The Hive Patch Notes — January 26, 2026
Aggregated from Steam, cross-tracked with Battle.net coverage on GamePatchNote.
Update 1.4.0 (Major Update)
We have combined the patch notes for 1.307, 1.308, 1.309, and 1.3.10 into this post, with 1.4.0 at the top.
1.4.0 Highlights
New Group Selection UI: clearer group controls, new visuals, and the UI is now clickable
Better control groups: distinct unit icons for groups, and group counts refresh in real time
Inventory QoL: Inventory button pulses when you pick up a new item
Selection improvement: double-click a unit portrait to select only that unit (single-click still works as before)
UI clarity pass: improved font scaling, tooltip formatting, and readability across screens
More UI guidance: new tooltips across inventory, resources, and common actions
HUD info upgrade: unit class is now shown on the HUD
Inventory and gear fixes: fixed cases where items could disappear, or equipped gear could be removed incorrectly
Achievements improvements: fixed healing achievement tracking, plus improved difficulty completion tracking
Balance: Gatekeeper AOE cooldown increased from 7s to 14s
1.4.0 Additions
New Group Selection UI
Group controls are now easier to use and clearer to read
Added distinct unit icons for control groups, making group displays easier to read at a glance
Group UI has received new visuals and is now clickable
The Inventory button now pulses when you pick up a new item
1.4.0 Improvements
UI and Tooltips
Updated the minimap to be more accurate
Improved difficulty tooltips in the main menu for clearer explanations
Added helpful tooltips across the inventory and resource UI:
Inventory slots: helmet, armor, shield, amulet, accessory, weapon
Resources: food, materials, DNA, population
Actions: equip, dissolve, open inventory
Unit class is now shown on the HUD, so it is easier to understand a unit’s role at a glance
Improved tooltip positioning so tooltips stay within the UI and do not go off-screen
Clarified upgrade button descriptions to specify which unit types they affect
Improved UI readability across multiple screens:
Better font scaling and sizing for cleaner text
Updated tooltip text to clearly explain that “Dissolve All” converts unequippable items into DNA
Added a sound effect when pressing the “Dissolve All” button
Overall tooltip and text formatting refinements
Improved the look and clarity of item name UI:
Cleaner text layout (size, alignment, spacing)
Achievements
Completing the game on a higher difficulty now also counts for the lower difficulty completions
Example: beating it on Hard will also award the Normal completion achievements
Balance
Gatekeeper AOE cooldown increased from 7 seconds to 14 seconds
1.4.0 Fixes
Inventory and Equipment
Fixed an issue where equipped weapons and other gear could be removed incorrectly
Fixed a bug where items could disappear when unequipping or moving gear
Fixed inventory issues where items could fail to return correctly or behave incorrectly after reloading
Fixed item tooltips appearing in the wrong place
Groups and HUD
Fixed unit group counts not properly accounting for revived units
Fixed group UI counts so they now refresh in real time
Fixed HUD selection so you can double-click a unit portrait to select only that unit
Achievements
Fixed the healing-related achievement not tracking correctly
Previous updates included in this post
Update 1.3.10 “Swarm is Back” (January 3, 2026)
Includes changes from 1.308 and 1.309
Engine and Visuals
Major engine upgrade for improved stability and future support
Lighting upgraded and all maps rebaked
Water rendering updated
Increased post processing intensity from 0.5 to 0.8 for improved overall visuals
Cinematics and Cutscenes
Restored full length cinematics to their original versions
Added a failsafe to ensure the mouse cursor is always returned after cutscenes
Made skipping cinematics faster (hold time reduced from 3 seconds to 1 second)
UI and Resolution Support
Added UI scaling improvements across multiple menus for better behavior on different resolutions
Fixes
Fixed inventory issues where items could fail to return correctly or behave incorrectly after reloading
Fixed an animation issue on insectoid worker legs
Fixed a particle effect error with the artifact beam in the final level
Fixed terrain lighting issues in the final level
Fixed a few incorrect subtitles
Balance and Gameplay Changes
Restored squad based units and adjusted related build times and costs
Adjusted building costs
You now gain two Wasp units at the start of Map04
Building cost adjustments
Conch: 50 minerals (down from 150)
Burrow: 30 minerals (down from 50)
Turret: 50 minerals (down from 75)
Hive: 100 minerals (down from 150)
Nestling Mound: 100 minerals (down from 150)
Spring: 75 minerals (down from 100)
Platform Updates
Added a Linux build for GOG players
Updated the macOS build to match version 1.3.10
Windows default renderer selection improved: the game now prefers DirectX 12 when available. Previously, some systems could default to OpenGL if it was available
Update 1.307
Achievements and Difficulty
Fixed: the game now correctly saves and loads the selected difficulty
Fixed: Hard and Insanity completion achievements should now unlock properly after finishing the campaign
Fixed: the Avatar skill and squad mechanics are restored, so “Play of the Game” is obtainable again
Improved: added extra checks so end game achievements trigger more reliably
Note: older saves did not store difficulty correctly. For these fixes to fully apply, start a new playthrough or make new saves after updating
Squad Mechanics and Balance
Legionnaires restored to a squad of 5 units
Hunters restored to a squad of 3 units
Population cost increased to match the larger squad sizes
Resource costs only slightly increased. Fast build speeds and earlier quality of life improvements are kept
Hive building resurrects dead squad units again for a small food cost per unit
Goal: bring back the more swarm like feel, without losing the previous improvements
UI and Visuals
Fixed: pause menu no longer stretches on ultrawide resolutions
Restored: intro and ending cinematics are back to their original full versions
Feedback
If you run into any issues with inventory, groups, achievements, or cutscenes, please report them in the Steam forums. Balance and mission pacing feedback is also always welcome.
If you are enjoying The Hive, leaving a Steam review helps us a lot and supports future updates.