First of all, thank you to everyone who has purchased and supported The Ranchers since our Early Access launch on July 30.
Whether you've been playing since day one, recently joined us, reported a bug, shared feedback, or left a Steam review, thank you for taking the time to help shape the game.❤️❤️❤️
💚 I'm listening
Since launch, I've been reading your Steam reviews, feedback reports, Discord discussions and community messages very closely.
Your feedback helps me understand what works, what doesn't, what feels frustrating, and what needs to become better.
A lot has already changed because of it.
🛠️ The Ranchers today is already better!
Since July 30, I've released several updates and hotfixes focused on bugs, clarity, quality of life and some of the most common issues reported by players.
Here are some of the biggest improvements already available:
🐄 Ranching & Animals
- Fixed the known issues that could cause animals to unexpectedly disappear.
- Fixed several barn, coop and animal association issues.
- Fixed chicks and newborn animals getting stuck or disappearing in specific situations.
- Animal sickness now triggers an End of Day alert.
- Animals now stay sick for longer before dying, giving you much more time to react and visit the veterinarian.
- Improved several animal-care and interaction issues.

🌱 Farming & Plantations
- You are now clearly notified when seeds or produce are affected by a plantation problem.
- The End of Day screen now explains why seeds or crops were lost or damaged.
- The Plantation Info Popup also shows the exact reason.
- Birds eating seeds or produce are now clearly explained.
- Season changes, lack of water and weeds are now clearly communicated.
- Produce quality loss is now explained directly to the player.
- The Plantation Info Popup now provides much more useful crop information.
- Plantations can now be removed using the Hoe.

🏠 Building
- Fixed several blueprint placement issues.
- Improved roof placement and snapping.
- Improved building-part visibility while constructing.
- Added floor visibility controls while building.
- Hidden roofs no longer block interactions underneath them.
- Improved several building stability and usability issues.
- Foundations can now be built across rivers, allowing you to create bridges on your ranch.

📜 Quests & Progression
- Fixed several issues that could block quest progression.
- Fixed NPC-related progression problems.
- Fixed NPCs disappearing during certain interior transitions.
- Improved reliability when entering and leaving interiors.
- Interior transitions are now significantly faster.
🌐 Solo & Multiplayer
- Fixed several multiplayer connection and joining issues.
- Improved connection reliability during temporary internet interruptions.
- You can now explicitly choose between PLAY SOLO and OPEN TO FRIENDS when loading your ranch.
- Solo mode no longer requires an active multiplayer connection.
- Improved reliability for Steam Deck and other handheld devices.
- Improved Steam Families / Family Sharing support.

🎮 Quality of Life & Fixes
- Shopping quantities increased significantly for stackable and non-stackable items.
- Crafting quantity limits increased.
- Several vehicle interaction issues fixed.
- Multiple ranching, NPC, world interaction and localization bugs fixed.
- Gathering normal resources such as wood and stone outside your ranch no longer triggers a police chase.
- Many smaller fixes and improvements have been released across multiple updates.
🌱 This is why The Ranchers is in Early Access
I chose Early Access because I didn't want to build The Ranchers alone behind closed doors.
I wanted to continue building it together with you.
Your feedback is helping determine what gets fixed, improved and redesigned.
Foundation Update, Part 1 represents the work already done since launch, but there is still much more coming.🔥
I'll continue listening, updating and improving The Ranchers throughout Early Access.
🔥 The Ranchers is now on sale
If you've been following The Ranchers or keeping it on your Wishlist while waiting for more updates, The Ranchers is currently on sale on Steam.
A lot has changed since July 30, and this is only the beginning.
Thank you again for supporting The Ranchers and helping me build the game into something better with every update. ❤️
See you in Harvest Hills! 🤠
Ethan