[Dev Note] Greetings. This is the executive producer.

Greetings, Hunters.

This is Gwanghun Kim, the executive producer of ‘Solo Leveling: ARISE OVERDRIVE.’

Another eventful year is drawing to a close.

Thanks to the passionate support and constructive criticism from all our Hunters, this past year has been an incredibly meaningful and heartwarming time for the development team. We extend our deepest gratitude for your encouragement.

In gratitude for your support, we want to share our sincere thoughts with our Hunters as we wrap up the year today. We'll discuss the planned improvements currently in development, the offline mode many of you have been curious about, and our future update direction.

Planned Improvements for the January Update

To prioritize resolving any inconveniences Hunters may have experienced while playing the game, we are preparing the following improvements for the early January update.

1. Removal of World Map Stage Entry Requirements

We will be removing the requirement that required you to clear the previous Stage in order to advance to the next Stage when playing World Map content.

• Original intent: To prevent lower-level hunters from becoming discouraged by attempting overly high difficulty levels, we aimed to provide a step-by-step growth experience.
• Reason for the Improvements: However, we've received feedback that this process may feel like unnecessary repetition for sufficiently powerful and skilled Hunters. Furthermore, we also heard from players that forcing them to complete the early Stages solely for late-game farming actually detracts from the joy of progression.
• Changes: Now, you will be able to freely challenge the difficulty of your choice based on your own stats and skill.

2. Upon clearing a higher difficulty level, the ‘First-Time Rewards’ for the lower levels will be distributed at once

The system will be upgraded to grant first-time rewards from all lower levels when clearing a higher difficulty level in World Map content.

• Changes: For example, if you clear Tier 10 right away, you will receive the first-time rewards for tiers 1 to 10. (The initial reward for each Stage is awarded once per account.)
• For Hunters who have already cleared a higher tier, playing that Stage after the update will grant the lower-tier rewards that were previously missed.

3. Improvements to the Army of Shadows Interfering with Sung Jinwoo’s Movement

We’ve received a lot of feedback that the Shadow Soldiers summoned during combat are either too large or too numerous, which ends up blocking Sung Jinwoo’s movement or obstructing his view. Additionally, players noted that constant knockback was pushing monsters into corners, making it difficult to deal damage.

• Changes: To ensure smooth combat movement for Sung Jinwoo, we will adjust the Army of Shadows’ collision range and AI to provide a more comfortable combat experience.

4. Increased ??? Key Acquisition Amount

Many players reported that their progression was being stalled by a lack of entry keys when attempting higher-difficulty World Map content for high-tier farming.

• Changes: To help Hunters focus more smoothly on farming, we will increase the drop rate and acquisition amount of the ‘??? Key’.

5. Enhanced Co-Op Play Convenience (Addition of Replay Feature)

We’ve removed the inconvenience of having to recreate a room each time when playing Co-op repeatedly.

• Changes: We’ve added a ‘Replay’ feature after finishing a Stage and improved the system so that your previous play settings are retained when returning to the lobby, enabling continuous play.

6. Reduced Difficulty in Obtaining Cosmetic Items  

We have also received many comments from Hunters about the difficulty of obtaining various cosmetic items. While these items were designed to help Hunters express their individuality, the development team fully understands the concerns that the acquisition process has been overly difficult.

• Changes: To ensure Hunters can enjoy both the thrill of farming and the fun of customizing, we plan to increase the drop rate of high-grade cosmetic items during field play so they appear more frequently than before.

Additionally, we plan to implement around 50 major and minor improvements based on the valuable feedback provided by our Hunters. Full details will be available in the patch notes.

Offline Mode and Future Plans

[Offline Mode Development Update] We would like to explain the ‘Offline Mode,’ which many Hunters have been most curious about and have requested.

The goal of the Offline Mode is to enable Hunters to enjoy the game without interruption, even on handheld devices like the Steam Deck and ROG Ally, or in environments with unstable internet connections. This is to ensure that gameplay remains uninterrupted, even during unavoidable server maintenance or unexpected issues.

• The development team has made this a top priority and is currently focusing all efforts on its development.
• However, since the game was designed from the early stages of development based on an online environment, transitioning it to an offline setting is proving to be more technically complex than expected. 
• Since providing a "stable gameplay environment" is our top priority, we are working meticulously, even if it takes a little more time.

We are currently accelerating development and testing with the goal of releasing an update in the first quarter of 2026. We will share the specific dates with our Hunters as soon as they are finalized.

In addition, we are on track with our preparations for the 2026 console version as previously promised, along with the new ‘Jeju Island Raid’ story that many Hunters have been eagerly awaiting. We look forward to the day we can proudly share these improvements and bring you more great news.

Thank you again for all your support this past year. We hope the new year brings nothing but happiness and good fortune to all Hunters.