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Servers and Online
June 26, 2026 at 01:39 PM
Added a Launch Stability section covering the launch-week server outages and denial-of-service attacks, the June 23 hotfix and June 26 update, and the known solo-into-larger-crews matchmaking issue
SAND: Raiders of Sophie is an always-online PvPvE game. A run puts you on shared servers with other real players alongside the AI threats, so a stable connection and the online systems below matter as much as your build.
The game requires a broadband internet connection and cannot be played offline. Matchmaking is based on your crew size, and the server population scales with it: 15 players on solo servers, up to 36 on small-team (2 to 3) servers, and up to 45 on large-team (4 to 6) servers.
Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
Anti-cheat | BattlEye runs on the servers |
Controller | Full controller support |
Connection | Broadband internet required; always online |
Matchmaking | Based on crew size |
At Early Access launch the game supports ten languages: English, Ukrainian, German, French, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Polish, Italian, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese.
Server scaling shaped the launch timeline. Two pre-launch network stress tests, called Server Slams, ran in June 2026, drawing tens of thousands of players. The first surfaced server-scaling problems that were not visible at smaller test sizes and led the team to delay the launch and move to Early Access. A second Server Slam a week before launch served as a final check after the team shipped server-stability and bug fixes. Players who took part in a Server Slam receive an exclusive weapon skin in their inventory when they buy the game.
The Early Access launch on June 22, 2026 drew a large player crowd and ran into heavy server problems, including outages and denial-of-service attacks. The team responded across the opening week. A server-side hotfix on June 23 added denial-of-service protections and corrected matchmaking that had placed solo players against teams, and a first update on June 26 added further protections while the developers continued investigating outages.
One known matchmaking issue persisted past the first update: solo players could still be matched into larger crews. The developers acknowledged it was not yet fixed as of June 26 and said they were actively working on a solution. As with any Early Access release, the live service is being patched frequently, so expect both downtime and rapid fixes early on.
For hardware requirements, see System Requirements. For the launch date, pricing, and platforms, see Release and Platforms.
