Dev behind new 'GTA-like' crime caper Samson admits it "released a game with flaws"

With GTA 6 still far off on the horizon, almost certainly a no-show on PC for 2026, there's a natural appetite for possible alternatives. Samson, a new crime game that follows the eponymous anti-hero's return to the streets of Tyndalston where he was raised, has the kind of gritty New York vibe that scratches the same itch as GTA 4. Unfortunately, its launch has landed to a decidedly mixed response so far, with players bemoaning crashes and performance issues, alongside a general feeling that the action wasn't quite what they were hoping for.

"Early impressions are mixed and many of you are experiencing game-breaking bugs and performance issues," Liquid Swords founder Christopher Sundberg acknowledges. "That's unacceptable and we are listening to everyone's feedback and are hard at work to deliver the game we spent years of our lives developing. Launching a game is a ton of work and I'm proud of the effort our team has put into seeing Samson from its initial concept through to release."

Sundberg continues, "We have been having a lot of fun watching folks have fun with the game, and we released a game with flaws for a number of reasons." He doesn't dig into these, but promises, "We are committed to the future of both Samson and Tyndalston and this game will grow over time on all fronts: quality, gameplay, and content. Thank you all for supporting us and sticking with us."

A first patch is planned to arrive on Friday April 10, addressing "some of the immediate issues people are facing." This includes support for up to eight save files, crash fixes for issues "related to audio, animation, and GPU," and performance improvements that should resolve stuttering issues faced by some players.

The preliminary patch notes include a range of other mission and progression fixes, along with corrections for some gameplay issues. NPC fall damage has been introduced "as a failsafe for dropped NPCs." The interact range on pickups has been increased to help you grab anything that falls under another object such as a body. The enemy AI should now correctly push towards you in group encounters, but will no longer recklessly run out into the street to inspect any dead bodies that are spotted.

There are also translation improvements, better alignment for characters leaning on walls, and a stop to "corpses popping back back up or being launched into the air after takedowns, hazards, or railing interactions." Sundberg adds, "The work doesn't stop there. Samson is here to stay and we are not going anywhere." He promises that the team will continue targeting performance, gameplay, and animation issues, alongside further polish.

While it's never ideal to see a new game arrive with a wealth of problems, it's good to see quick action being taken. Given that many of Samson's Steam reviews also complain about the feel of the combat and the driving, however, it might take more than just some polish and bug fixing to restore its reputation from the current score of just 53% positive ratings. I wish the team at Liquid Swords the best in getting there.