Sands of Glory Update is now live!
Lords and Ladies of the Monastery,

It’s so hard to believe that nearly six months have passed since Grimlord's launch. Through your endless support and our studios' tireless effort, we're thrilled to announce that we've reached a major milestone on our development roadmap: the Arena Mode and Arena Questline Free Expansion is now officially live!

This brand new expansion introduces a series of arena-based challenges carefully woven into each chapter's theme. We’ve added new enemies, thrilling boss fights, and rewards that expand the weapon upgrade system, making your arsenal deadlier than ever. Alongside that, you’ll find brand-new weapon components and armor sets to discover.

The Arena Questline is designed for all kinds of players. For newcomers, it's a powerful tool to grow stronger. For New Game Plus veterans, it offers a fresh game mode and more than 30 new challenges. And if you enjoy testing your builds or recording exciting battles to share, the arena is now your perfect proving ground to create your own enemy combinations and dive into the killing spree!

Back during Early Access, many of you told us you wanted sandbox-style features, and that's what inspired us to develop the Arena Mode in the first place. We made a promise officially to bring this to life. While Grimlord wasn't initially designed with a sandbox arena at its core, we quickly realized how much it could enrich the game's longevity and enjoyment.

At first, we thought this would be a quick addition, maybe a few weeks of work. But reality proved otherwise. Integrating the arena with the questline added complexity we didn’t foresee, and it took more time and effort than expected. Since launch, we've redesigned the system from the ground up and expanded it from one arena map to three. Most importantly, all of this new content is 100% FREE, NO EXTRA PAYMENT REQUIRED. We want to offer more bangs for your bucks to anyone who purchased Grimlord!

We've also listened closely to community feedback and continued improving earlier content. As a small team releasing our first game, we've faced many challenges. VR is still a gaming medium in its youth, and developing Grimlord has at times pushed us beyond our limits. But we've met those challenges with passion and dedication.

In this update, we've rebuilt the weapon physics system. Slash and pierce mechanics have been completely rewritten, offering more depth and realism. Spiked polearms can now stab from multiple directions. Spikes on shields are no longer just decorative. And with enough force, your weapon may even be embedded in an enemy's body. We wanted combat to feel more tactile, authentic, and uniquely fun.

These improvements will also benefit the upcoming MOD support, which is just around the corner. Stay tuned to our community channels for updates!

Lastly, we want to address the broader state of VR. Over the past few months, skepticism about the VR industry has been growing. Indeed, not every game is performing well, but we remain deeply confident in the future of VR gaming. We're committed to continuously optimizing Grimlord and delivering new content. Your support fuels our progress. This is a journey for the ages, and we're in it for the long haul.

To our incredible community: thank you. Especially to those who joined our tests and shared your feedback, your support and dedication helped shape Grimlord into what it is today.

We want to say a very special thank you to: Aerith, Banshee, Blaze, Chickensink, Cim, Dare, Deepestlore, DelayZe, Dino, Fox, Hiei, Ithious, Jagger, Jarv, JessikaNova, KUPOkinz, Lethalxxdose, MiaLunaria, MORK, Morkle, MythicAssassin8, NavKiro, NovaFae, OFF_TRK, Pakwei, Shenanigans303, Silverfire, Skadi, Suha04, Tarquinn2049, The CLBJ, The French Pineapple, unknownasphalt, vrBuddy, yee, ZURRR_111 for your help in testing and support!

New Additions
• New Maps – Added four new levels, including the 3 Arenas and the Arena Hub.
• New NPC – A quartermaster is now available early in the game. Found at the Arena Hub and accessible anytime.
• Arena Questline – A dedicated Arena questline featuring 18 unique challenges.
• Custom Battle Mode – Create your own battles in the Arena for personalized combat scenarios.
• Training Questline – Visit the Faithless to learn advanced melee techniques in a new storyline.
• Weapon Upgrade System – Use materials earned through Arena challenges to upgrade and enhance weapons.
• New Enemy Types – Bandits, Gladiators, Goblin Priests, Goblin Berserkers, Wolves
• Arena Boss Battles – Each Arena level now features its own boss fight.
• New Armor Set – The Gladiator Armor is now available.
• New action - You can kick enemies, or use headbutts.

Improvements
• Opening Cinematic – Replaced all AI-generated elements. The intro cutscene is now fully handcrafted.
• Weapon Physics Overhaul – Weapons can now pierce from multiple angles. Heavy slashes may embed into enemy bodies.
• Environmental Detail – Added more vegetation and visual variety to make environments feel more dynamic.
• Talent Reset Button – Now includes a hold-to-reset progress bar to prevent accidental resets.
• Lighting Improvements – Enhanced lighting setups in several key areas.

Balance Adjustments
• Boss Defense – Reduced defense for some bosses when hit in weak spots or during specific vulnerable states.

Weapon Balancing
• Maidenblood Blade – Piercing: 52 → 36 | Slashing: 40 → 32 | Stability: 30 → 15
• Monarch – Slashing: 45 → 48
• Royal Sword – Slashing: 40 → 35
• Broadsword – Piercing: 37 → 29
• Faithkeeper Sword Handle – Passive changed from Deeper Cuts (+12% slashing damage two-handed) → Enforce (+12% physical skill damage)
• Nomadic Warrior Armor – Movement Speed: 540 → 500

Meta Exclusive
• Blood Effects – Blood now displays properly during combat.
• Hit Detection – Increased collision thickness on certain weapons to reduce clipping caused by framerate inconsistencies.

Steam Exclusive
• DX12 Texture Fix – Resolved a bug where some textures appeared blurry under DirectX 12.

Thank you all so very much for the continued support and we hope everyone enjoys the update!