A new batch of updates has been released! Reducing the number of crashes and freezes, especially during autosaves and while generating a new map, was our highest priority. We have also introduced a change that should help the players who were unable to play the game on GeForce Now. Several other improvements have also been introduced, and we hope that they will positively impact your gameplay.

• The construction materials required for Custom Buildings have been rebalanced. Some materials now only require 1 type of resource, instead of various kinds of resources with their volume as the only difference. This should make the custom buildings more accessible for the players.
  
• A new solution has been introduced for markers spawning outside antenna range. It might not work on the existing saves.
  
• A new "ILLNESS EVENTS" checkbox has been added in the Game Customization panel. You can now disable all the illness events and ensure that vaccines won't have to be researched in your Zone. This checkbox is only available with the "STORY EVENTS" checkbox turned off.
  
• Some console commands have been updated. We have disabled the usage of some parameters that could have caused errors.
  
• Some console commands have been "unlocked" and are now available without the usage of the "Enable Cheats" command first.
  
• Metal will now spawn as a scavengable resource in some industrial buildings.
  
• Discarding cans will now provide the player with a small amount of metal.
  
• A new warning is displayed when the game detects that the player is using modding software.
  
• The save system has been updated and will first save in the Temp folder to prevent the possibility of losing the save.
  
• An issue with Squads leaving resources in buildings during scavenging and not coming back for them has been fixed.
  
• An issue with Squads parking Vehicles outside Medieval Walls when coming back with resources has been fixed.
  
• An issue with Polearms not being treated as weapons during the ransom event has been fixed.
  
• An issue with workers sometimes having square shadows on a certain zoom-out has been fixed.
  
• An issue that could have resulted in the game crashing during the autosave has been fixed.
  
• An issue that could have resulted in the game not working on the GeForce NOW has been fixed.
  
• An issue with the captured Squad participating in the fight during the ransom event has been fixed.
  
• An issue that resulted in the camera zooming in when using the TAB and H buttons has been fixed.
  
• Several changes aimed at optimizing the game and reducing the number of crashes have been introduced.

We have recently noticed that some players are having issues with the game due to the usage of modding software. Such software is never recommended on our side. The risk of crashing or corrupting your gameplay is high, and the safety of those applications is not guaranteed. Instead, we encourage the usage of the console commands. A new manual has been published to make them easier to understand.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3460388899

Best regards,
Jutsu Games Team

It has been a full year since Infection Free Zone launched in Early Access! The game was released on April 11, 2024, and its popularity has vastly exceeded our expectations. Since then, we have been doing our best to improve Infection Free Zone to the best of our ability. We remain extremely thankful for your support, passion, and engagement with the game. Let's take a quick look at the upcoming Major Update #4 - Part 2 and check some general statistics of our game!


Major Update #4 - Part 2 will be smaller than Major Update #4. It will mainly consist of the things that we wanted to add for Major Update #4, but haven't managed to do so in time. While Lairs of the Infected have been moved to Major Update #5, below is the list of the highlights that we plan to bring you sometime in the second part of May 2025:

• Building Split Functionality
  
• Create Squad with Skills
  
• Scrapyard Building
  
• Shooting Range Building
  
• Fisherman Building

Other than that, we are still working on improving the performance, reducing the number of crashes, and solving the issues with autosave.


A lot of players have made requests for an option that would allow them to split buildings. It's fully understandable. Some areas consist of huge buildings that can feel underused, especially if we decide to adapt only a small part of them. The building split will allow buildings to be split into two parts. Mind you, it won't be possible to split buildings vertically.


The squad's skills are another area that we want to make more accessible for the players. We have received reports from the community that some players tend to save/load the game until their Squads have a perfect combination of perks that they like the most. With this new feature, players will be able to choose their desired perks right at the beginning at the cost of longer training time.


Three new buildings will be added in Major Update #4 - Part 2. Shooting Range will allow the existing squads to train their shooting skills. It's going to take some time and use up ammunition, but the squads will end up with useful combat-oriented skills after a few training sessions.


Scrapyard Building will help with the management of the metal resource in the Zone. Using cans, ammo, and metal in general will result in this resource stacking in the Scrapyard building. After unlocking the corresponding research, players will have a chance to recycle the metal to get it back.


Fisherman Building will provide another alternative way of gathering food. After the recent addition of the huntable animals, this building will provide yet another source of meat. The limitation? The building has to be built next to a water reservoir of a specific size.


Let's take a look at some statistics after a full year since the launch!

• Infection Free Zone has been played by over 600,000 players on Steam!
  
• Over 10,000,000 new games have been started!
  
• Players have played on 400,000 different maps!
  
• Over 2,000,000,000 infected have been killed!
  
• Over 10,000 bug reports have been sent by the community!
  
• In 2025, the most popular maps so far were San Francisco, Edinburgh, Beijing, Washington, and Peschiera del Garda!
  
• The following countries have the biggest number of players: China, United States, Germany!

Thank you for playing Infection Free Zone!


If you are interested in testing the newest additions to the game, we encourage you to check the builds that are published on the open_beta branch on a regular basis. All the updates to the open_beta branch are archived in this discussion, so we encourage you to follow the thread.

How to join the open_beta branch:

➡️ Right-click on Infection Free Zone in your library,
➡️ Click on "Properties..." on the list,
➡️ Choose the "Betas" tab,
➡️ Select the "open_beta" branch from the list.
➡️ The newest build should start downloading. Enjoy!

Thank you once again for playing Infection Free Zone! We are grateful for every single person in our community. It's really amazing to see our player base grow, and we haven't even fully released the game yet! This makes us truly optimistic about the Infection Free Zone's future. If you haven't joined our Discord[discord.gg] yet, we also recommend doing so, as all the smallest updates, also about the open_beta builds, are being published there first. Stay safe, Survivors!

Best regards,
Jutsu Games Team