Garry Newman, creator of the hugely popular Garry’s Mod, has admitted that his studio’s spiritual successor, S&box, is struggling and announced a series of sweeping changes intended to turn the project around.
In a new blog post titled “Rethinking,” Newman acknowledged that the game has failed to win over players since its April launch. “The platform is not well liked, it doesn’t have good retention,” he wrote. “I’m embarrassed by our reviews, I am ashamed.”
Developed by Facepunch Studios using Valve’s Source 2 engine, S&box was envisioned as a successor to Garry’s Mod, the physics sandbox that has sold more than 25 million copies. But the new project has struggled to attract an audience, with its Steam reviews sitting at roughly 47% positive.
Newman said the studio had focused too heavily on its development tools rather than the experience players actually get.
“We’re not selling an engine, we’re selling a game,” he wrote.
Big changes are coming to S&box
Facepunch plans to prioritize the game’s core sandbox experience, adding more NPCs and vehicles while improving multiplayer, add-on support, and customization. Newman said the goal is to bring the experience up to parity with Garry’s Mod and eventually surpass it.
The studio is also rethinking how players discover games within S&box. Newman acknowledged that his vision of a “Netflix for games,” where players browse a broad selection of user-created experiences, hasn’t worked as intended. The abundance of low-quality games, including AI-generated projects, has made it harder for players to find worthwhile experiences.
Instead, Facepunch wants to emphasize curation, promoting the best and most popular games rather than simply offering the largest selection. The studio also plans to shift more of its infrastructure toward Steam Workshop rather than continuing to develop its own alternatives.
Perhaps most significantly, S&box is expected to become free-to-play toward the end of 2026. Newman said charging an entry fee alongside paid cosmetics could be discouraging potential players.
“We don’t need the entrance fee, we need players,” he wrote.
Existing owners will receive exclusive Steam inventory items when the game goes free-to-play, with additional items for those who paid the higher $20 price rather than $10. Newman closed the post by acknowledging the disappointment surrounding the project, saying he loves the engine and the creative possibilities it offers but understands why players have been unhappy.
“We’re making some big sweeping changes to try to improve things,” he wrote. “Please bear with us while we make these changes.”