Kenshi Update Roundup: Localisation Improvements, Bug Fixes, and Quality of Life Enhancements
Since its initial release, Kenshi has carved out a unique niche in the open-world RPG genre with its sprawling sandbox gameplay, unforgiving difficulty, and deep player-driven stories. Despite the game’s age and the anticipation surrounding its sequel, the developers continue to support Kenshi with meaningful updates, focusing on polishing the experience and expanding its accessibility worldwide. The current average player count stands steady at 5,419, a testament to the game’s enduring appeal and dedicated community.
Recent Experimental Branch Updates: Localisation and Controller Support
While official updates to Kenshi have slowed down as the team gears up for Kenshi 2, the developers have been quietly rolling out improvements via the experimental branch, focusing heavily on localisation and quality of life fixes. These updates are not just minor tweaks; they represent a significant step toward making Kenshi more accessible and enjoyable for players across multiple languages and platforms.
One of the standout features of the recent experimental update is the extensive localisation work done by Lo-Fi’s dedicated localisation team. Since October, new contributors specializing in Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), German, Chinese (Simplified), French, and Japanese have been refining Kenshi’s in-game text. Their focus has been on non-dialogue content such as UI elements, tips, and item descriptions, ensuring consistency and accuracy across the board.
For example, the Spanish localisation saw numerous corrections addressing inconsistencies in terminology and mistranslations. Terms like “blueprints” were previously translated into multiple, conflicting words, causing confusion. Now, translations for creatures such as “Beak Things” and “Skimmers” have been standardized to “Pinchostruo” and “Patineto,” respectively. Additionally, skill-related verbs like “crafting” and “farming” have been adjusted to use the correct tenses, improving grammatical coherence. Even lore-related notes and documents have been re-translated to better capture the game’s rich narrative and atmosphere.
Beyond localisation, the update also tackles some persistent bugs and usability issues. A notable fix addresses a frustrating problem where the options screen would revert to the default font size after closing and reopening the game, despite the menu indicating otherwise. This fix ensures that players’ font size preferences are reliably retained, enhancing the overall user experience.
Another quality of life improvement involves the addition of default keybinds tailored for Steam Deck and controller users. This change simplifies the setup process for those playing Kenshi on different hardware configurations. Players can now reset their keybinds to a sensible default with a single button press and customize from there, making the game more approachable for controller users and improving accessibility.
Kenshi v1.0.46: Stability and Crash Fixes
Alongside the experimental branch updates, the stable release branch received the v1.0.46 update, which primarily focuses on improving stability and fixing several bugs that have affected players’ gameplay experience.
One of the key additions in this update is the inclusion of some DirectX DLLs aimed at helping users who have encountered installation issues. This move should reduce the number of technical barriers preventing new players from diving into Kenshi’s harsh world.
Several crash fixes were also implemented, addressing frustrating issues such as:
- Random dialogue crashes that could disrupt narrative flow.
- Crashes triggered when dropping items in character portrait panels.
- Crashes caused by missing mod data, which is particularly relevant for players who enjoy Kenshi’s vibrant modding community.
- An issue where the animal trading window would fail to close if the confirm button was cancelled.
Additionally, the update refined the save system by moving the “save complete” message to display only after the background thread finishes copying files. This change provides clearer feedback to players and prevents confusion about whether their progress has been successfully saved.
Interestingly, due to a minor error during the update rollout, this patch was tagged in the changelog as v1.0.47, despite being v1.0.46. While this is a small oversight, it highlights the ongoing challenges developers face in maintaining and updating a complex game like Kenshi.
Looking Ahead: Kenshi’s Future and Community Impact
Although Kenshi’s official updates have slowed as the team focuses on the sequel, these recent patches demonstrate a strong commitment to supporting the existing player base. The localisation improvements alone are a significant boon for non-English speaking players, making the game’s intricate systems and lore more accessible and enjoyable worldwide.
The stability fixes and controller support enhancements also show a keen awareness of the community’s needs, ensuring that Kenshi remains playable and enjoyable on a wide range of hardware setups.
With an active player count hovering around 5,400, Kenshi continues to thrive as a cult classic. Its unique blend of open-world survival, tactical combat, and player-driven storytelling creates a gameplay experience unlike any other. These updates, though modest, help keep the game fresh and accessible, allowing both veterans and newcomers to continue exploring the harsh deserts and sprawling cities of Kenshi’s world.
As fans eagerly await Kenshi 2, these ongoing improvements serve as a reminder that the original Kenshi remains a living, breathing game - one that respects its community and strives to deliver the best possible experience, even years after its initial release.