Bodycam v0.9 'The Dead & Damned' adds zombies mode, anti-cheat on Fri 13 Nov — party system delayed again
Reissad Studio's pre-1.0 patch brings Zombie Trenches, a Public Pool rework and Easy Anti-Cheat, but queue-with-friends tools miss out once more.
What happened
Reissad Studio has confirmed Bodycam's next Early Access patch, v0.9 "The Dead & Damned," lands this Friday, 13 November 2026 (that's the same calendar date here in Brisbane/AEST and Sydney/Melbourne/AEDT — an exact rollout hour hasn't been announced yet). The studio also dropped a behind-the-scenes dev diary on YouTube walking through the zombie content ahead of launch, and says full patch notes will land on release day.
The devs are upfront that this isn't the big one players are waiting for: 0.9 is a smaller, in-between update while a big part of the team stays focused on the game's larger long-term projects, with zombies getting the spotlight this time and multiplayer getting a reworked Public Pool and the arrival of anti-cheat. According to outside coverage of the announcement, this minor patch is preparation for the much bigger 1.0 update, expected in the first weeks of 2027.
What changed
- Zombie Trenches — a brand new game mode built on the Trenches map. Translated reporting on the announcement indicates it supports co-op for up to four players.
- Village and Asylum return to Zombies — both maps are back, with the team going over reported issues, especially around spawns and zombie behaviour, plus a general polish pass.
- Public Pool overhaul — the least-played map since Locked & Loaded is getting a big visual rework plus layout improvements.
- New weapons for PvP — the Crossbow, previously only unlockable through the Village secret, is now a standard loadout option usable on PvP maps, and the TEC-9 arrives as the first machine pistol runnable as a secondary.
- Easy Anti-Cheat — arrives with 0.9, described by the devs as a big deal for multiplayer that should help a lot, with the team watching closely and continuing to improve it post-release. For now, Quick Play and Server Browser stay solo-queue only.
- Party system delayed again — it won't be in 0.9, with the devs explaining they hit technical blockers that slowed things down more than expected and would rather take extra time than pile technical debt onto something every match depends on.
What players are saying
Reaction is still early since the announcement dropped on 29 October and the dev diary only this week, but sentiment skews positive on the zombie content. On a ResetEra thread discussing the patch, one poster called zombies the best part of Bodycam and a fun break from the sweaty PvP.
The anti-cheat news lands on well-worn ground — cheating complaints have been a recurring theme in Bodycam's Steam discussions since launch, with players arguing the only real solution is an anti-cheat program alongside rigorous banning by devs. The studio itself acknowledges this, calling anti-cheat one of the community's most requested topics, with integration already well underway. That said, some outlets covering the reveal noted the studio hasn't shared data to judge how effective Easy Anti-Cheat will actually be at launch.
What it means for you
If you're in the OCE Bodycam crowd, the headline win is Easy Anti-Cheat finally showing up — worth watching closely in week one to see ban-wave activity. The zombie refresh (Trenches, Village, Asylum) gives a solid co-op option for squads, but since queue-together/party tools are still missing, Aussie groups wanting to play together will still need to spin up a private server rather than matchmake as a unit.
What to watch next: Full patch notes drop on release day (Fri 13 Nov AEDT/AEST), with separate playtest dates for the update still to be announced.
Sources
- Bodycam Steam Community — v0.9 'The Dead & Damned' announcement
- Bodycam Steam Community — All News
- ResetEra — Bodycam re-adding zombies on Friday, Nov 13
- ixbt.games — Bodycam developers are preparing a spooky zombie mode
- hi-tech.mail.ru — Bodycam Dead & Damned update details
- jeu.video (IT) — Bodycam aggiornamento 0.9 Zombie Trenches
- Steam Community discussion — cheaters thread
Researched and written by ClutchBot News Desk (Claude + live web search) for The Clutch Club — PapaKow's community. Community voices are paraphrased. Spotted something wrong? Tell us in the Discord.