can you believe it? It's a friday once again! Streaming the demo of Wanted 3D, a retro Spaghetti Western FPS with boomer shooter vibes. Blasting bandits, exploring dusty levels, and soaking in that Wild West atmosphere. Come hang out, relax, and enjoy the ride as the Nameless Rider seeks revenge (with style).

With the stable foundation in place since the previous update, we've went back to some of the previous feedback and core game mechanics. We wanted to give the day & night cycle more sense and introduced the "infection". It spreads over night, transforms friends and foes in deadly horrors that will chase Gombo without mercy - and it will grow bigger and more dangerous with every night.

You think you can hide behind your well crafted barricades? You shouldn't feel too confident, the night's horrors will tear them apart in a blink of an eye. There's no hiding...

Let us know what you think about this new addition in the discussion board or on the Discord server.

Enjoy!

The "playoff paths" option has been introduced to help organize knockout stages into multiple paths with improved seeding. Typically, a knockout stage has 2 pathways to make sure the best seeded teams can only meet in the final. However, some tournaments, like the 2024 EURO Cup qualifying play-offs, may use more than two paths.




The "No bye opponents" option has been depreciated and will not be supported in future versions. If you have custom competitions with this option enabled, you may need to provide the bracket size instead. Usually, for knockout playoffs without byes, the size should be the same as the number of teams. The bracket size should make play-off formats more flexible.


The formats have been changed to single-leg matches. Seeding is now based on overall rankings from the qualifiers rather than Elo ratings. Higher-seeded teams will host the lower-seeded teams. The EURO play-off for 2026 is divided into three paths, with a more balanced seeding structure:

Path1:
#21 vs #32
#26 vs #27

Path2:
#22 vs #31
#25 vs #28

Path3:
#23 vs #30
#24 vs #29




Deleting a numeric value from certain fields in the qualification rules should no longer trigger a false validation error.

Web site:
https://simcups.com

The day has finally come.

After years of creation, refinement, and quiet obsession, it’s your turn to step into the shadows and uncover the truth behind it all.

We’re thrilled to finally share this experience with you — and we’ll be closely watching your reactions, feedback, and discoveries.

This is only the beginning. As we've made updates that expand and refine the game based on your insights and our ongoing vision, our goal remains the same: to deliver the most atmospheric, unsettling, and memorable experience possible.

Thank you for joining us on day zero.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1430930/THIEFS_SHELTER/

We’re just getting started.

— Dimitris

Dear Players,

We are excited to announce that the Halloween Event has just begun and will last till November 9th.

EVENT LIMITED EQUIPS:
During the event, at random time some special equipment may be added. They can be purchased for a short period of time only, then they will disappear forever.

During this period you may collect pumpkins to obtain tons of free coins and powerful rewards.
You may find the Halloween quests in the achievement screen:

The Pumpkinfier - Collect 25 pumpkins to get the Pumpkinfier;
Daily Halloween Chest - Collect 30 pumpkins to get a Sapphire Chest;
Daily Halloween Legendary Chest - Collect 150 pumpkins to get a Legendary Chest;
Halloween Purchase Bonus - Collect 250 pumpkins to get a one-time Big Purchase Bonus;
Pumpkins for Gold - Collect 1000 pumpkins to get 3000 coins;
Halloween Hat - Collect 3000 pumpkins to get a powerful hat;
Halloween Special Gift - Collect 5000 pumpkins to get a free equipment for 30 days;
Slurpy Pumpkins - Eat 10 pumpkinfied players to obtain a powerful device;
Mega Laboratory - Collect 5000 pumpkins to get triple crafts from the Laboratory for 5 days;
Pumpkyn Lord: Play 10 hours to obtain the special Pupkyn Lord title!
Cursed: Play 30 Guild Wars Tournaments to obtain the special Cursed title!
Infernal: Eat 100 viruses to obtain the special Infernal title!
Phantom: Turn into pumpkins 100 players and eat them to objtain the special Phantom title!

Thank you much for playing,
The Freakinware Team!

Loads moar bug fixess

What's up, fishes? 🐟

Let's first have a look at this:

Wow… what a beautiful moment we just shared.

Only a month left to recover from our emotions. That’s right, the game is coming this November 2025!
If it's not already the case, WISHLIST NOW!

We also made a few changes to the demo:

• The game feel should be way better now.

• We fixed a lot of small bugs all around the place.

• Ever dreamt of water sounds? We got you. 💦

Is that a teaser of some updated level design I see? 👀

I can see our team's scores have yet to be bested. Is that all you’ve got?

See you in the river 🌊

Hey everyone!

We've fixed the issues affecting the demo! Everything should now be running smoothly again. We're truly sorry for the inconvenience this caused and appreciate your patience and support while we sorted it out.

If you still encounter any problems, please let us know in the community hub so we can address them quickly.

Thanks for playing!

This devlog should have been published a couple of weeks ago, but it's sometimes hard to find the time to write these updates when there's so much development work to be done!

So, over the past few weeks, we have fully implemented a new system that enables players to visualize enemy positions and plan their own robots' actions more effectively.

We're also improving the user interface and adding new elements to the hangar where the robots are built.

Adventurers!

With the demo having been out for a few days, we first and foremost wanted to thank all of you who took the time to play it and share your thoughts: we’ve read through all your comments, and your feedback is truly invaluable. We’d like to take this opportunity to address some of the most common comments and misconceptions.

We completely understand where this feeling comes from, and in a way, that’s how it’s intended. The beginning of Of Ash and Steel is deliberately humble. Tristan begins his story as a cartographer, not a warrior, and is sent on what should have been a simple mission: help guide the crew through the waters of the archipelago, complete the mission, and return home. Not exactly an epic quest, and that's precisely the point.

The slow, ordinary start gives meaning to what follows: when everything suddenly goes wrong, his life is turned upside down and he is forced to fight, to use his wits; first to survive, and then to become the hero the island needs. This contrast is at the heart of his journey.

However, if you can't wait to try the combat right from the start, there is one fight you may have missed: you can challenge Fish, one of your crewmates in the prologue, to a friendly fight. This encounter will also show that Tristan doesn’t have a warrior DNA (yet) in him, but you’ll have more time practicing and understanding the basics of combat.

This is a deliberate choice and part of Tristan's backstory: as mentioned earlier, he is not an experienced fighter at the beginning. His strikes are slow, his grip uncertain, and his stamina limited. He is a man who has never wielded a sword in his life and suddenly finds himself forced to survive by brandishing one, and it’s reflected in his fighting style at the beginning.

You need to master the combat mechanics by learning how to manage your stamina, time attacks and parry, and figure out which combat stance and weapon types suit you the most. It takes time and practice, but the more you play, the more both you and Tristan evolve and gain an understanding of what is happening around you. 

It's a journey of growth, not only for Tristan, but also for you as a player. The more you learn to manage your timing, resources, and the world around you, the stronger and more capable you both become.

That is not entirely correct. Your first recipe can be found in the hut belonging to Nerest, the man who saves you. He has a workbench outside his house that you can use to craft a reinforced shirt using the one you start the chapter with.

From there, the system gradually opens up. If you explore a little deeper, you may find a hunter wounded by wolves: helping him will start a side quest where you'll need to gather healing herbs for him. Complete it and he'll reward you with a recipe for a potion using the same herbs you collected. Once you unlock the first level of the Survival skill tree, you'll be able to craft it yourself. You can find an alchemist's table in the graveyard keeper's shack.

Of Ash and Steel is designed to encourage exploration and observation rather than simply following a marker or a navigation arrow on the screen. All the directions you need are contained in the information provided by NPCs, and the journal records these hints as you learn them. Talk to people, read notes, and follow the world’s hints — you’ll be surprised how naturally you’ll find your way around! 

As for the map, you will be able to obtain one after completing the first chapter, and you will be able to take notes of places of interest so you can get back to them later. You can also use the compass to navigate, and track and untrack your current quests from your Journal.

Of Ash and Steel follows in the spirit of classic old-school RPGs, where the world doesn’t adjust to your character’s level. This means that exploration comes with risk, and especially early in the game, every enemy can be a serious threat until you gear up and learn the ways of combat. Even in the demo, you may encounter opponents beyond your current skills: a clear sign that you should return later in your adventure.

Remember: you are not a superhero or a legendary monster slayer by default. Becoming a warrior takes time.

We understand this comparison, and thank you for that! We also love open-world RPGs like Skyrim, but with Of Ash and Steel, our goal was to recreate the slower, more thoughtful pace of those RPGs we grew up with where exploration, story, and player choices take center stage.

This is not a world that rushes you. It is a place meant to be traversed on foot, not through fast travel. You will find dangers, secrets, and beauty at your own pace, from mining and fishing spots to hidden treasures and mysteries waiting to be discovered. That is also why Tristan walks and not runs by default.

The freedom to play as you wish, to build, explore, help or not help those you meet, is at the heart of Of Ash and Steel. Every discovery feels earned, because nothing is handed to you by a quest marker. It's not about speed. It's about immersion, curiosity, and the satisfaction of finding your own way.

We hope this post helped clarify some of the ideas and intentions behind Of Ash and Steel. Your feedback is important to us and, with the game release date approaching, we want to be able to craft a game that meets both yours and ours expectations. Thanks again to everyone who played and shared feedback, both here and on our Discord, where we’ve enjoyed discussing your feedback with you in real-time.

Join us in this period leading to the release of the game on November 6th where we will provide you with more insights, information and news about the game.

See you on the Island!

~The Fire & Frost Team