Liquid Swords has shipped the first patches for Samson, its open-world crime game that blends GTA-style driving and brawling with a roguelike structure, and studio founder Christofer Sundberg has been unusually candid about why those patches were needed so fast.
"We released a game with flaws for a number of reasons," Sundberg wrote in a Steam post on launch day. "Early impressions are mixed and many of you are experiencing game breaking bugs and performance issues. That's unacceptable and we are listening to everyone's feedback."
That kind of straight-talk from a developer is refreshing, even if the situation that prompted it is frustrating for players.
What the launch looked like before the patches
Samson arrived sitting at a 53% Mixed rating on Steam, with the bulk of negative feedback pointing squarely at bugs and technical problems rather than the core concept. Steam user Finxl described the atmosphere as "stellar" but noted that "moment to moment gameplay just derails the whole experience." Another reviewer, CLMS, was blunter: "in my under 2 hours of play, I already have a laundry list of issues that I am astonished survived any amount of QA."
The pattern across negative reviews is consistent. Players aren't rejecting the idea of Samson. They're bouncing off a version of it that doesn't yet run properly.
Here's the thing: that context matters. Liquid Swords laid off half its team last year, which forced the studio to scale back Samson from a more ambitious design into its current run-based format. Getting to launch at all was a significant achievement. Getting there polished was apparently a bridge too far.
What the patches actually fixed
A hotfix dropped the day after launch, targeting crashes and performance problems directly. Beyond stability, it also added fall damage to NPCs as what the developer called a "failsafe," though the patch notes don't elaborate on exactly what scenario that guards against.
Liquid Swords followed that up on Friday with two additional posts: a performance guide to help players squeeze better results out of the game in its current state, and a roadmap laying out what's coming next.
The roadmap approach is smart. Players who are on the fence about buying tend to respond well to a developer that shows its work and commits to specific dates rather than vague promises.
The gap Samson is trying to fill
For all the launch turbulence, there's a real appetite for what Samson is attempting. The open-city crime genre has been largely dormant since Grand Theft Auto 5 locked up that space over a decade ago. Even Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, which brought the franchise's top-down chaos to handhelds and later PC, showed that players will engage with GTA-adjacent experiences that carve out their own identity rather than trying to compete directly.
Samson's $25 price point and its roguelike spin give it a distinct enough angle that it doesn't need to out-GTA GTA. What most players miss in early impressions is that the run-based structure fundamentally changes how the open-city formula plays. Each session is a contained arc rather than a persistent sandbox, which is a meaningful design difference, not just a compromise.
Sundberg has been direct about the positioning: "There are times when you want to put GTA down and pick up something else." The launch numbers suggest players agree in principle. The review split suggests the execution still needs work.
Where Samson goes from here
The key here is momentum. Patches are dropping fast, the developer is communicating openly, and the roadmap gives players a reason to check back in rather than refund and move on. Sundberg has stated plainly that "Samson is here to stay and we are not going anywhere," which reads less like corporate reassurance and more like a studio that genuinely believes in what it built.
The April 22 patch will be a telling signal. If it lands with meaningful improvements to stability and feel, Samson has a real shot at converting those mixed reviews into something more positive over time. Keep an eye on our latest gaming news for coverage of how those updates land.
