Garry Newman, creator of the vastly well-liked Garry’s Mod, has admitted that his studio’s non secular successor, S&field, is struggling and introduced a sequence of sweeping adjustments meant to show the undertaking round.
In a brand new weblog put up titled “Rethinking,” Newman acknowledged that the sport has did not win over gamers since its April launch. “The platform just isn’t effectively preferred, it doesn’t have good retention,” he wrote. “I’m embarrassed by our opinions, I’m ashamed.”
Developed by Facepunch Studios utilizing Valve’s Supply 2 engine, S&field was envisioned as a successor to Garry’s Mod, the physics sandbox that has offered greater than 25 million copies. However the brand new undertaking has struggled to draw an viewers, with its Steam opinions sitting at roughly 47% constructive.
Newman mentioned the studio had centered too closely on its growth instruments somewhat than the expertise gamers really get.
“We’re not promoting an engine, we’re promoting a recreation,” he wrote.
Massive adjustments are coming to S&field
Facepunch plans to prioritize the sport’s core sandbox expertise, including extra NPCs and autos whereas bettering multiplayer, add-on help, and customization. Newman mentioned the purpose is to deliver the expertise as much as parity with Garry’s Mod and ultimately surpass it.
The studio can be rethinking how gamers uncover video games inside S&field. Newman acknowledged that his imaginative and prescient of a “Netflix for video games,” the place gamers browse a broad choice of user-created experiences, hasn’t labored as meant. The abundance of low-quality video games, together with AI-generated tasks, has made it more durable for gamers to search out worthwhile experiences.
As a substitute, Facepunch needs to emphasise curation, selling the very best and hottest video games somewhat than merely providing the biggest choice. The studio additionally plans to shift extra of its infrastructure towards Steam Workshop somewhat than persevering with to develop its personal alternate options.
Maybe most importantly, S&field is predicted to develop into free-to-play towards the tip of 2026. Newman mentioned charging an entry price alongside paid cosmetics might be discouraging potential gamers.
“We don’t want the doorway price, we’d like gamers,” he wrote.
Present house owners will obtain unique Steam stock gadgets when the sport goes free-to-play, with extra gadgets for many who paid the upper $20 worth somewhat than $10. Newman closed the put up by acknowledging the frustration surrounding the undertaking, saying he loves the engine and the inventive potentialities it affords however understands why gamers have been sad.
“We’re making some massive sweeping adjustments to attempt to enhance issues,” he wrote. “Please bear with us whereas we make these adjustments.”
