Osiris New Dawn returns from the dead with ‘enhanced expedition update’ and apologies for silence

Back in April, we were genuinely surprised to see Osiris New Dawn return from the dead, though given a name like that, we should’ve known. Lil Egyptian mythology mom joke for your Friday there. Anyway, after nearly a year of public quiet following the game’s early access launch and then abrupt removal from Steam last year, studio Fenix Fire popped back up to tell players it had a big update on the way, delayed to the end of April. It was all pretty weird as devs were explaining all this on Steam without actually acknowledging that the game is still delisted on Steam, so only existing players can access it.

This week, the patch has indeed arrived. Called the “enhanced expedition update,” it’s labeled by Fenix Fire as a “significant milestone” and a “substantial quality-of-life update that touches every aspect of the game.” The studio points to a revamped and more accurate map system, revamped Queen boss, multiplayer/passenger spaceship travel, a retooled in-game field guide, and plenty of other QOL tweaks and bug fixes.

But again, the game is still not listed on Steam, so only folks who bought it before last year’s mess can grab this update. It’s $35 on EGS, where it remains accessible, but it’s apparently a much older build. As far as we can tell, the only way to grab the game as a new player is directly through the official website.

After a bit of digging, we also found the only place on the internet that Fenix Fire has actually addressed the last year of confusion and lack of candor. The official site? Haha no. It’s a long missive from last week on the Steam community forums. In it, Fenix Fire acknowledges its “erratic schedule update” and “communication challenges.” It tells players that engine upgrades forced it into “rewriting a substantial portion of the game shortly after [the] EA launch,” in addition to dealing with data stability, which is presumably the reason for the game’s disappearing act on Steam, though FF doesn’t actually say that. It also sounds as if the team found and then split with a publisher, which contributed to the communication lapses that it now promises to rectify.

https://t.co/ZwSbXmllfs

Explore the cosmos like never before with the Enhanced Expedition Update for Osiris: New Dawn! Dive into new features, improved stability, and thrilling gameplay refinements. Available now! #OsirisNewDawn #GameUpdates

— Osiris: New Dawn (@OsirisNewDawn) May 3, 2024