- Major Vehicle & Multiplayer Update + New Double Barrel Shotgun - 4 September 2026
📝 Developer NotesVehicles receive a major overhaul with new two-handed steering, gear shifting, revised throttle inputs, improved handling, enhanced haptics, and better engine audio for an overall more intuitive driving experience. The new Double Barrel Shotgun is now finished with fully interactive break-action barrel. This is accompanied by an additional way to reload ammo in all guns from the Vest. Alongside these additions, this update includes extensive improvements to multiplayer networking and performance, and overall system cleanup. On another note, in regard to the ongoing development of the game, I post daily development updates on Patreon where I share what I'm working on and the progress I'm making on Alien Dawn for anyone that wants to follow along. I'd also really love to hear from you about how things go with this new update, especially if you get a group together to pla…
- Alien Dawn - Alpha V2 Playtest Update (2.0.231) - 11 August 2026
Below are all the changes since the previous Playtest update on August 1st.This patch primarily focuses on multiplayer fixes as we continue to make online play stable and a solid gameplay experience. It also includes tweaks and additions, many of which are based on feedback from our friends on the Alien Dawn Discord. I started posting my day-to-day work and thoughts on the game in the "build update" channel for anyone interested in following along. I want to give a shout out to everyone who has been giving their valuable time and insights during this Playtesting phase: Chris Colman, TedSan, HFTK, Megasteakman, Michael Moist, Adeptus AnonyMu5, InspectorTin, Chaunteuse, Shoot Me >.
- Brief Update from the Developer ⭐ - 2 August 2026
🚨This is NOT the official update for Alien Dawn Alpha 2.0🚨We're switching the default public branch from the old 2024 build to the latest Playtest build for several reasons:1. People buy the game after seeing posts about the new version, then launch a two-year-old build instead. Naturally, that isn't the experience I want new players to have.2. Playtesters potentially use the wrong branch and then give feedback on the incorrect version. 3. No one is actively playing the old version and leaving it as the default only creates unnecessary confusion.I will post a full change log and update when we officially launch Alien Dawn Alpha 2.0. In the meantime, I'm issuing this "Small Update" announcement until the final version is ironed out and uploaded. We really appreciate everyone's support and patience with all of this!Additional Notes:There will still be frequent updates on the Playtest…
- Alien Dawn Alpha 2 - Playtesting Open Now - 6 February 2026
Hey, so I know it's been over a year since I last posted here and that sucks. The gist of what has been going on is that in order for this game to work in any capacity I needed to advance my understanding of the Unreal Engine and game design.I've worked pretty much non-stop on both of those things since the last update in 2024, and I hope you see this latest update as evidence of that.I've already had a handful of completely new people I've never met try it, and while their reaction isn't 10 out of 10, I can tell you it's very different from what I used to get with other builds of the game.On that note, I've always enjoyed the community aspect of making this game. Besides loving making the game in itself, my interactions with the players of this game are something I've genuinely missed.If you're interested in helping play test the latest update, please reach out to me on Discord and I'…
- 🔥Patch notes version 1.22🔥 - 28 July 2024
🔥Patch notes version 1.22🔥 I tested this myself with a Quest 3 using Air Link and it worked great! (Previously I was developing on a Rift S and Vive Pro) Very smooth experience on medium settings on my i9 9900 & 2080ti. ➕New NPC Behaviors➕ Alien now appears from the air in Alien Drop Pod Alien has projectile fireball attack with VFX Alien has teleportation defence with VFX Alien has shield defence ability with VFX Soldiers now have voices and talk Soldiers communicate with each other Soldiers alert each other of nearby enemies Soldiers throw grenades Soldiers take cover Soldier can crouch Soldiers have improved rifle animations Wolves eyes glow bright red Wolves have new fur material Wolves have new sound fx Zombies have new melee attack animations and behaviors Zombies have new sound fx 📈Other New Features📈 Nvidia DLSS now works in VR! New map locations New damage materials for cra…
- BETA TESTING UPDATE 22 NOW - Alien Dawn - 6/26/2024 - 27 June 2024
If you're here from the Steam Summer Sale, I'm the developer of Alien Dawn and I'm currently beta testing a new version of the game. If you're interested in the game and would like to play this new version, switch to "update-22-preview" in the Steam Betas tab. Things I'm currently working on: New NPC A.I. & Behaviors New NPC Audio New NPC Animations New Sound FX New Music Updated & Improved Graphics Difficulty Modes and Balance If you have any questions or feedback, please reach out to me here or on Discord, thanks! Xtian
- Alien Dawn Update 21 - 17 January 2024
If the last update was about porting the game to Unreal 5, this one is about refining the core experience. That means improved performance, better motion controls, and a more fluid gameplay loop. Big thank you to everyone on Discord that helped me play-test this version and gave me their valuable feedback (theloneranger, livid, valor_fall, Thayden, WavformVR, ThaAnimalOne, droneattack, Samuri, bootleg, chaunteuse, Nick, and TROJENxxMCDANK). Big performance improvements (especially in later game segments with many NPC enemies) New vehicle motion controls New reload mechanic New map locations Added more realistic red dot, holographic, and reflex optics Added many interactive physics objects Added visual notifications for full inventory slots Improved gripping and locomotion Revised Item Wheel As always, I love to hear from people playing the game, so please reach out if you want to talk…
- Alien Dawn 1.21 Preview - Looking for Play Testers - 30 December 2023
Hey yall, Xtian here. I'm close to releasing the next version of Alien Dawn (1.21), which is the first update since releasing the Unreal Engine 5 version, and a lot more has been smoothed out since then. This update is primarily focused on quality-of-life game play & performance improvements. The biggest hurdle I've overcome in this update are the multiple solutions I had to find that ensure smooth gameplay throughout each playthrough, in particular on harder difficulties with hundreds of NPCs in the world. I plan to do an in-depth video going over this journey, but for now I want to get this update released. I've never seen the game play better, but I want to get some more feedback before I release this update. If you have some time to do this, I would love to hear from you and have your help, just DM on Discord. X
- Alien Dawn | Unreal Engine 5 Update | Out Now - 11 October 2023
I thought this port from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5 was going to take 3 months, maybe 6 tops. It's been exactly a year since I started on this version I'm releasing today. Why switch from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5? There is of course the obvious, better graphics. But the biggest reason I decided to make the move is because all future updates to the PCVR platform are going to be happening in Unreal 5, and the further I developed down the road of Unreal 4 the more I would have had to backtrack to eventually stay up to date with the latest PCVR features and hardware. What to expect from this new version? My original goal was to make a 1:1 port of the latest Unreal 4 version of Alien Dawn (v1.9) to Unreal 5 and then upgrade the game in subsequent updates from there. Because of many of my original design decisions much of the game needed to be revisited to even get working…
- Alien Dawn Unreal Engine 5 | Open Alpha - 15 June 2023
🗣️ Calling all Escapees! It's the dawn of a new era. Alien Dawn is now open for playtesting in Unreal Engine 5! This is a very early build and there will be bugs and issues to expect, however your help is critical to our goal of successfully bringing the game in to this new era. PLAYTEST INFO: TO PARTICIPATE in the developer feedback UE5 playtest, sign into our Discord and please react to this same message in the "news-and-updates" forum using the 👽 emoji. You'll get access to a channel where we'll notify you when the latest playtest version is released. We'll be using the "alpha-testing-reports" forum on the Discord for reporting bugs, issues and posting screenshots/captures. For now, we're only focusing on the desktop version in this initial test phase, tho VR is available and optional.
- Alien Dawn "TOP 20 INDIE VR GAMES OF 2023" + NEWS - 6 January 2023
Hi All, As it is the 6th and still less than a week into 2023 I can still say, Happy New Year! In some exciting news, IndieVR has added Alien Dawn to it's "TOP 20 INDIE VR GAMES OF 2023" list and highlight video. (Alien Dawn is the first up in the video at 1:24) It's always been one of the goals to have Alien Dawns on lists like this, so I can't say how much I appreciate them for believing in what we are creating. This channel is doing a great thing for VR indie devs by choosing to focus on these handcrafted titles. Please support the channel by taking a look! I'll also be on the IndieVR podcast in the next week telling an in-depth story about how VoyagerVR and Alien Dawn got started. I'll be posting the link when it comes out. Unreal 5.1 In terms of game development, it's been decided that the correct move forward was to prepare the game to be ported to Unreal 5.1 and that process has…
- Alien Dawn | UPDATE 19 - 12 December 2022
Hi All! bHaptics Support The most unique aspect of UPDATE 19 is the addition of native bHaptics support. bHaptics is a haptics feedback system that really adds to a high end VR experience, with 40 individual motors in the vest that give the player detailed feedback as to what is happening to their character. An obvious example is if you're getting shot in the back, only the back potion of the vest will vibrate, giving you better situational awareness of the battle. What has been really cool for me was incorporating the 40 individual motors into the inventory system. Each inventory item slot on your vest and backpack react to an item being stored with exact motor location on the haptic vest, creating a really unique experience. It's almost like this vest was made to be used with this inventory system. I plan on doing a video update describing this more in detail soon. https://images.squa…
- IndieVR - Live Stream Demo! 11am PST 11-20-2022 - 20 November 2022
IndieVR - Live Stream Demo! 11am PST 11-20-2022! https://www.youtube.com/@Indie__VR
- Alien Dawn | v1.18a (HotFix) - 13 November 2022
11/12/2022 (Early Access) v1.18a Made Tutorial optional on bootup for first time Players
- ALIEN DAWN - Update 18 - 12 November 2022
Hi All, I remember all the way back to watching the first random person play our game and watching them try to interact with the slide on the pistol and it not doing anything. After that I saw many others do something similar. It's not that I couldn't figure out how to do it because we had weapon interactions on the Shotgun and Grenade Launcher, but there were just to many bigger issues that needed to be solved before I had the time to make each weapon have interacting parts. New Weapon Interactions https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56a6f64e2399a387c5b92a07/1666570387872-EWJ3YSFI2LLQ9I0FNQ4N/ad_v118_weapon_int_01.gif With today's update all the weapons that should have interactive slides do, as well as attachable scopes which was another thing people have been asking for since the beginning. The game is running and looking better than ever with this latest update (v1.18). On…
- ALIEN DAWN - Update 17 - 30 September 2022
The other night I was watching my Dad play the game (he has over 200 hours in), and when he called for extraction at the Radio Tower the Extraction Point didn't appear on the Map. I'd never seen this happen before so I thought it was a one off thing, but then someone mentioned in it in the Steam forums. Must be a bug from the last update. Because of this we're releasing this new patch today in an attempt to fix that bug, among some fun new additions like the gigantic physics based Ferris Wheel that works in multiplayer.🔻 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56a6f64e2399a387c5b92a07/1664483386591-WWA547YSK082UZPKMEFN/Desktop+2022.09.29+-+10.31.14.03.gif?format=480w ⚠️Moving forward I would like to put a group together to help test for bugs like the missing Extraction Point before releasing new patches. If you're interested in helping me out with this, please reach out to me on…
- ALIEN DAWN - Update 16 - 20 September 2022
Hello! 🏠 Home Screen 🏠 A focus of this update has been on revising the opening Home Level of the start of the game. Instead of the Cabin it's now the Old Brick Mansion, and time was invested in adding higher quality models, along with more Physics and Player Interactions to this level. There's still more to be done on the Start Scene Home Level, but it shows a step in the right direction to improving the graphics and game play interactions in the game. 🏆 Achievements 🏆 We've added Achievements to this version, with the plan for future versions to have the achievements unlock Modifiers for the various game modes. This new stat system also saves your progress to your Steam account, so your stats will now travel with you to different devices. Moving to this new stat system will reset any locally saved stats you currently have in the game. *Working on adding Leadersboards to this soon*…
- Alien Dawn - Update 15 - 22 August 2022
After watching many streamers, getting feedback on the forums and reading many reviews we decided to focus on 3 things in this update. 1. Performance Performance is the first priority when it comes to VR. One of the most difficult things to do is an open world with hundreds of thousands of individual objects, in particular with multiplayer. Version 15 of Alien Dawn pays specific interest to optimization and should solve many of the performance issues hindering the game, in particular frame drops that happen the longer you play, and in multiplayer. 2. Gameplay An actual tutorial has been something we've thought was important since we released the game in Early Access in October of 2021, but there were other factors that needed to be addressed first. In addition to teaching new players the idiosyncrasies of the Alien Dawn controls, it also demonstrates SOME of the graphic fidelity we will…
- Alien Dawn | v1.14b (HotFix) - 7 August 2022
8/6/2022 (Hot Fix) v1.14b Quest and HP Reverb G2 Bug Fixes
- Alien Dawn - Update 14 | Steam Survival Fest!!! - 3 August 2022
Welcome to the Steam Survival Fest! We've got a new update in honor of the Survival Fest that includes new content, performance enhancements, new features and 1 new mode. The new Survival Mode is the result of us implementing a save game feature for the player and all of their inventory and vehicles. The save game feature has been requested by many people, and is also helpful to us for development. The Survival Mode also allows us to implement features that have been programmed into the game, but didn't fit into the Escape Mode, like the flyable helicopters you can find at the Radio Towers. Our primary focus will still be making the Escape Mode the best it can be, but all improvements to the game will benefit each mode because it gives us additional options to test under. As an example, before there was ever an Escape Mode, we programmed a sample PVP mode to get some of the gameplay and…
