What's live, and where
Xbox Wire published Obsidian's overview on October 20, 2026, two days before the GamingBolt trailer story. Reports say Rot and Ruin is live on Steam, Xbox, Game Pass and PlayStation 5, and that the full release is expected in 2027. Xbox Wire describes the game as available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC and Game Pass. It is also on Steam through Early Access and on PlayStation 5. It's still a Game Preview title, so Game Pass isn't the only way in, and the update isn't Xbox-exclusive.
The update also had a public test first. Obsidian opened the 0.6.0 test build on October 6. It warned at the time that test-server progress might not carry over. That caveat applied to the test build, not to the live release.
The new content
Per Xbox Wire, the update adds the following:
- The Woodpile: a new adventure area in Brookhollow Park with towering structures and winding passages.
- Termites: Workers, Soldiers, the Termite King and new O.G.R.R. variants. Obsidian promises new attacks and "strange behavior" but doesn't detail the mechanics.
- The Centipede: a community-requested boss. The headline says "bosses," but Obsidian's announcement names one new boss.
- The Potato Beetle Buggy: larger than the Ladybug Buggy and built for close-range combat. Obsidian says it fires a spread of projectiles, has a Healing Roar, hauls resources and contributes materials to blueprints.
- Painting and the Splotcher: a paintball gun that applies crafted paint. Obsidian lists walls, floors, roofs, stairs, doors and other structures as paintable. That's narrower than the "anything you create" in the GamingBolt story. The test-build notes mention six colors.
- Higher gear tiers: weapons and armor can be upgraded using the new resource Bismuth and the Yoking Press.
- Collectibles: new SCA.B Themes, collectible miniatures and new stations. The test-build notes mentioned eight SCA.B color schemes and five figurines, but the final counts weren't re-confirmed for the live release.
The PC angle: install size and engine
The patch notes include a tech change that matters more to PC players than any beetle. According to SteamDB's copy of the notes, the update upgrades the game to Unreal 5.7 and makes "various large performance improvements." The notes also list a file-size reduction. Neowin reports Obsidian confirmed the PC install dropped to 18GB from 37GB. That's a 51% cut. Console savings are much smaller, at 200–300MB.
There's a catch for PC players. Neowin says the game will redownload from scratch, as the new 18GB package. If your connection is slow or capped, plan for that before launching. Early reports didn't include an independent measurement of frame rates or load times. Treat the performance claims as Obsidian's own until people test them.
Fixes
The notes also cover stability. The reported fixes include quest blockers, crashes on PS5 and PC, and buggy problems such as disappearing or invisible mounts. These are developer-reported fixes, not a guarantee that every crash is gone. Expect some bugs to remain in a Game Preview title.
Bottom line
- Available now: Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, Xbox Cloud, Game Pass, Steam and PS5.
- Content: one new area, one new boss, one new buggy, a painting system and a gear-tier upgrade path.
- PC players: Obsidian says the install shrinks from 37GB to 18GB, with a fresh download and an engine move to Unreal Engine 5.7.
- Still to come: Version 1.0 is slated for 2027, with no specific date.