Since Update 18 and the announcement of our upcoming playtest, you have asked a number of questions that we wanted to address in this Dev Brief. As you’ll have seen from our recent communications, we are trying to be more transparent and communicative about our decisions and why they have been made.
In this Dev Brief, you can expect clarity on the following:
What we’re doing to improve the in-game experience since Update 18.
What we’ve learned from Update 18.
Why we didn’t roll back Update 18.
Why we’re running a PTE for Update 19.
When we’re planning to release Update 19.
What has caused the recent connection issues and how they’re being addressed.
An important update from our Game Service Providers (GSP) on the ongoing distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.
We hope this briefing gives you more insight into what we’ve been working on, the challenges you’ve been experiencing in-game, and what’s ahead for Hell Let Loose.
Thank you to everyone who has reported bugs and sent feedback through channels we monitor closely like Discord and Reddit. We’re really excited for what’s coming next for Hell Let Loose. Let us know in the comments if there are any other questions you’d like us to answer.
When Update 18 launched, several unforeseen issues surfaced, including PhysX engine problems that caused both server and client-side crashes. While we resolved many of these major issues with the release of Hotfix 1 and Hotfix 2, the team has continued to work on Hotfix 3, which is due to release next week. Throughout we have been acting on reports you have raised through our support platform, Discord and Reddit.
Alongside these Hotfixes, we have been focusing on deeper, long-term stability improvements that will roll out in Update 19 and future updates.
For those interested, Hotfix 3, due out next week, will include a few minor client-side crash issues related to in game pop-up prompts and use of the admin camera, a server crash issue inside FRigPivot when updating actors, and a fix to the RCON tool to punish a player that had resulted in that player not seeing the cause of death or the message left by the admin.
Update 18 didn’t go as we all hoped, and it highlighted several areas where we need to improve including community engagement and stress testing with live-game conditions. A number of issues surfaced that affected the player experience and made it clear we needed to strengthen some of our processes.
Moving forward, we’re focused on improving how we detect issues within the game adding new tools on the backend to support this. We are also working with GSPs to enhance server stability, expanding opportunities to involve the community earlier, and aiming to be more transparent in our communication wherever possible. These changes aim to make future updates more stable, better tested, and deliver an overall improved player experience.
A common question we’ve seen since Update 18 is “why we didn’t roll it back?”
While rolling back might sound like a quick fix, it often introduces new risks and complications, particularly when identifying the root causes of issues. This was unfortunately the case for us with Update 18.
We made the decision to focus on targeted hotfixes and long-term stability improvements rather than reverting progress. This approach allows us to ensure future updates are more stable, better optimised, and built on a stronger foundation.
We look forward to seeing continued improvement with the next hotfix and the release of Update 19.
Public Testing Environments give the community a chance to share direct feedback on new content before it’s released. After Update 18, we saw just how valuable this process is for identifying issues that may not appear during internal testing.
This PTE marks an important step in strengthening communication between the development team and the community. We’re working closely with server owners, clan leaders, competitive players, and others to ensure players have a voice in shaping the game.
We want to hear your feedback on the Smolensk map and the new Self-Propelled Artillery, as it will help us refine both ahead of release.
As a note, whilst we have members of the team are working on the next update, we want to reassure you that many remain focused on resolving the issues identified by the community in Update 18.
Although we previously announced a November release for Update 19, we’ve made the decision to delay the release. This extra time will allow the team to ensure that issues from Update 18 are addressed ahead of the new release.
Expect a confirmed release date announcement later this month. Be sure to follow us on our social channels and join the Discord to make sure you don’t miss the announcement.
We know connection issues have become more common for many players since Update 18. These problems stem from several factors, including PhysX-related issues (which was resolved in Hotfix 2), however has also been due to a set of ongoing DDoS attacks affecting server providers (see below for more details on the DDoS Update).
Since Update 18, we’ve been improving client-side stability and performance-related issue, while working with server providers to test fixes in live conditions for server-side problems. Your feedback remains vital in helping us identify and resolve remaining issues.
If you experience crashes or connection problems, please reach out to the Hell Let Loose Support Team with as much detail as possible. Your reports help us identify and resolve problems more quickly.
As an FYI, If you do get a kicked from a game due to a DDoS attack, you will likely see an message like the one below that says “A NETWORK ERROR HAS OCCURED. PLEASE TRY AGAIN.”
You also may see “LOST CONNECTION TO HOST” as well.
Major issues such as tank traversal and PhysX engine crashes were fixed through Hotfixes 1 and 2, with more improvements coming in Hotfix 3 and Update 19.
Alongside these issues, network connection problems have been linked to DDoS attacks. We are working with GSPs, and have internal network engineers monitoring the situation.
The PTE gives players an early chance to provide feedback and shape new content. We will share the feedback forms when the PTE launches on Friday.
A rollback was not possible without risking more problems for the long-term stability of the game, so we focused on targeted fixes that are already being actioned.
Update 19 is now planned for December to allow time for more fixes and feedback.
In the community update in Dev Brief #209 (3 November 2025), we informed players about a recent series of DDoS attacks targeting one of the major server providers for Hell Let Loose, Qonzer.
QONZER has now released a statement on their website with more details about the attacks and how they are working with NeoProtect to protect their customers moving forward. For more information, we recommend reading their full statement, however here is their overview summary.
As you are aware, we have been actively communicating with all clients regarding the recent surge in DDoS attacks. Our existing mitigation system has successfully protected our network for over a year; however, on the 30th November, we experienced an unprecedented 29.1 Tbps attack that resulted in all Boarder Gateway Protocol (BGP) sessions being revoked. This only affected around 15-20% of our network with the majority not being HLL based services.
We anticipate that these attacks will continue to grow in frequency and scale due to the rise of low-cost “rent-to-DDoS” proxy services, which enable powerful attacks at minimal expense.
To address this, we have initiated a two-phase strategy:
Phase One:
We have expanded the global capacity of qGuard-Standard, which already blocks a substantial portion of incoming attacks. While it does not yet include the advanced packet filtering technology of our previous solution, it serves as an immediate and relatively effective protective layer.
Phase Two:
Over the coming days, we are deploying new large-capacity scrubbing centers to replace the original network featuring the sophisticated packet filtering capabilities. These centers will provide complete protection against the recent class of attacks. All clients will be offered to transition to this enhanced protection at no additional cost.
Our goal remains to keep you online, secure, and protected without any increase in cost. Thanks to our network’s unique architecture, we are able to implement these improvements rapidly.
If you have any questions regarding this update, please contact us directly via the live chat directly on all of our platforms.
We have also contacted our other server providers, who have issued the following statements.
We previously trialled Corero hardware for deep packet inspection and filtering, which helped block attacks up to 40 Gbps but wasn’t scalable for the 100 Gbps+ floods we’ve seen across multiple regions due to the time and cost involved. We’ve since moved to working directly with our data centers, which handle the most common attacks automatically and mitigate larger ones as they occur with great success so far.
We’re also exploring routing all traffic through services like Path.Net, which provide a global scrubbing network for DDoS protection, though we’re mindful this could increase latency for players.
DDoS attacks are becoming larger and more sophisticated than ever before, often reaching 10Tbps+ and packet rate in the billions per second. Our parent company Global Secure Layer has built application specific protection across the gaming industry, creating custom solutions for individual games rather than generic UDP based defenses to defend against large and complex attacks. This is necessary as attackers often mimic underlying game protocols to bypass generic protections.
The GSL team are constantly developing their global mitigation platform, to ensure all Streamline customers are getting the best experience possible
GTXGaming Statement on DDoS Protection for Hell Let Loose Servers:
At GTXGaming, the stability and security of our Hell Let Loose servers, both PC and Console, remain our top priority. Our infrastructure is safeguarded by industry-leading DDoS protection, utilizing multi-layer mitigation systems and real-time traffic analysis to detect and neutralize attacks before they impact gameplay. We work continuously with our data center partners to adapt to evolving threats and ensure minimal downtime, low latency, and a seamless experience for every community we host. Our team actively monitors the network 24/7 to guarantee that Hell Let Loose players enjoy the highest level of protection and performance available in the industry.
