🎶 Walking in a winter wander(er)land… 🎶 

Time to celebrate this wonderful time of the year in the best way possible – navigating unnerving spaces and avoiding a grizzly death by terrifying Entities. The free ‘Winter Wanderer’ update for Escape the Backrooms launches on Steam on December 10! 

This update and content drop, free to all players on Steam, adds a range of winter and festive-themed outfits to select for your Wanderer. From reindeer, to snowflakes, to an oil rig-based reference… there’s a little something for everyone’s taste in here.  

Adding the cosmetic options also means the addition of a ‘character select’ screen, so you can choose which outfit to don before diving into the Backrooms. We’re hyped to add this and will be adding more customisation options in future updates! 

Alongside the new content, Update 1.1 brings some more fixes and improvements based on community feedback. The full patch notes are available below.

This update is the first content drop mentioned in the 1.0 roadmap for post-launch support, with plenty more to come throughout 2026. Find out more here, and join us over on Discord[discord.gg] and TikTok[www.tiktok.com] for more on the Winter Wanderer update! 

PATCH NOTES FOR UPDATE 1.1 (WINTER WANDERER UPDATE)

• Added screens and functionality to select different player outfits, available from the main menu

• Added 11 new player outfits to select – eight festive themed outfits, along with red, blue, and green versions of the default Wanderer outfit

• Nightmare Mode – checkpoints and save files are no longer accessible and the mode works as intended. If any player dies at any point in the playthrough, all players must restart from the beginning

• Fixed instances of players being able to see through walls after adjusting visual settings

• Level 0 – Fixed rare instances of the Bacteria entity falling out of the map

• Level 4 – corrected the behaviour of camera detection

• Added functionality and on-screen messaging to inform players if they are matched with a player on a different version of the game, which can happen if a players does not update their game

• Fixed rare instances of items not appearing correctly when held by a player, with specific visual settings applied

Wanderers, ask yourself: is Escape the Backrooms really about escaping? Or is it about the friends we made along the way?

(...okay it is literally about escaping but you get the point)

The Steam Awards 2025 are coming and we think the 'Better With Friends' award deserves a nomination for everyone's favourite co-op survival horror jumpscare-fest. Whether you team up with IRL buds or find new allies online, or whether you co-operate like a well-oiled machine or sprint in all directions at the first sign of a Skin-Stealer, Escape the Backrooms is all about shared memories. Or nightmares.

If you agree, tick that very enticing box above to give the game your nomination, with winners announced before the end of the year. We'd really appreciate your support!

Plus, if you happen to have any highlights of you playing Escape the Backrooms and literally making it Better With Friends, share your co-op clips over on Discord[discord.gg], or tag @EscapeTheBackroomsGame on TikTok[www.tiktok.com].