- Leaderboard fixes - 13 July 2026
This patch improves leaderboard functionality. We fixed a bug where leaderboards were not updating on the planet select screen. We also added a leaderboard view to the game over screen so you can see how you scored against friends. Cheers! Steve
- Base Building 2.0 now available! - 3 July 2026
Hi All!Base Building 2.0 is now available! We feel good about this improvement. The key element here is, you can upgrade your ship and the city on separate tracks. Ship upgrades are still done when leveling up at the rewards screen. Base building is always available, just dock at the city and 1-click deploy any units that are available. Collecting nanites is much more important now since they are needed for unit deployment. Remember, each nanite pickup gives XP (For leveling), Credits (Creating new items at the factory) and the nanites themselves (Used for base building).More details can be found here:Thanks for all your support!Steve
- Zaxoid Base Building 2.0 is coming soon! 🚀 - 27 June 2026
Hey pilots, we've been deep in the trenches on this one and it's a huge evolution for the game loop. We were never fully happy with how city upgrades felt. It always came off a bit half-baked. We listened to your feedback and rebuilt it from the ground up to better match the fast-paced action.What’s incoming:-Random city upgrades are being removed-Auto Base Building is being removed-Replaced with a clean new UI that lets you deploy ground units anytime during a run-Each unit now has its own nanite cost + energy requirement-You can head to the city at any time and build new units as long as you have the resourcesThis new system works for both Classic and Arcade modes. It finally lets you focus on continuously upgrading your ship without having to choose between city progress and ship power, and it naturally lets the city grow to much larger sizes too.Units now take damage in battle. Too…
- Enhanced Hit Reactions - 26 May 2026
ImprovementsEnhanced hit reactions with a more visible and satisfying damage flash effect. Hits should now feel much more impactful.Balance & ProgressionReordered the early planets: Cyrus is now Planet 2 and Sonus is now Planet 3.Player feedback has been very consistent that Sonus is noticeably harder than Cyrus, so we’ve swapped them to create a smoother difficulty curve.Bootcamp ChangesRemoved the leaderboard from Bootcamp. This mode is meant purely for practice and learning, so we’ve cleaned it up to stay focused on that goal.Bug FixesFixed a bug in Arcade Mode where it was incorrectly loading mods equipped in Campaign. Arcade Mode now properly starts with default/no mods as intended.
- Zaxoid Update (ZX01) - 1 May 2026
Release NotesFeatures & ImprovementsCargo Drops Reactivated! During surface missions, cargo crates now parachute down from orbit. Seek them out and destroy the crates to deploy powerful new structures:Radio Tower – Boosts city radar range, giving defensive units like the Ion Cannon improved lock-on distance.Mining Rig – Automatically mines nanites directly from the planet’s surface.Citizen Rescue Expanded – You can now rescue up to 4 citizens at a time. The Titan starts with a base capacity of 2, while other ships start with 1.New Unlock: Extra Seats – Permanently increases citizen carrying capacity to 4.Quality of Life & UIAchievement screen now clearly displays which game mode each achievement is available in.Pilot now reminds you to collect unopened cargo drops.Expanded docking distance when entering cities for smoother landings.Radar markers (edge-of-planet icons) have been tuned fo…
- Health Pickup Improvement - 16 April 2026
Health pickups now serve two purposes. If your health is at max, the health power-up will give a percentage increase to your max health. If your health is below max, you'll get the standard health restore. The icons now clearly show what the pickup will do, so it should be obvious what you're about to grab. This is the first phase of reworking powerups. You can now always pick them up without the world becoming littered with them. The only potential downside is accidentally grabbing one when you meant to save it for later.
- Warp trigger & Steam Overlay issues - 14 April 2026
-Some users are experiencing issues with gamepad sensitivity. Warp is getting stuck when pressing one of the triggers and draining all warp energy. This is not intended behavior. We pushed what we believe is the correct adjustment to deadzone settings on the triggers. Please report if you are still having this issue-Steam overlay was unpausing the game on exit in some cases where the game was already paused. We cleaned this up and it should work as intended now.-Replaced some missing translations
- Zaxoid Launch: April 14th! - 6 April 2026
Pilots,After countless orbital and surface runs, we're thrilled to announce that Zaxoid is landing on Steam, Tuesday, April 14th!Get ready to Rip through alien hordes on a fully spherical battlefield, upgrade your ship with wild experimental tech, fortify your city defenses, and protect those citizens!No microtransactions, pure arcade mayhem and full controller support. Thanks to everyone who jumped in the Demo, shared feedback, and helped us polish our little gem. Your input has made a world of difference.See you in orbit!~Zaxoid Dev Team
- Zaxoid Citizens Update is now live - 4 February 2026
Zaxoid Demo Update 1.1.0 is now live on Steam! 🚀🌍Huge thanks for the ongoing feedback and enthusiasm, it's fueling our orbital thrusters. We've been blasting through your suggestions and polishing the core experience. This patch adds new depth to defending your world, tightens up controls, introduces scoring for the high-score chasers, and brings a ton of visual and audio refinements. Here's the breakdown:Citizens & Rescue Mechanics When your city takes hits from those relentless alien waves, citizens get dispersed across the battlefield. Scoop them up and return them safely to the city to save precious population and earn solid XP rewards. But watch out! If you leave them floating in space too long, Harvesters will swoop in to abduct them. Time to prioritize those rescues during the chaos!Planets & Visual Upgrades Each world now feels more distinct with fresh backdrop visuals that gi…
- Major HUD Revamp - 1 December 2025
Zaxoid - Demo Update NotesWe've just pushed a major update to the Zaxoid demo on Steam! This one's packed with UI improvements driven directly by your feedback and our internal testing. The HUD should feel way cleaner, more glanceable during intense orbital dogfights and planetary tank battles, and far less cluttered.UI / HUD Revamp- Completely redesigned the heads-up display based on player feedback- Health, Shield, and Warp Charge indicators now orbit directly around your ship – no more hunting the corners of the screen- Player Level bar is now horizontal and placed for easy peripheral visibility- Player Level continues progressing even if you haven't claimed rewards yet- Unclaimed rewards are now clearly shown on the level bar so you never forget available upgrades- Reward category screens now display how many upgrades remain in each category- City Energy meter moved next to City Hea…
- Zaxoid Demo Now Available - 24 November 2025
Hey everyone,After years of blood, sweat, and way too much coffee (No Tears, crybabies don't play Twin-Stick Shooters), we’re absolutely thrilled to drop the very first playable demo of Zaxoid , our love letter to classic arcade shooters from the Golden Age of Gaming.This is still early! We’ve got a lot content and features planned for the full 2026 release, but this demo already captures the core loop we’re obsessed with.Your feedback is our #1 priority right now. Seriously. Play it, break it, love it, hate it.. tell us everything. Balance issues? Control tweaks? Wild ideas for new modes or transformations? Drop them here. We’re reading every single comment and using it to steer the ship (and the tank).Download the demo now!Hope you have as much fun playing it as we’ve had making it! – Steve & the Zaxoid teamP.S. Yes, it plays nicely on Steam Deck
- Steam Deck Compatibility - 14 November 2025
Howdy all!Just wanted to take a moment to outline some details regarding Steam Deck compatibility.From the beginning of development, we knew Zaxoid would be a perfect match for Steam Deck, being a twin-stick shooter and all! We have tested our game on the Deck the entire time and feel confident that the user experience is pretty solid. Zaxoid doesn't directly use Steam Input but we do support custom glyphs (button icons) per controller type (Xbox, PS5, and of course Steam Deck). We currently don't have the official "Playable" or "Verified" compatibility ratings but we intend on getting these before launch.When our soon-to-be-released demo is available, you can expect a solid experience on your beloved console. If you run into any issues, please reach out so we can make improvements and hopefully make Zaxoid one of your go-to portable games.Cheers!Steve
- Art Update from the team - 2 October 2025
Hey, Zaxonauts! Sebastian here, Studio AD at M80 Games bringing more beard than anyone asked for. 🧔🏻 This week we’ve been tinkering with the Achievements screen and icons for that UI. We wanted these to stand apart from the Upgrades (which look like old-school NES cartridges in an SD card form-factor). Achievements felt like they should be more trophy-like, a nice visual reward you get to hold onto. So we settled on a design that feels like pulling a 3D relic out of a sci-fi crate, each one framed for consistency but with plenty of room for personality inside.The Kill Streak series really sold us on this direction: a bare skull at 50, colder at 100, sickly green at 200… and by 500, it’s a flaming nightmare grinning back at you. That’s when the achievement system started to feel like it had its own personality, not just a checklist. We’ve got plenty more of these little relics for Achi…
- Hello from the Dev Team! - 28 August 2025
Hi everyone!Since Zaxoid is our very first Steam release, we wanted to introduce ourselves.We’re a tight-knit team of 4 developers. While this is our debut as M80, most of us spent years in AAA working on large-scale games. We want to make something different: games not dictated by market trends or spreadsheets, but inspired by the games we grew up loving.That decision completely changed how development feels for us. Whether we’re designing new features, sketching art, composing music, or writing code, we’re doing it with genuine excitement. And we believe players can feel that difference, it results in a game with more personality, more charm, and more love poured into every detail.So, what is Zaxoid?Zaxoid is our love letter to the Golden Age of Gaming, a retro-futuristic twin-stick shooter that captures the same sense of fun and charm that made us fall in love with games.You’ll see f…
