Major Co-op Update Is Here! + Some Studio News

Hey everyone!

First of all, we want to apologize for the long silence and the time it's taken to get another update out. We know it's been several months, and we appreciate everyone who's stuck with us and continued playing and supporting the game.

Today, we're happy to finally release a major new update focused on fixing the long-standing co-op issues, alongside a number of other improvements and fixes.

What Took So Long?

We want to be transparent about what's been happening behind the scenes.

As some of you know, co-op wasn't part of the game's original design. It was added later in development, and unfortunately, some of the game's underlying systems weren't originally built with multiplayer in mind.

This created a lot more problems than we anticipated. What initially seemed like individual bugs turned out to be deeper issues with how the game handled synchronization between players. Fixing one thing would sometimes break another, and it became clear that simply patching issues one by one wasn't going to be enough.

We needed to go back and rework a significant portion of the multiplayer synchronization systems to properly address the root of these problems.

At the same time, we were juggling work on the console port, which stretched our development resources further than expected. Combined with some internal challenges at the studio, this unfortunately led to a much longer gap between updates than we ever intended.

None of that excuses the lack of communication on our part, and we should have done a better job of keeping everyone informed.

The good news is that we've now completed this major round of multiplayer work, and we're excited to finally get it into your hands!

Patch Notes

Multiplayer & Co-op Overhaul

This update includes extensive synchronization fixes across nearly every major gameplay system.

Items & Equipment

• Implemented full item synchronization, including individual item properties.
• Fixed synchronization for water containers.
• Improved item consistency between players.

Crafting & Production

• Fixed smoker and smokehouse synchronization.
• Fixed furnace state synchronization.
• Fixed tanning station synchronization.
• Fixed biofuel composter synchronization.
• Fixed spinning wheel synchronization.
• Fixed cooking and cooking spot synchronization. Players should now correctly see food being cooked and be able to share meals.

Farming

• Improved general farming synchronization across multiplayer sessions.
• Fixed regular composter synchronization.

Wildlife

• Overhauled wildlife synchronization across all animal types, including:
• Birds
• All land animals
• Sharks
• Insects
• Ground critters, including crabs

Wildlife behaviour and states should now be much more consistent between players.

Storage & Building

• Fixed synchronization for all major storage systems, including:
• Tool racks
• Weapon racks
• Stick holders
• Stone holders
• Log holders
• Wine racks
• Legacy box storage from older saves

Fixed blueprint synchronization. All players can now collect blueprints, with progression shared across the group.

Fixed synchronization for all trap types.

Fixed wreck synchronization.

Quests & Progression

• Quests are now enabled in multiplayer! All quests have been synchronized, with progression shared between players.
• Individual player skills! Each player now has their own personal skill progression rather than sharing the host's skills.

Networking & Stability

• Made various network optimizations to reduce unnecessary traffic.
• Improved multiplayer stability and consistency.
• Addressed numerous synchronization issues throughout the game.

Other Improvements & Fixes

• Decreased ginger planting time.
• Updated the raft steering UI.
• Updated the bed description in the journal to mention its ability to save the game.
• Added sound effects when picking up mushrooms.
• Removed the unnecessary shadow from beehives while being carried.
• Adjusted beehive mass.

What's Next for the Game?

With this update, we've addressed a substantial number of the underlying problems that have affected co-op since its introduction.

This has been a major undertaking, and we believe multiplayer is now in a significantly better place than before.

That said, we need your feedback!

If you're still experiencing bugs, desynchronization, or other issues while playing co-op, please let us know in the Steam Discussions.

We'd especially appreciate details about what happened, how many players were in your session, and whether the issue occurred for the host or someone joining.

We'll be keeping an eye on your reports and addressing any remaining problems.

Some News About Our Studio

We also wanted to take this opportunity to share some exciting news about the future of our studio.

Alongside continuing to develop our own games, we're expanding into a more publishing-focused role, working with smaller independent developers to help bring their games to life.

As developers ourselves, we know how difficult it can be for small teams to get their projects noticed, fund development, and successfully bring a game to market.

We want to use the experience and resources we've built over the years to help other talented developers succeed, while continuing to work on our own projects.

And we're excited to share some of the first titles we'll be working on!

Upcoming Titles

• https://store.steampowered.com/app/5245880/Wagerborn/
• https://store.steampowered.com/app/5263400/Goldgrave/

We'll have more to share about these games and our future plans in the coming months.

For everyone wondering, this doesn't mean we're abandoning our existing games. We'll continue supporting them while expanding into this new chapter for the studio.

Thank You!

Finally, we want to thank everyone who's supported us, reported bugs, shared feedback, and remained patient through the longer-than-expected development process.

We know there have been frustrations, particularly around co-op, and we hope this update goes a long way toward addressing them.

We're excited about what's ahead, both for the game and for our studio.

Please give the new co-op update a try and let us know how it plays! Your feedback will help us identify anything we may have missed.

Thanks again for sticking with us!

—The project castaway team