Patch 1.01 — July 21, 2026
LatestACE Team's first post-launch hotfix: "post launch hotfixes, balancing pass + crossplay friend finder." If you were on the Open Beta branch, restart Steam or revert to the default branch to get it.
Key changes
Session passwords — a server setting that lets you find a session using a password. This is the official answer to hunting for a friend's lobby by name, and it works across platforms.
Mouse inventory sorting — you can now organise items in your own inventory with a mouse while interacting with the wagon. (Controller support is still to come.)
The saints shop moved. Saints are no longer bought at the woodshop; you now equip them at the ox wagon before an expedition, and for a smaller cost.
A camera pre-configuration screen on first launch — pick a cinematic or a standard camera. Standard helps if the game felt laggy or caused motion sickness.
Improved performance profiles for PC.
Key bindings are now saved between sessions.
Balance
Every mission now starts you with a machete, so you can never be stuck with only knives.
The Crawling Canopy (the spider) does 50% less damage.
Knives do slightly more damage; pole weapons have a bit more range.
Enemies take longer to spawn once the forest wakes up — noise mistakes are less instantly fatal.
Stamina and run speed while tired both got a slight buff.
The Censer mission was reworked, and purple corruption areas now kill more slowly.
General enemy damage difficulty adjusted.
Bug fixes
Fixed death-animation replication that was causing T-posing.
Fixed the bleeding state not replicating to other clients.
Fixed players getting stuck on walls after climbing.
Fixed the "Game Saving" icon behaviour.
The saints change is the one that quietly rewrites a habit: our saints page now reflects the ox-wagon shop. The spider nerf and the free starting machete both move the numbers in the bestiary and the armory.
Launch update — July 15, 2026
The "What's new since the demo" update, shipped alongside release.
New content
Weapon Upgrade Anvil — a station on the ship that spends tokens to improve or upgrade the weapons contracts issue you. The token system finally has a home.
Hand-drawn art now accompanies logbook narrations on the rowboat map.
New guidebook page at the ship's combat dummy, covering combat mechanics.
A new sanity effect — the developers won't say what it is.
Fixes & improvements
The mandatory hard timer at the end of missions is gone — you can now stay on the mainland as long as you can survive.
Push-to-talk added (alongside the existing proximity voice).
Camera smoothing fixed: disabling all camera effects now gives 1:1 mouse-to-camera movement.
FOV slider range expanded from 85–115 to 75–125.
Accessibility: a centre-screen dot option for motion sickness.
Multiple players can now use the ox-wagon inventory at the same time.
Better treasure-shrine variety and more treasure pickups per mission; improved contract weapon balance.
A language column on the find-games screen; contracts now show more mission info and treasure variety.
Solo: new gestures to tell your AI companion to switch between silent weapons and a louder, more effective rifle.
Improved Doppelganger behaviour, multiple sanity-effect tweaks, 3D voice spatialization, and a stack of crash/visual/loading fixes.
Still in development
Announced by ACE Team and not shipped as of patch 1.01.
Controller inventory support
Patch 1.01 delivered the keyboard-and-mouse inventory overhaul. ACE Team said controller support follows in a later update — console players are still waiting.
Block & counterattack
A defensive system for certain weapons, announced with the launch update and not in 1.01 — the long-requested answer to "there's no way to defend yourself."
Cross-platform invites
1.01 shipped session passwords, which is the reliable route to a friend's lobby. ACE Team has not announced that the in-game invite button itself is fixed for mixed-platform crews, so treat passwords as the method rather than a stopgap.
The Open Beta branch, and why it can break your crew
ACE Team tests patches on a Steam beta branch before they go wide. To opt in: restart Steam, right-click The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu in your library → Properties → Game Versions & Betas, and pick the branch from the dropdown. Re-check your graphics settings after it downloads.
The catch matters more than the feature: crossplay is disabled on the beta branch. You can only play with people on the same branch, and the game does not explain why your friend vanished from the list. Either everyone opts in or nobody does — and after a patch goes live, revert to the default branch or restart Steam to pick it up. More on that failure mode in crossplay troubleshooting.
Where to next
Session passwords, the beta-branch trap, and why a join fails.
1.01 added PC performance profiles and a camera pre-config screen.
The shop moved to the ox wagon — here's the current list and costs.
Spider damage down 50%; enemy spawn timing relaxed.
Knives hit harder, pole weapons reach further, machete now free at mission start.
Steam opened at Mixed — what 1.01 does and doesn't answer.
Update questions
What did patch 1.01 change in The Mound?
Patch 1.01 (July 21, 2026) added session passwords so you can find a specific lobby, mouse-driven inventory sorting at the wagon, a camera pre-configuration screen on first launch, improved PC performance profiles, and saved key bindings. It also moved the saints shop from the woodshop to the ox wagon at a lower cost, gave every mission a starting machete, cut Crawling Canopy damage by 50%, buffed knives and pole-weapon range, and fixed T-posing, bleeding replication and wall-climb sticking.
Did patch 1.01 fix crossplay?
It shipped the piece that matters most: a server password setting, so a friend on another platform can find your exact session instead of scanning a public list. ACE Team has not separately announced that the in-game cross-platform invite button is fixed, so use a password rather than the invite menu.
Where do I buy saints now?
At the ox wagon, right before an expedition — patch 1.01 removed them from the woodshop and lowered the cost. If a guide still tells you to visit the woodworker, it predates July 21.
Is controller inventory management in yet?
No. Patch 1.01 delivered the keyboard-and-mouse inventory overhaul; ACE Team said controller support comes in a later update.
How do I get on the Open Beta branch?
Restart Steam, right-click the game → Properties → Game Versions & Betas, and select the beta branch. Crossplay is disabled while you're on it, so your whole crew has to be on the same branch. Re-check graphics settings after it downloads.
Source: ACE Team and Nacon's official Steam announcements — the game's Steam news feed, specifically "Patch 1.01 – Post Launch Hotfixes, Balancing Pass + Crossplay Friend Finder" (July 21, 2026), "Test next week's patch on a Beta Branch" (July 17) and "What's new since the demo?" (July 15).