Guide coverage: patches through 1.0.12
How to Fish: patch notes 1.0.4 to 1.0.12
How to Fish launched on 2026-08-20 and shipped eight announced patches in its first three weeks. The latest is 1.0.12, which moved saves to Steam Cloud. Below is every announced change in order, with a note on what it means while you play.
Current status
Newest build: 1.0.12 on 2026-09-04 (Steam build 25127368). Checked again on 2026-09-23 — nothing newer had appeared.
The 1.0.12 announcement described itself as “probably the last bugfix patch before starting to work on content updates”, and the developers said they had started talking about content updates and would begin work the following week. That content work has not shipped a build yet — the public Steam build is still 25127368 from 2026-09-04 — so 1.0.12 remains the version every guide here is written against.
Numbers worth knowing
- 2026-08-20 — Released on Steam for PC. (Developer announcement)
- 2026-08-23 — One million players within two days of launch. The developers confirmed more content and more bug fixes were coming. (Developer announcement)
- 2026-08-26 — Peak of 373,971 concurrent players, in release week. (SteamDB weekly note on Steam)
- 2026-09-01 — Fully Steam Deck Verified and playable through GeForce NOW, shipped with patch 1.0.11. (Developer announcement)
Steam reviews, re-read on 2026-09-23: “Overwhelmingly Positive” — 95% of the 68,818 reviews in every language, and 95% of the 49,787 written in the last 30 days.
Steam global top sellers, free-to-play excluded, as published in the game’s own Steam news feed:
| Week starting | Rank |
|---|---|
| 2026-08-18 | #1 |
| 2026-08-25 | #2 |
| 2026-09-01 | #5 |
| 2026-09-08 | #5 |
| 2026-09-15 | #8 |
| Patch | Date | Headline change |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0.12 | 2026-09-04 | Steam Cloud saves, plus piranha and tuna balance |
| 1.0.11 | 2026-09-01 | Steam Deck Verified, GeForce NOW, and accessibility toggles |
| 1.0.10 | 2026-08-27 | Ground items are saved, cooked gear can be cleaned |
| 1.0.9 | 2026-08-24 | Difficulty settings and a Steam connection readout |
| 1.0.8 | 2026-08-24 | PlayStation glyphs and fire sound volume |
| 1.0.6 | 2026-08-23 | Save handling reworked |
| 1.0.5 | 2026-08-22 | Private lobbies, axis invert, lower FPS floor |
| 1.0.4 | 2026-08-21 | Eight-player lobbies and the first big balance pass |
Patch 1.0.12 — 2026-09-04
Steam Cloud saves, plus piranha and tuna balance
New
- Save files are now stored through Steam Cloud. Play and exit on the PC you saved on once, and the save uploads to the cloud.
Changes
- Piranha rebalanced.
- Tuna nerfed slightly.
- Limited velocity on items, so they are harder to lose.
- MetaVoice updated to 4.3 (voice chat fixes).
Fixed
- FishNet no longer overrides your max FPS when joining a lobby.
- Music now preloads, so buying the first radio no longer lag-spikes.
- The final boss now takes explosive damage even when landing on its tail.
Patch 1.0.11 — 2026-09-01
Steam Deck Verified, GeForce NOW, and accessibility toggles
New
- How to Fish is now playable through GeForce NOW.
- How to Fish is now fully Steam Deck Verified.
- Toggle option for aiming.
- Toggle option for sprinting.
- Hold-to-attack option.
- Option to toggle nametags.
Changes
- Save files are always checked for corruption before loading, and now keep backups.
- The roulette table on island 6 moved to a less awkward position.
- Item dots recoloured: dropped weapons are orange, dead players turquoise.
- You now die from your own explosives even with friendly fire disabled.
- Iron sights removed from shops (players only ever bought them by mistake).
- You can no longer downgrade a suppressor to a compensator.
Fixed
- Inventory bug on join that made players invisible.
- Items now have to be held once before they can be sold.
- Drip parrotfish not being cooked.
- Hands teleporting instead of moving smoothly to a picked-up item.
Patch 1.0.10 — 2026-08-27
Ground items are saved, cooked gear can be cleaned
New
- Weapons and tools are cleaned of cooking by dipping them in water.
- Items dropped on the ground are saved between sessions, up to 64 in total, prioritising weapons, tools, quest items and creatures.
Changes
- Anglerfish nerfed (it had too much health).
Fixed
- Dying to the Tuna and then spawning the Albatross no longer locks you out of respawning.
- Explosion velocity capped so loot stops flying out of reach.
- Roulette no longer ticks forever at high values; the ball no longer clips through the wheel.
- Rich text removed from chat after griefers abused it.
- Seagull and player grabbing the same item no longer breaks the game.
Patch 1.0.9 — 2026-08-24
Difficulty settings and a Steam connection readout
New
- Difficulty can be changed in the main menu and in-game. Easy: creatures have 25% less health and deal 50% less damage. Hard: 25% more health and 25% more damage.
- A short Steam connection debug readout in the main menu; if the Steam relay text turns red, the Discord #common-bugs channel has fixes.
Fixed
- Another attempt at corrupted save files.
Patch 1.0.8 — 2026-08-24
PlayStation glyphs and fire sound volume
Fixed
- PlayStation controller glyphs display correctly.
- Fire sizzling sound now follows the FX volume slider.
Patch 1.0.6 — 2026-08-23
Save handling reworked
Fixed
- The save file is checked before loading, so a broken save no longer shows a fake server named “Game Name”.
- The game no longer saves when it crashes: it saves on the Save, Main Menu and Quit buttons, plus an autosave every minute.
Patch 1.0.5 — 2026-08-22
Private lobbies, axis invert, lower FPS floor
New
- Invert axis on X and Y for looking around.
- Private lobby option: only joinable through an invite.
- Session type can be changed in server settings while in-game (a restart is required afterwards).
Changes
- Minimum locked FPS lowered from 50 to 30.
Fixed
- You can no longer sail to any island without unlocking it.
- Bonus: cosmetic “all Drip creatures” achievement counting one extra.
Patch 1.0.4 — 2026-08-21
Eight-player lobbies and the first big balance pass
New
- Support for up to 8 players in a lobby.
Changes
- Pufferfish and the Whale nerfed.
- The intended path to the final island is easier to see.
Fixed
- Black screen when joining a lobby, and grey screen when starting the game.
- Server names no longer accept special characters, which used to break the save file.
Quick answers
What is the latest How to Fish patch?
Patch 1.0.12, released 2026-09-04 (Steam build 25127368). It added Steam Cloud saves and rebalanced the piranha and tuna. The game launched on 2026-08-20, so the whole patch history above covers less than three weeks.
Is How to Fish still being updated?
As of 2026-09-23 no newer Steam build has appeared since 1.0.12, and the developer described 1.0.12 as probably the last bug-fix patch before content updates. The quiet stretch is the content work, not the end of support.
How many people play How to Fish?
One million players within two days of launch, and a peak of 373,971 concurrent players on 2026-08-26. It was number 8 on Steam’s weekly global top sellers (free-to-play excluded) for the week of 15–22 September 2026, after opening at number 1, and Steam rates it “Overwhelmingly Positive” across 68,818 reviews (95% positive).
Do I have to restart Steam to get an update?
Yes for the small patches: the developer asks players to restart Steam after each one, and a version mismatch is what breaks joining a friend’s lobby.
Did a patch change creature health or prices?
Health, yes: 1.0.4 nerfed the Pufferfish and the Whale, 1.0.10 nerfed the anglerfish, and 1.0.12 rebalanced the piranha and tuna. Sale prices on this site match patch 1.0.12.
Was there a 1.0.7?
No standalone announcement was published for 1.0.7; the notes jump from 1.0.6 to 1.0.8 on 2026-08-24.