the tutorial. We bumped our focus on audio a bit

Attention, citizens of Haven!

We’ve just closed access to SunderBound’s first open playtest build, and firstly, we want to genuinely thank each of you who signed up for, wishlisted, and played this very early version of our game!

Many of you left us notes on how to improve, what issues you encountered, and what parts of the game you liked and didn’t like. This was all so important to us, and it gave us a substantial push in motivation, but also in what direction to take the world of Haven.

Let’s dive deeper into some of the feedback we’ve received over the past couple of months.

Key Takeaways

Combat

We’ve taken your feedback regarding the combat gameplay to heart, and we’re hard at work refining it. The main direction of improvement is towards a more deliberate and precise combat, full of possibilities and variety. One where the individual and the cooperative choices matter, one where action changes dynamically, and adapting well to the circumstances is well-rewarded. Some of you pointed out quirks regarding player input and ability aiming that we are looking into.

The general gunplay of SunderBound was a hit and miss (pun intended) - some of you really liked it when the action picked up, some felt it needed more depth. Our aim is to add more ways for players to express their skill without adding too much complexity. We’re especially grateful for your feedback on the limited ammo system and the cover ability, which will allow us to make the necessary adjustments to these features.

Singleplayer VS Co-Op

Many of you played the game in single-player mode, either because Steam Remote Play didn’t work well for you or because you weren’t aware of it. As a result, a lot of you mentioned that the AI ally was not your best partner in crime. We are focusing on improving the Ally AI for the future. We also can’t wait to see you guys play with friends online soon!

UI

The UI was not the highlight of this playtest. However, we picked up a lot of useful insights on how you interact with it, which will help us a lot with the next iteration.

This is a good time to mention that we are currently looking for a UI artist to help us do exactly that! So if you have ideas and would like to become involved in the development of SunderBound, send us a message! Check out the opening here!

Tutorial

The tutorial has room for improvement. Some features need additional explanation (Co-Op High-Five Ability and Co-Op Voting), while we overdid it in other aspects (movement and crouch). That being said, we are discussing a different tutorial, with less obtrusive prompts for each action, as well as some more interesting environmental pieces and cameras.

Graphics & Visual Identity

We’re extremely happy to see many of you dig the vibe and atmosphere of SunderBound so far! The concept, visual quality, atmosphere, and world-building are only going to improve in the coming months. We are very stoked about finding ways to let you in on more of the story of SunderBound and Haven, and we seem to be going in a direction that you guys quite enjoy, so that is a huge plus!

Audio

Throughout the playtest, there were comments about missing sound effects/feedback where many players expected there to be some, which disturbed their immersion. For example, when the player character breaks the boxes in the tutorial. We bumped our focus on audio a bit

Source

Steam News / 30 January 2026

Open original