Half Sword — patch notes and updates
Stored observation / content update:
Dated developer announcements recorded from Steam. Open the source for the complete update.
| Update | Date | Excerpt / source |
|---|---|---|
| Addressing Common Feedback from the Half Sword Community | 2026-03-19 | Let's address some of the most common feedback we have received from our community since the release of Half Sword into Early Access. Firstly, we would like to thank everyone playing, giving feedback, and reviewing the game. We would not be where we are today without all the passionate support and feedback you have given us. Performance and OptimizationWe have seen a lot of feedback regarding performance and optimization since the Early Access launch. We understand that performance issues can be frustrating and they directly affect the gameplay experience. We always iterate on our work, and always will. Since we started our internal playtesti |
| Blood Hotfix | 2026-02-18 | Hi everyone, In this new hotfix, we focused on blood optimization, alongside other performance improvements. Blood: Reworked blood with partial implementation of in-house next gen blood system (RT Blood) that should offer better performances alongside more realistic environment interaction. This include: New Wall decals splatters, New floors decals splatters, Better blood particles on weapons trails, New and more optimized particle behavior, RT blood splatters are now spawning in a much more responsive rate, Some fluid blood particle were removed for now for performance and are being worked on Overall, do not forget that Blood settings can be |
| Hotfix 6: Blood optimization and additions | 2026-02-18 | Hi everyone, In this new hotfix, we focused on blood optimization, alongside other performance improvements. Blood: Reworked blood with partial implementation of in-house next gen blood system (RT Blood) that should offer better performances alongside more realistic environment interaction. This include: - New wall decals splatters - New floors decals splatters - Better blood particles on weapons trails - New and more optimized particle behavior - RT blood splatters are now spawning in a much more responsive rate - Some fluid blood particle were removed for now for performance and are being worked on Overall, do not forget that Blood settings |
| HotFix 5 | 2026-02-08 | Hi everyone, In this quick hotfix, we focused on some bugs that appeared with the previous physics changes: Physics - Muscle progression wasn't always triggered when spending stamina; it is now fixed - Stealing an enemy weapon was sometimes not updating for the weapon's owner, and this forbade you from hitting the enemy with it. It is now fixed. - Unsheathing your weapons now should feel less janky Optimization - Applied more foliage optimization to outdoor maps Balancing, Weapons & Armors - Added gambesons to the Peasant tier Sorry for the inconvenience, and we shall see you very soon for more fixes and tweaks. Thank you again for your suppo |
| Hotfix 5: Bug fixes, more outdoor optimization | 2026-02-08 | Hi everyone, In this quick hotfix, we focused on some bugs that appeared with the previous physics changes:Physics Muscle progression wasn't always triggering when spending stamina, it is now fixedStealing an ennemy weapon was sometime not updating the weapon's owner, and such forbidded you to hit the ennemy with it. It is now fixed.Unsheathing your weapons now should feel less jankyOptimization Applied more foliage optimization to outdoor mapsBalancing, Weapons & ArmorsAdded gambesons to Peasant tier Sorry for the inconvenience, and we shall see you very soon for more fixes and tweaks, Thank you again for your support and patience,Half Sword |
| Hotfix 4: Physics tweaks, AMD fix and blood | 2026-02-06 | Hi everyone, In this hotfix we started looking at your feedback on physics + rolled some additional fixes on the AMD blood polling, as it seems some AMD GPUs were still impacted: Physics Lowered character physics substepping intervals. Expected results: better physics precision. Character control and combat should feel better. Disabled collision between character and their weapons. Weapons should less get stuck during combat and longer weapons shouldn't cause wielder to fall over when stuck. Kicking is now possible when you are on the ground Blood Lowered gravity effect on blood particles, now they fly around more dramatically and are more no |
| Hotfix 4: Physics tweaks, AMD fix and blood | 2026-02-06 | Hi everyone, In this hotfix we started looking at your feedback on physics + rolled some additional fixes on the AMD blood polling, as it seems some AMD GPUs were still impacted:Physics Lowered character physics substepping intervals. Expected results: better physics precision. Character control and combat should feel better.Disabled collision between character and their weapons. Weapons should less get stuck during combat and longer weapons shouldn't cause wielder to fall over when stuck.Kicking is now possible when you are on the ground Blood Lowered gravity effect on blood particles, now they fly around more dramatically and are more notic |
| Hotfix 3: Optimization on Forest, Slums and Blood | 2026-02-03 | Hi everyone, In this hotfix we focused on the outdoor maps, as it seems to cause you a lot of troubles, and did some more blood optimization on performance. In this third hotfix you could find:Further foliage optimization, notably on Forest and Slums mapBlood optimizationSlums map colliders set up correctly. Now you the round end properly when you go out of mapYou can talk your enemies into submission via the taunt mechanic, NPCs will reactMinor bug fixes We're aware that some of you still have the blood splatering issue on AMD cards and are working on it as fast as we can. And of course, we continue the work on other fixes, tunning, and feed |
| Hotfix 3: Optimization on Forest, Slums and Blood | 2026-02-03 | Hi everyone, In this hotfix we focused on the outdoor maps, as it seems to cause you a lot of troubles, and did some more blood optimization on performance. In this third hotfix you could find: - Further foliage optimization, notably on Forest and Slums map - Blood optimization - Slums map colliders set up correctly. Now you the round end properly when you go out of map - You can talk your enemies into submission via the taunt mechanic, NPCs will react - Minor bug fixes We're aware that some of you still have the blood splatering issue on AMD cards and are working on it as fast as we can. And of course, we continue the work on other fixes, tu |
| Hotfix 2: Character Creation & starting Slums optimization | 2026-01-31 | Hi everyone, As promised we're starting on optimization & content updates. In this second hotfix you could find:Partial Slums map foliage optimization, more to come soon.Retirement bug fix (Constant new character creation window)Forged weapons weird physics bug fixBall crushing nerfed (still OP) and sound effect added.Liver hit addedWe apologies for the inconveniences and thank you for your feedback as we keep working,Half Sword team |
| Hotfix 1 and adressing performance issues | 2026-01-30 | Hi everyone, thank you for your feedbacks, we read, listen a lot, and started to work on it right away.We noticed that there is a lot of performance issues. Be assured that we are looking into solving this as good as we can with our tiny team. Our first hotfix to resolve some AMD issues is now live. We will then go through the feedback and gather as much information that we can on how to get some better performance. We didn't expect that so many of you would jump on and play our game the first 4 hours! Thank you so much for playing our game, it means the world to us and everyone involved! In the meantime, from early feedbacks please try this |
| Half Sword Is OUT NOW | 2026-01-30 | Hello everyone! The wait is finally over! Half Sword is officially releasing into Early Access today!We made it to the 30th of January! We are extremely happy to finally open the gates. We know you have been sharpening your blades (and your patience) for a while now, and we can’t wait to see you in the arena.As you understand, this is just the beginning of our Early Access journey. We have packed in as much new stuff as we could, but the work doesn't stop here. Bugs, funny physics glitches, and performance tweaks are things our tiny team will be tackling non-stop as we move forward towards the full release. Please, feel free to inform us of a |
| Early Access starts Jan 30th | 2026-01-23 | Hello everyone!Half Sword is finally releasing into Early Access! Release Date: 30th of JanuaryYou have a whole week to prepare! Thank you for waiting for this extra month, we hope you rested well on your holidays and now you are ready for all the new stuff we prepared for you!As you understand, we are still working on the game and new content will be added as we continue our way into the full release.Bugs, performance, occasional crashes and other things are being actively ironed out as fast as our tiny team can handle.Please, feel free to inform us of any issues that affect your immersion in the skirmishes of Half Sword. See you very soon,T |
| Important Announcement | 2025-12-05 | Hello everyone!We have an important announcement about Half Sword’s release this year.We’ll start with the bad news, we won’t be making it before the end of the year.Now the good news. The game is almost ready for release and only needs a final polish push. We’re delaying the launch, but only by a short time. We’re currently running tests and resolving issues so that your first experience with Half Sword Early Access is as good as it can be.We know many of you were hoping to play Half Sword before the New Year, and trust us, we wanted that too, but we need just a little more time before we can all plunge our swords into our Willies.We’re now |
| Day 7: The Fool's Wheel | 2025-10-19 | Day 7: The Fool’s WheelThe Jester brought the idea from Burgundy, or so the talk goes. Said he’d once seen such a thing at a duke’s tourney, a marvel of iron and noise that scattered knights like dice from a cup. The Baron liked the sound of that. He told his fool to build one, and soon enough the smiths were melting scrap for the barrels.It’s a cross of timber, four mouths of cannon fixed on a turning post. When fired, it spins like the devil’s own toy, hurling shot wherever fortune pleases. The Jester calls it the Wheel of Justice. The Baron laughs and lets it stand near the lists, where men bleed for sport.Folk say it’s luck decides where |
| Day 6: The Lord's Hall | 2025-10-18 | Day 6: The Lord’s Hall Aye, the Baron’s hall, some call it the feast hall, but around here we call it the Furnace. You’ll know why soon enough. It sits high in the great tower, windows like arrow slits staring down over all of Frankenberg. From there, the Baron sees everything, and likes to remind us of it. Used to be a fine place, years back. Hogs roasting on the spits, music from the lute, laughter thick as the smoke. But once the old lord died and this one took his seat, the smell changed. He kept the fires, aye, but not for meat. Now the pits burn for those who’ve tried his patience one too many times. Says it warms his bones to hear a ma |
| Day 5: The Cellar | 2025-10-17 | Day 5: The Cellar Beneath Gottfried’s Inn Gottfried’s a shrewd one, make no mistake. Folks drink their fill upstairs, singing and stamping, never knowing what lies beneath their feet. That cellar of his, stone-laid, old as the town itself, he cleared the middle clean, built a ring of torches round it, and calls it his “Friendly Competition.” Travelers are his guests of choice. Mercenaries, wanderers, men with coin and tempers both. The locals think the place still holds wine and spare stools, but when the bells strike midnight, the air below grows thick with shouting. You can hear the echoes in the walls if you listen hard enough, fists on fl |
| Day 4: Weapon Preview - Crossbows | 2025-10-16 | DAY 4: Crossbows In Half Sword, crossbows aren’t just animated, they’re simulated. Every part of the weapon follows real physics: the limbs flex under tension, the string strains with stored energy, and the bolt releases with true mechanical force. The result isn’t a preset animation but a system that behaves like a real crossbow would, responsive, unpredictable, and satisfying to master. |
| DAY 3: East Tower | 2025-10-15 | Note to Willie enthusiasts: yes, our posts showcases some new faces, but rest assured, Willie isn't going anywhere. DAY 3: East Tower The old armory, aye. Once held the lord’s steel and banners, neat and proud. Now it’s a place best left to the rats. When the new Baron came, he let his fool have it, said the Jester had “a gift for spectacle.” Gods know he wasn’t lying. The Jester tore the place apart, turned it into some devil’s game. Spikes on pillars logs hanging logs say those who return from there. No one knows how many men went in there for sport or punishment, only that none came back the same. Some nights, when the wind cuts from the e |
| Day 2: Back Alley of Frankenberg | 2025-10-14 | Day 2: Back Alley of Frankenberg Ah, that alley? Best keep your boots dry and your mouth shut if you wander there. Used to be a shortcut behind the tavern — quiet, smelled of yeast and old wood — till the baron lost his patience with the merchant and the innkeep. Third time they missed their tax, he said enough was enough. So he had his men drag out the spoiled barrels from the cellar, stacked ’em high, and fenced the whole place in with rot. Called it justice, the bastard. Said those barrels were worth more than the men who owed him. Broke one, and you’d find yourself strapped to that oak beam by the tavern — the Schandbalken, he calls it — |