Updates & Patch Notes

Every official Sandustry update since the August 13, 2026 Early Access launch, newest first. Checked against the official Steam feed on September 1, 2026: v0.5.5 remains the latest stable patch; the latest announcement covers experimental mod branches and confirms that work on v0.5.6 is underway.

Modding & What’s Next — Experimental Branches and v0.5.6

• The updated modding framework and new Sandkit API documentation moved to a separate v0.5.5 experimental branch. The developer reported more than 125 Workshop mods at the time of the announcement.
• Experimental branches are split between v0.5.2 and v0.5.5 for backward compatibility. The branch named mods stays on v0.5.2 until mod authors have had time to update; mod support is still described as work in progress.
• No new stable build shipped with this post. Work on v0.5.6 continues, focused on bugs, stability, performance and requested features before more content is added.
• A roadmap is being prepared, but the developer did not announce features, dates or a release window. Suggestions still go to sandustry.nolt.io and can be prioritized through votes.

Read the official Modding & What’s Next announcement on Steam.

Update #2 — Stability, QoL and Bug Fixes

• Significantly more crash logging, plus optional Crashpad diagnostics on request. Log locations: Windows \Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\sandustry\logs\main.log, macOS ~/Library/Logs/sandustry/main.log, Linux ~/.config/sandustry/logs/main.log.
• Instruction videos became animated images — fixing GPU crashes and OBS capture loss on hover ("Expect slightly reduced quality and a somewhat larger install size").
• Alt+Enter toggles fullscreen; the game remembers your last monitor. macOS right-mouse-stuck workaround (the "Vacuum spraying forever" bug); tutorial radial-menu softlock fixed; clearer Aura Extractor controls.
• Mods milestone: this was the first official note that Workshop mods required the unstable "mods" beta branch. The August 28 announcement above supersedes its branch details.

Read the official v0.5.5 announcement on Steam.

Update #1 — Filter Editing, Tier 5 Softlock, Red Blocks

• Filter rework: press the overlay label or "Edit last placed" to change a filter without replacing it, plus clearer Allow/Block visuals — details on our Filter page.
• Fixed the Tier 5 softlock ("stuck with Tier 5 being blocked even after the anomaly investigation"); saves repair automatically.
• Indestructible red blocks became removable when deleting 256 tiles or less (root-cause fix still in progress); puzzle-door red blocks restore by cycling the door.
• Clearer save-browser icons; puzzle reset buttons can no longer be deleted; rebindable Zoom In/Out keys. Feature requests directed to sandustry.nolt.io.

Read the official v0.5.4 announcement on Steam.

Hotfix — Logging, Memory, Clearer Objectives

• First diagnostics pass: per-OS log files introduced, instructional videos unmount properly ("decoder exhaustion"), rain clouds use much less memory.
• Blocked factory tiers now show why they are blocked (translations pending at the time); special objectives visually clearer.
• New launch option --sandustry-no-overlay-gpu-flags to help prevent crashes — likely disables the Steam overlay, achievements keep working.

Read the official v0.5.3 announcement on Steam.

Early Access Launch

• "Sandustry is now live with a 35% launch discount" — posted by publisher Hooded Horse, with the release-day trailer. No changelog; the version chain above started the next day.

Read the official launch announcement on Steam.

Where Official News Comes From

This page is an editorial snapshot, not a live API render. We check Steam's ISteamNews feed and include only official Community Announcements; syndicated press stories in the same feed are excluded.

Steam News is the canonical patch channel. The latest official item is the August 28 modding and development announcement; it does not replace v0.5.5 as the current stable patch. Last checked September 1, 2026.

The itch.io devlog has had no post-launch updates (its last entry is the February 2025 demo hotfix). Official announcements also link the Beginner's Guide, wiki and Discord.

v0.5.6 is in development, but no release date or promised feature list has been published. Check this page after each official announcement for shipped changes and their effect on the guides.