Peak Devs Plead for Patience as Overpowered Zombies Tear Through a 14-Million-Player Game

Peak tossed zombies into the climb this week, players freaked out, and now the dev is asking everyone to take a breath while they tune the chaos for, checks notes, up to 14 million people. That is a lot of wildly different opinions to juggle.

What happened

As part of the co-op game’s new Roots update, Team Peak added zombies to the climb. On paper: fun. In practice: backlash. Players said the undead were spawning too often, moving too fast, and generally steamrolling squads.

The quick nerf (and the reality check)

The studio moved fast with what it calls a slight nerf, then posted a video admitting how tough it is to balance a game at Peak’s current scale. The message was honest and a little spicy:

"We did a slight nerf on these zombies after some said they were pretty OP. Some of you think they weren’t OP enough, so we’re trying to find that little balance. They’re still gonna kick your ass, don’t worry, but they’ve been nerfed enough that you’re still gonna enjoy the climb."

There’s also an on-screen banner around the 0:39 mark that basically sums up the headache:

"Guys its so hard to balance a game for 14 million players ok. Seriously some people got so mad at us in forums guys it was insane."

Context you should know

Peak didn’t begin life as a mega-hit. It started as a small side project made in collaboration between Aggro Crab and Landfall. The game only launched five months ago and then exploded. So now you’ve got a tiny experiment turned viral sensation, and the team is trying to keep the ride fun without accidentally nuking the difficulty curve.

Where things stand (and what to expect next)

• Zombies were added in the Roots update this week and immediately toned down with a slight nerf.
• They’re still meant to be dangerous. The team is actively looking for the sweet spot between too brutal and too boring.
• With as many as 14 million players, expect more iteration; the devs are openly feeling their way to balance based on feedback.

Cool your jets

I get that getting wiped by sprinting corpses is annoying. But maybe dial down the forum fury a bit. This is a video game. The zombies are not real. They cannot hurt you.

One last bit of flavor

If you’re wondering why Peak leans into chaotic co-op energy, the studio has basically planted a flag in that territory. As they put it:

"We proudly wear the friendslop badge"

They’ve been studying what makes this stuff fun, including looking at games like REPO, and chasing that messy, memorable session vibe that’s all over Steam right now. Which, honestly, explains a lot about those zombies.