Orcs Must Die: By The Blade released four days ago. We’ve spent years pouring our time, energy, and passion into this game and based on your feedback it seems we missed the mark in some important areas.
We’ve been listening closely to your feedback, reading your reviews, and watching your videos. Your frustration is valid. All we can do now is make this right. We are not going to sit back. We are committed to improving the experience and making the game what it should have been at launch.
If you want to keep up to date with what we are doing, or provide more direct feedback, join our Discord: https://discord.gg/rDpsBhC868
Based directly on your feedback, here’s what’s coming in our first patch:
1- Combat
We’ve heard you loud and clear: combat doesn’t feel as impactful as it should. Collision and hit feedback need improvement, and overall responsiveness needs work. This is a top priority for us. Combat should feel powerful, satisfying, and fun.
Many of you also mentioned prep time and wanting more breathing room to place traps and plan. We’re actively reviewing it.
Weapon durability has also been raised frequently, and we’re working on improvements there as well. However, for now weapon durability will be deactivated.
2- Inventory / Holster
While the inventory system was designed particularly to communicate weapon durability, it’s currently too sensitive and intrusive. We’re adjusting it so it behaves properly and doesn’t interrupt gameplay.
We’re also addressing additional UI issues to improve clarity and overall smoothness based on your feedback.
3- Multiplayer
We’ve seen reports of players being unable to connect, along with lag and stability issues. Multiplayer should just work and right now, for some of you, it doesn’t. However, during our internal tests, we have all been able to connect so it’s difficult to identify the direct issue. We’re working closely with our partners to resolve connection problems as quickly as possible. We’re also looking at adding clearer feedback systems to help determine whether issues are server-related or connection-based so we can properly diagnose and fix them.
4- Performance
We’re aware of frame drops, especially when loading into the game or during intense combat. We’ve identified this as being related to shader pipeline cache and first-time compilation. We’re prioritizing improvements here to deliver a smoother, more consistent experience.
5- Smooth Turning
Smooth turning is nearly complete and will be included in the first update. We know this is important, and we’ll continue adjusting based on your feedback once it’s live.
6- Audio / Narrative Bugs
We’ve seen reports of audio cutting out or triggering incorrectly. We’ve been investigating these issues heavily and expect the vast majority of reported cases to be resolved in the next update.
7- Enemy Animation / Bosses / AI
We’re addressing issues where enemy animations don’t blend or recover properly, which can make combat feel inconsistent. We’re also applying targeted fixes to boss encounters where behavior has not been functioning as intended.
8- FTUX / Early Learning Flow (Clarity & Trap Constraints)
Some players experienced early confusion around trap usage and loadouts. To improve clarity and prevent unusable setups during onboarding, we’ll temporarily limit available traps to spikes in specific tutorial segments only. Outside of those moments, you’ll still have full access to your chosen loadouts.
We’ve also improved instructions, wording, and general guidance to better teach core combat and trap mechanics.
9- Ongoing Bug Fixing & Polish
In addition to the above, we’re implementing UI clarity improvements, adjusting timing issues, and applying general quality-of-life fixes. We’ll continue rolling out additional fixes as needed based on your feedback.
We understand the frustration and we feel it too. This game means a great deal to us, and we believe in our vision. That belief hasn’t changed.
To everyone who bought the game, left a review, shared feedback, or created content around it: thank you. Even when it’s tough to read, your honesty helps us improve.
We’re here. We’re listening. And we’re committed to improving the game. We hope to have the first patch out in the next few weeks, and we’ll let you all know when it’s ready.
Thank you, from all of us at Teravision Games.
