Garry Newman, creator of the physics sandbox game Garry’s Mod, has stated that his studio’s spiritual successor, S&box, has struggled since its launch in April. In a blog post titled “Rethinking,” Newman outlined a series of issues facing the project and announced sweeping changes intended to turn it around.
Struggles with audience and reviews
Developed by Facepunch Studios using Valve’s Source 2 engine, S&box was designed as a successor to Garry’s Mod, which has sold more than 25 million copies. However, the new project has had difficulty attracting players, with Steam reviews sitting at approximately 47 percent positive.
Newman expressed regret over the reception, writing that the platform is unpopular, lacks retention, and that he is embarrassed and ashamed of the reviews. He noted that the studio focused too heavily on development tools rather than the player experience, stating that they are selling a game rather than an engine.
Planned changes and free-to-play shift
To address these issues, Facepunch plans to prioritize the core sandbox experience by adding more non-player characters and vehicles, while improving multiplayer, add-on support, and customization to match and eventually surpass Garry’s Mod.
The studio is also altering how players discover games. Newman acknowledged that the initial vision of a broad selection of user-created experiences—likened to a “Netflix for games”—did not work as intended due to an abundance of low-quality and artificial intelligence-generated projects. Instead, Facepunch will focus on curation to promote top games, and shift more infrastructure toward Steam Workshop.
Additionally, S&box is scheduled to become free-to-play toward the end of 2026. Newman stated that the entrance fee and paid cosmetics were discouraging potential players. Existing owners will receive exclusive Steam inventory items, with extra rewards for those who paid the higher $20 price point over the $10 option.
