DIVE or DIE Week Two Update — July 27, 2026
DIVE or DIE week two — 97% Very Positive on Steam, launch-week media roundup, Hotfix #1.5 still latest, and 20% launch discount reminder.
Six Days After Launch
Six days after its July 21, 2026 release, DIVE or DIE: Children of Rain sits at 97% Very Positive on Steam across 114 user reviews. Peak concurrent players reached approximately 1,431 during the launch window — strong numbers for a three-person French indie team shipping their first full campaign.
Drop Rate Studio has not shipped a new numbered patch since Hotfix #1.5 on July 24. Community feedback continues via Steam discussions and the official Discord while Chiefs push deeper into Stalker Wells, Eastern Farmlands, and the final Eldritch Idol hunt.
Launch Week Media Roundup
Launch-week coverage highlighted the game's unique blend of settlement management and underwater dread:
- Rock Paper Shotgun compared DIVE or DIE to "Darkest Dungeon meets Ecco the Dolphin" — capturing both the oppressive camp-management tension and the side-scrolling deep-sea exploration loop.
- DualShockers praised the spine-tingling atmosphere, noting that sanity depletion and Eldritch encounters create genuine dread rather than cheap jump scares.
- Bloody Disgusting highlighted the punishing difficulty as a feature, not a flaw — permanent survivor loss and the Flood Countdown keep every dive decision meaningful.
Read our full review for more launch-week reception context and comparison points against Darkwood, Dredge, and This War of Mine.
Hotfix #1.5 Still Latest — No Patch #1.6 Yet
The most recent technical update remains Hotfix #1.5, which fixed cumulative Workshop equipment stat scaling and resolved additional soft-lock edge cases. If your diver gear stats still look wrong after multiple Workshop tiers, verify you are on Hotfix #1.5 and reload your save.
Patch #1 (1.0.4.857) remains the prior major build with soft-lock fixes for dive returns, Dark Arts IV, Infirmary dismissal, and Eldritch spider freezes. No Patch #1.6 has been announced as of July 27.
Launch Discount, Steam Deck, and Demo Saves
The 20% launch discount remains active through early August 2026 — fourteen days from release at $17.99 / £15.99 base price on Steam and Epic Games Store.
Reminder: the game is Steam Deck Verified for both the demo and full release. Official launch messaging also confirms demo saves carry over into the purchased campaign — finish the tutorial and first ten days in the free demo, then continue the same save when you buy the full game.
New Chiefs should pair this update with our Tips & Tricks guide and the Launch Day page for Endless Mode and platform details.