Can *Samson* Be Saved After Its Botched Launch? The Major Overhaul Arrives on April 10

Oh man, this opening really feels like a livestream dropping frames right after going live—the whole vibe instantly gets awkward! Liquid Swords Studio’s debut title, Samson, has officially launched on Steam, but its initial performance clearly didn’t land the heavyweight punch everyone was hoping for. Metacritic currently gives it a 53, and on Steam, only 51% of 646 user reviews recommend it. The overall situation can be summed up in four words: it still hasn’t found its footing.

Here’s the key point: it’s not that nobody was looking forward to this game—it’s that there really are quite a few launch issues, and they’ve directly thrown the word-of-mouth momentum off course. Studio head Kristoffer Sandberg had previously mentioned that a launch completely free of bugs was impossible, which was a pretty realistic thing to say and also served as a bit of an early warning. But! Looking at the current density of problems, it’s clearly gone beyond what players can easily tolerate, especially when it comes to performance, crashes, and quest-breaking bugs—basically the exact kind of issues that hurt the experience the most.

The good news is that the development team isn’t pretending to be asleep on the job—they’ve officially announced a major patch coming on April 10. This update isn’t just a quick hotfix with minor touch-ups; it’s a genuine attempt to stop the bleeding. The developers have explicitly stated that they’ll fix performance issues related to PSO, address crashes caused by audio, animation, and the GPU, and also resolve quest bugs that can completely halt progression. Multiple quests, including “Ice Fish,” “The Passion of Battle,” and “Exhaustion,” are all on the list.

Looking closer at the details, this patch also includes one especially practical change: the addition of 8 separate save slots. Don’t underestimate this feature—for a game like this, where progression bugs or branching paths may come into play, multiple save slots are basically a safety rope. If things go sideways, you can still roll back instead of losing everything and ending up back at square one overnight. On top of that, a number of smaller gameplay issues will also be fixed, such as enemies failing to push forward during group fights, AI wandering off to inspect bodies on the road, sirens occasionally failing to sound, and even fall safety mechanics for dropped NPCs. That shows the dev team really is trying to clear mines across the board this time.

From an industry perspective, this kind of “shaky launch reception, then trying to turn things around with a major patch” isn’t unusual anymore. What will really determine Samson’s long-term momentum is not just how many issues get fixed in this April 10 patch, but whether the team can continue suppressing gameplay, animation, and performance problems together over time. The developers have also stated that they’ll continue investing in the future of Samson and the Tindalston universe, while continuing to listen to player feedback. At the very least, that shows they’re not planning to just fire one shot and run.

If you’re thinking about buying it right now, my advice is simple: wait and see how players respond after the patch goes live, then decide whether it’s worth paying the launch price. That’s not being pessimistic—it’s just being responsible with your time and experience. After all, story issues can be patched, and worldbuilding can be expanded, but progression blocks and crashes won’t magically disappear just because you love the game. If this April 10 round of fixes really manages to pin down the core problems, then Samson still has a chance to crawl out of “Mixed” and pull this match back to even; but if things still can’t stabilize after the patch, then this launch stumble may really send the audience heading for the exits early.