Mall Rivals Demo Patch Notes — March 18, 2026 (v0.1.170 - v0.1.211)

Hello everyone! We've been patching daily in Early Access, and we've compiled all the latest additions, fixes, and improvements from our recent updates into one massive list.

Here is everything new in the game:

✨ NEW FEATURES & ADDITIONS

• Camera Tracking: Carried objects now follow the camera when looking up/down, keeping items out of your field of view.

• View Distance Setting: Added a "View Distance" setting in graphics options to control how far away objects stay detailed, independent of your overall quality preset.

• Store Accessibility: Store accessibility is now properly calculated based on distance from the entrance, floor level, and nearby landmarks.

• Head Bob Toggle: Added a "Head Bob" toggle in display settings for players sensitive to camera motion.

• Intuitive Furniture Snapping: Furniture snap now prioritizes nearby furniture over walls for much more intuitive placement.

• Stocker AI Improvements: Stockers now spread out to unique positions in storage areas instead of clustering together.

🛠️ BUG FIXES

• Multiplayer & Connection:

  • Pause menu no longer freezes the game for other players in multiplayer.

  • Fixed connection issues when rejoining a game before the old session fully disconnected.

• Employees & NPCs:

  • Stockers can now successfully reach boxes stored on racks instead of getting stuck walking into the shelf.

  • Employees no longer get stuck trying to restock unreachable boxes.

  • NPCs no longer walk through placed furniture.

  • Fixed a rare issue where hiring could result in duplicate or missing employees.

• Gameplay & Interactions:

  • Loading a save no longer spawns a flood of extra customers on top of the ones already in the mall.

  • Checkout queue lines now form a path toward the store entrance instead of extending into the register.

  • Box stock count now updates correctly when placing products on shelves.

  • Players can no longer escape through revolving doors by crouching.

  • Jail countdown timer now shows correctly after loading a save, and jailed players are properly released when their sentence ends.

  • The Fashion Starter license is no longer missing a product.

• Settings & Menus:

  • Graphics settings now save properly when changed in the pause menu.

  • Audio volume, Theme, UI scale, and text size changes are no longer lost when clicking "Back" instead of "Apply".

⚙️ UI, PERFORMANCE & TUNING

• [TUNE] Mall Tier Progression: Progression now scales with team count — solo play requires more revenue, while multiplayer is proportionally easier.

• [UI] Throwing Mechanics: Throwing now shows an aiming reticle, an animated flick instruction, and an object weight indicator.

• [PERF] Better Out-of-the-Box FPS: V-Sync is now disabled by default for a smoother initial experience.

Thank you all for the bug reports and feedback. Keep them coming!