How to Get Hell Is Us Ready for Its Physical Switch 2 Launch and GOG Debut

Rogue Factor's action-RPG Hell Is Us just had its biggest week since launch. Update 1.8 went live on October 8, 2026 with ten new enemies, the game's physical Nintendo Switch 2 edition lands October 27, and a DRM-free version arrives on GOG two days after that. None of it requires starting over, but there are a few things worth checking before you head back into Hadea.

What Update 1.8 Actually Changes

Developer Rogue Factor's own patch notes confirm Update 1.8 (Steam build 1.8.125.51687) adds ten new Hollow Walkers, the mutated enemies that make up most of Hadea's threat, directly answering the most common complaint since the game's September 2025 launch: that too many encounters reused the same handful of enemy types. The patch notes don't go into deep design detail, but they do confirm two concrete bug fixes alongside the new content: a memory corruption issue that could affect saved games, and several map collision bugs across different levels that were leaving players physically stuck. A general "various other bugs" line covers the rest.

The studio says more than two million players have now stepped into Hadea as Rémi, up from 1.5 million when it first teased the update in September. If you haven't opened the game in a while, this is the patch that makes it worth loading back up.

Rogue Factor's reveal trailer only previewed three of the ten new enemies, but they give a sense of how much more varied encounters should feel. One is a torso ringed by six smaller orbs that it launches at range; another is a contorted, floating Hollow Walker with its hands and feet clasped together; a third wields an appendage that's extended into a weapon and moves with the same gait as Rémi himself, which suggests it may fill a hostile-NPC role similar to invaders in other souls-likes. The remaining seven are unannounced, so expect some of what you find in Hadea to be a genuine surprise rather than something you can look up first.

Updating on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S

If you own Hell Is Us on Steam, the Epic Games Store, PS5 or Xbox Series X|S, Update 1.8 is already live and should download automatically the next time you launch the game or your console checks for updates. You can confirm you're on the right version by checking the build number in the game's pause menu or launcher info against 1.8.125.51687.

It's also worth knowing what changed a few patches earlier, since those settings are easy to miss if you haven't been back since launch. Update 1.7 brought FSR 4 support, added Samsung Odyssey 3D glasses-free 3D support on PC (the Odyssey 3D hub needs to be running before you launch the game), and swapped in Oodle's compression SDK specifically to cut down on crashes affecting some Intel CPUs. If you were getting random crashes on an Intel system earlier this year, it's worth giving the game another shot now that fix has had time to bed in.

What Switch 2 Owners Need to Know

Hell Is Us reached Nintendo Switch 2 digitally on October 8 alongside Update 1.8, so anyone who already bought the eShop version has the new Hollow Walkers from day one. The physical cartridge edition is a separate release, priced at €59.99 and available to pre-order now ahead of its October 27 launch. Rogue Factor has been clear that the staggered rollout is about manufacturing and shipping logistics for the physical run, not a technical issue with the port itself; the digital version has been out and stable since the 8th. Every Switch 2 edition, physical or digital, also includes the Hollow Walker Pack, a cosmetic set that reskins both Rémi and his KAPI drone companion.

Picking Up the DRM-Free Version on GOG

Hell Is Us joins GOG on October 29, becoming the first DRM-free release of the game and the only version that doesn't need an online activation check to start. For anyone who's been waiting specifically for an offline-friendly copy, that's the edition to watch for. The GOG build ships with the same twelve text languages as the Steam and Epic versions, including English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese and Simplified Chinese, though voice acting is limited to English and French regardless of platform.

Getting the Most Out of the New Hollow Walkers

Because the ten new enemies are spread across Hadea's existing areas rather than locked to new zones, there's no separate unlock step: finishing Update 1.8's download is enough to start running into them during normal exploration and combat. A few practical notes carry over from the base game and are worth keeping in mind while you adjust to the bigger roster:

• Use the Guardian Detector (upgraded back in Update 1.7) to confirm an area's Lymbic Entities are cleared before moving on, which also helps you notice new Hollow Walker types you might otherwise walk past.
• Save before engaging an unfamiliar Hollow Walker variant, since several of the new designs change their attack range or behavior partway through a fight.
• If you're returning after a long break, expect the UI's interact prompts and remappable controls to be exactly where you left them; nothing in Update 1.8 touches input or accessibility settings.

Whether you're jumping back in on PC, waiting for the Switch 2 cartridge, or holding out for the GOG release, the version you end up on is running the same Update 1.8 content underneath. The only real choice left is which storefront's terms and features suit you best.

New to Hell Is Us? Here's What You're Getting Into

If Update 1.8 or the Switch 2 launch is what's pulling you in for the first time, it helps to know what kind of game Hadea actually is before you start. Hell Is Us drops you into a fictional country torn apart by a civil war and a mysterious calamity, playing as Rémi, a soldier returning home to find answers about his own past. Combat uses melee weapons like swords, polearms and axes against the Hollow Walkers, with a stamina pool that regenerates over time but shrinks as your health drops, so fights that go badly get progressively harder to recover from. Exploration deliberately strips away markers, quest logs and a minimap; instead you lean on conversations with NPCs, physical landmarks and your KAPI drone, which can scan for clues and nearby Lymbic Entities, to figure out where to go next. That no-waypoint structure is the thing most reviews single out, for better or worse, so going in expecting a traditional open-world checklist is the fastest way to come away disappointed. Update 1.8 doesn't change any of that core design, just the number of enemy types you'll run into while you're doing it.