Dread Protocol Steam news

• Latest observed playersNot available
• SteamPulse tracked peak6
• Units sold (VGI)No data available
• Revenue (VGI)No data available
• Review score88% positive
• Total reviews16
• Release dateOct 28, 2025
• DeveloperMeat Lab
• PublisherMeat Lab

Genres: Action, Indie, RPG, Early Access

Company pages: Developer: Meat LabPublisher: Meat Lab

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Dread Protocol Steam news

Dread Protocol news collects recent Steam feed items, update posts, and announcements that SteamPulse can associate with this app.

Latest Steam announcements

• Quality of Life Update - 11 September 2026

  Hey everyone! Hows it going? I'm feeling fresh, just came back from Holiday, I've actually been sitting on this update for a couple of weeks now but couldn't push the build live because I was abroad and couldn't pass the security checks haha. Wanted to give a special thanks to 'Dumbgamer99' for their feedback on discord, the majority of these Quality of Life Changes (QoL) were a direct result of their playtesting and conversations we had there. Thanks!

• FPS + Swords - Hotfix 2 - 17 August 2026

  Mouse & Aiming Mouse look is now frame-rate independent. Turn speed was previously scaled by frame time, so your effective sensitivity shifted slightly as your frame rate moved. On a locked frame rate (V-Sync or a set FPS cap) this was invisible: you set the slider once and it stayed put. But on uncapped, high-refresh or G-Sync/FreeSync setups, or during heavy scenes where the frame rate dips, aim could feel a little faster or slower than it did a moment earlier. One sensitivity setting now means one feel, everywhere. Sticky aim is now controller-only. The slight aim slow-down as your crosshair passes over an enemy is a controller assist, but a small amount of it could apply to mouse input too, most noticeably in the opening moments of a session, or when a controller was connected alongside your mouse. Mouse and keyboard now ignores it entirely. Controller aim is unchanged. If you play…

• FPS + Swords - Hotfix 1 - 15 August 2026

  Added hints to all three controls pages in Settings explaining how to switch viewpoint: hold 'Swap View' to toggle first person, tap to swap shoulder. Fixed incoming warnings (drop pods, boarding parties, low fuel) showing "AIRLOCK EQUALISING PRESSURE" instead of the correct alert. Fixed a rare issue where a tutorial popup could stay stuck on screen while the game kept running. A stuck popup now closes itself and returns control. Incoming warnings are now translated in all 11 languages. Loadout weapon type names (SMG, Heavy, etc.) are now translated. Corrected Rebel Cell translations in Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Polish. Assorted missed translations fixed across all languages.

• The Demo Has Returned - 14 August 2026

  Hey everyone!A quick one for those of you who want to try before you buy: Dread Protocol's demo is live once again, after being unavailable for over a year.Why was it gone?Development has been moving fast, new features and improvements are landing every month and the demo's quality fell way behind the main game. Rather than maintain two versions, I chose to pause the demo. Things have changedTwo things have changed since. First, I've reworked my build process, so the demo now stays up to date with the main game at no extra cost to development. Whatever the full game gets, the demo gets. Second, the original demo was honestly too generous, giving away about a third of the game, so the new one ends once you've completed your second station. That's enough to get a proper feel for a run and know whether it's for you.One last thing: your progress carries over into the full game, so nothing y…

• First Person Mode, Swords, Cybernetics overhaul and so much more - 13 August 2026

  This is the biggest update Dread Protocol has had yet. It touches almost every part of the game: a full first-person mode, a brand-new sword combat system, a complete rework of the cybernetic system (the boons), new weapon attachments and gun juice, deployment briefings to give you more context when boarding a station, a reworked store, real difficulty scaling, and a long list of fixes and quality-of-life improvements - many of them straight from your reports and reviews. Thank you for those. Keep them coming.The original plan was to split this update into three or four smaller ones: swords, first person, cybernetics, and so on. But the more I worked on each, the more I realised how well they complemented and fed into each other. So here I am with a hulking big update for the gameSo grab a drink! There's a table of contents for a reason. In this update First-Person Mode Sword Combat Cyb…

• Achievement Hotfix - 7 July 2026

  Steam achievements stopped triggering for some players after the localization update. This is now patched. Achievements were still being logged locally, so anything you earned during normal gameplay will re-sync with Steam the next time you launch the game. This also covers achievements earned while playing offline or when Steam was down, so fire it up and claim what you're owed. No progress lost. Thanks for being patient with these Early Access hiccups. Cheers, James

• Localisation Update - 28 June 2026

  Hey everyone!Dread Protocol now supports 12 languages. The full interface has been localised into 11 new languages on top of English. This is interface text only for now, there's no localised voice-over.That's around 4,000 lines of in-game text, over 22,500 English words, roughly a short novel's worth, now ready to read in your own language.Languages now supported:English, French, Spanish (Latin America), Italian, German, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Polish, Turkish.The game will load in your PC's native language automatically. If you'd rather play in something else, you can switch any time from the settings menu.I've also added separate volume sliders for Star Map voices and character barks, so if the English voice-over clashes with your language you can turn it right down, or off.A note on how this was done: as a solo dev, getting 11 languages ou…

• Squad Command Update - 21 May 2026

  Squad Command UpdateHey everyone. This major update focuses on Squad mechanics, with some difficulty rebalancing, quality of life improvements, and the usual round of bug fixes. Read this one in detail because there's a lot to cover.Command WheelIntroducing the command wheel:You can now issue orders to your squad.Move: Tell units to move to a specific location. They'll hold off attacking until they reach the location unless an enemy is too close or in their path. Upon reaching their destination, your squad will fan out to the nearest cover point.Search and Destroy: Similar to the Move command, but they go hunting in the direction you command them to. Useful for entering rooms. This command also permits allies to open doors. Try issuing a S&D command on a door and watch your allies breach.Hold: Your squad will find their nearest bit of cover and hold a defensive position.Follow: Allies w…

• Drown World // Demo Out Now - 19 May 2026

  Hey everyone! Hope you're all doing well.Quick one - just wanted to let you know my other game, Drown World, has a demo live on Steam right now. It's a roguelike mining game inspired by Dome Keeper with a of sprinkle Noita on top. So go play it! Its fun :) I'd really appreciate you giving it a try and dropping a wishlist if it looks like your kind of thing. It genuinely helps a lot.👉 Drown World on SteamAnd as a heads up, a major update for Dread Protocol is dropping very soon. More on that in the next few days.Thanks as always for playing -James

• Steam Deck Verified + 34% Off - 14 April 2026

  Hey everyone!Big news! Dread Protocol is now officially Steam Deck Verified! To celebrate, the game is 34% off for the next 7 days, starting at 10am Pacific / 5pm GMT today. If you want a more in depth look at whats changed, check out this post I made earlier: Tell your friends, and leave a review if you've been enjoying it. For those jumping in on Deck, hope you enjoy the experience I've been working hard to deliver. I'm still improving the game every month, and if you look at the update history, that's pretty evident. The next update is focused on improving friendly NPC behaviour! Thanks for the support 🙏 - James Link: Steam Deck Verified

• Steam Deck Improvements - 9 April 2026

  Dread Protocol is working toward Steam Deck Verified status, and this update is the biggest step yet. Nearly every screen has been reviewed and adjusted for handheld play. Here's what changed: Auto Graphics Configuration Steam Deck is now automatically detected on first launch and defaults to Medium quality settings. No manual setup required. HUD The ammo counter, grenade indicator, and weapon drawer have been updated with larger, cleaner icons. Grenade and ammo counters now show icon + number only, with type labels removed. They were adding visual noise at small sizes and eating up attention mid-combat.Decorative numbers on the Health HUD and Star Map HUD have also been removed. They were rendering at a micro scale and were more likely to confuse than inform. UI Scaling The following screens have been reviewed and scaled for the 7" display and 1280x800 resolution:Settings Menu - both o…

• Hotfix - 6 March 2026

  Fixed a small UI bug that was introduced in the 'More Weapons' update.

• Chainsaws, Lasers & Fire - 4 March 2026

  More WeaponsHey everyone. I'm back from Japan with another update!Dread Protocol is a game about guns. There are currently over 40 weapons, all with procedurally generated stats, fire types, and attachments.Well, this update adds six new weapons.Varangian LaserThink Spartan Laser from Halo.This hold-and-release power weapon allows you to kill multiple enemies in a row with a single burst.It’s also extremely effective against bosses.PowertoolsClose-Quarters Powertools.I've added the Chainsaw and the Heavy Drill. Both of these weapons serve as lethal close-quarters melee tools. Simply run into enemies to mow them down.You can also fire these weapons to tear limbs off enemies at a distance.The Chainsaw costs less ammo to fire. However, the Drill has the added advantage of being able to penetrate walls, making it easy to target a wall and suck enemies into space.The Chainsaw’s melee range i…

• Lighting Update - 30 January 2026

  Lighting UpdateHi everyone. Remember when I said no more updates until I returned from Japan? Before getting into the lighting changes, I want to quickly address a bug from the previous update.In the last patch I increased the melee hit radius to make close-quarters combat more forgiving. While this improved the overall feel, it also made it far too easy to accidentally hit mines, explosive barrels, and fuel tanks during fights. On stations with the Zealot trait, where enemies drop mines on death, this could result in unavoidable explosive damage when finishing enemies with melee.This has now been fixed.Lighting ImprovementsThis update includes lighting improvements across 40+ rooms.The main goal was to improve clarity and readability. In some environments, enemies were blending into walls, shadows, or background geometry, making combat harder than intended. I’ve lifted the overall ambi…

• Stability & Combat Improvements - 28 January 2026

  Hey everyone, hope you’re doing well.I didn’t expect to be posting another update so soon, but I’m heading off to Japan for a couple of weeks and wanted to squash a few issues before I could properly switch off. Patch Notes🔥 Major Fixes & Gameplay ChangesFixed a run-ending bug with the Civilian Cruiser (Out of Fuel encounter) Exiting the event could reset your current station index to 0, effectively bricking the run. This is now fixed.Melee improvements (big feel change) Melee is now much more generous with its area of effect. Previously you couldn’t reliably hit enemies who were downed, staggered, or slightly out of range, which made melee feel inconsistent and frustrating. It’s now far more forgiving, more fun to use, and yes, probably a bit broken in the early levels. I’m leaving it in.Hacked actions are now queued properly Because the Hack UI animates your score, it was possible to…

• Polish & Combat Readability Update - 15 January 2026

  Hey everyone! As promised, this update focuses less on big new features and more on polish, clarity, and quality-of-life improvements across the game.I’ll update this post with gifs and visuals where possible, but I’m a bit short on time this week. Weapon UI & Combat FeedbackWeapon rarity is now displayed on weapon pickups and in your loadout.Weapon HUD, loadout, and pickup screens now show ammo type icons, making it clearer which weapons use which ammo.New crosshair styles with cleaner visuals. Some previous crosshairs were overly noisy and obstructed aiming.Hit marker visuals have been refined to be thinner and more transparent for better target visibility.Added audio feedback when switching grenades.Improved out-of-ammo UI animations for clearer combat feedback.The main weapon HUD now turns red when out of ammo.An on-screen warning and alarm play when ammo is fully depleted.Ammo and…

• Development Plans for the Coming Months - 24 December 2025

  Fewer big features for a bit, more polish, clarity, and quality-of-life improvements across the whole game.Merry Christmas everyone! I just wanted to check in with a quick update on what I’ll be focusing on over the next couple of months for Dread Protocol.With the recent Out of Fuel update, I feel like the game has reached a really solid place in terms of overall scope. Running out of fuel is now properly punishing, and it felt like the missing piece of the overall experience.Because of that, my focus is shifting slightly.Rather than pushing new systems or big chunks of content right away, I want to spend the next stretch really polishing what’s already in the game.What I’m aiming to improve overallReduce friction for first-time playersSmooth out rough edges and jankImprove overall clarity and flowMake the experience feel tighter and more confident from start to finish By no means is t…

• Hotfix - 15 December 2025

  Fixed a save/load issue that could prevent encounters from loading, causing a run to break. Bolt Sniper grenade no longer deals damage. The grenade now only stuns enemies. The projectile still deals high damage. This prevents rare cases where players could accidentally one-shot themselves.

• Out of Fuel Update - 15 December 2025

  This update greatly expands Out of Fuel encounters, transforming a brief setback into one of the most dangerous moments in a run.Warning: Minor Scenario spoilers below ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️New Out of Fuel ScenariosThis update adds 7 new Out of Fuel scenarios, each with distinct structure and consequences:Captured by SlaversRebel OutpostAbandoned CoreAbandoned Refinery Pump OperationBroken-Down Civilian CruiserPirate Boarding (Small Ship)Pirate Boarding (Medium Ship) These scenarios throw you into high-risk situations: holding a refinery long enough to extract fuel, arriving at a friendly rebel installation that feels safe until you are followed and attacked, or being boarded, captured, and forced to fight your way out of a slave ship.In some scenarios, survival comes with a moral cost. Will you turn pirate in order to survive? Systemic FoundationsA large part of this updat…

• More Nice-to-Haves + Bug Fixes! - 7 November 2025

  Fixed bug where players could loot or interact with objects through walls Added confirmation prompt when starting a new run to prevent accidental save overwrites Added ability to switch weapons using the scroll wheel Added keybindings for Weapon Slots 1, 2, and Permanent slot Improved hit scan accuracy, resolving an issue where shots could occasionally miss at close range Fixed bug causing "No Ammo" UI to appear on the Star Map Fixed bug where certain enemies would stop firing projectiles while crouched Fixed close buttons on the High Score and Warp Core Schematic UIs to properly scale on ultra-wide displays

Patch notes and updates