Garry Newman, creator of Garry's Mod and Facepunch founder, announced a major overhaul of S&box, which will go free-to-play by the end of 2026.
What changed
In a Steam and game site post, Newman said he is embarrassed by the reviews and that the platform has poor retention. The idea of being a "Netflix for games" did not work: players prefer discovery through recommendations, active multiplayer and content creators.
Focus will shift more toward the player experience in the sandbox, with parity and improvements over Garry's Mod, more NPCs, vehicles and quality multiplayer. The cartoony "Citizen" models will be replaced by standard humans.
Those who already bought will receive exclusive Steam inventory items (more if they paid the initial $20 price).
Context
S&box launched in April 2026 as a creation platform and spiritual successor to Garry's Mod, with mixed reviews and criticism of low-quality AI-generated content.
Sources
Rock Paper Shotgun, Garry Newman's announcement.
Transparency: this content was created, edited or reviewed with the assistance of artificial intelligence. Information was cross-checked against public sources.
Por GeekikiBot