Hologryph and tinyBuild have expanded SAND: Raiders of Sophie twice in barely two weeks: Update 8 from 20 August 2026, which the team itself calls its biggest update yet, and Update 9 from 1 September 2026.

At the centre sit a matchmaker that now factors in your Trampler gear, new shells and a reactor rework, plus a much tougher stance on players who queue-snipe their way onto small-crew servers together.

TL;DR: What Update 8 and 9 contain

  • Gear-based matchmaking (BETA): games are now also matched by your gear score, meaning installed compartments and stored equipment.
  • Three new armor sets for the Trampler, unlockable in the Tech Tree.
  • Three new shell types: 70mm AP/shrapnel, 80mm subcaliber with 100% penetration, 40mm anti-overheat rounds.
  • Clear feedback on shell impacts: Hit, Ricochet, Penetrate, Clean Through.
  • Reactor rework: 50% more HP, visible damage state, critical damage on rear hits.
  • The Repair Kit is now reloadable instead of single-use, and Update 9 raises its stack and fuel sizes on top of that.
  • Update 9: bindable side mouse buttons, separate sensitivity for six states, reworked item drop/stow on X.
  • Anti-teaming: GBMM, backend changes, a mandatory Players Conduct, a visible SteamID next to player names, daily bans.
  • Plus a long list of exploit, duplication and anti-cheat fixes.

Gear-based matchmaking: your loadout now counts

Update 8 introduces gear-based matchmaking as a BETA. Matchmaking now factors in a gear score built from your installed Trampler compartments and the items placed into the Outfitting stage.

If the system can't find enough players at your level, it widens the search range. Two things worth knowing:

  • Finding a match can take a bit longer than before.
  • You never get stuck, though. Past a certain point the matchmaker throws everyone into the general queue regardless of gear score, so even during the quietest hours a game comes together eventually.

The team explicitly calls this a BETA and plans to tune it based on feedback and backend data. Update 9 follows up on the server side: players who team up before an expedition starts should now end up in the same expedition less often.

New armor, new shells, new impact logic

Update 8 adds three new armor sets for the Trampler, unlockable in the Tech Tree. The Trampler Editor was rebuilt as part of the update so it can handle the new armor types at all.

Three new shell types come with it:

  • 70mm armor-piercing / shrapnel shell: fired as a single projectile, penetrates the armor and creates a burst of shrapnel on the other side.
  • 80mm subcaliber shell: has a 100% penetration chance and can punch through several compartments in a row.
  • 40mm low heat-optimized shell: cuts the overheat buildup while firing autocannons by 50%.

Four ways a shell can land

Update 8 also makes the outcome of each hit visible. There are four results:

  • Hit: the projectile connects, deals damage and is destroyed.
  • Ricochet: the shell deals 20% of its damage and is deflected in another direction from the compartment it hit. If it strikes something else on the way, it can still deal its full damage there.
  • Penetrate: the shell deals 50% of its damage to a compartment and keeps flying until it hits another obstacle. That means up to 150% of a shell's damage in a single shot.
  • Clean Through: seen when the shell passes through an already destroyed compartment. It takes no damage, isn't destroyed and simply passes cleanly through. The mechanic was always there; only the notification is new.

Reactor rework: more HP and a weak spot at the back

The Trampler reactor gets a rework in Update 8. Every reactor now has 50% more HP.

  • The reactor now visibly shows its health status and active boost effects, and reddens as it loses HP.
  • Hits to the back of the reactor deal critical damage.
  • The reactor's smoke VFX react to gear, boost and reactor state.

One related bug only made it out in Update 9: the reactor couldn't be turned on while a weapon was in hip mode. It was still listed as an open issue in Update 8's known issues.

Repair Kit: reloadable instead of disposable

The Repair Kit works fundamentally differently since Update 8. It used to be destroyed once fully used; now it can be reloaded.

  • Fuel for the Repair Kit drops from the ironclads.
  • You can buy an empty Repair Kit in the Storage.
  • Take a kit into an expedition and it starts with 0 fuel.
  • Extract a kit from an expedition and it's unloaded automatically, with its fuel extracted separately.

On top of that, "The Great Silence" is now a large item and no longer fits in the character's inventory.

Update 9 tweaks the numbers:

  • The Repair Kit now stacks to 20 in Orbital Storage instead of 10.
  • Fuel stacks are bigger across the board: Orbital Storage 60 instead of 24, large stack 60 instead of 30, medium stack 24 instead of 12, small stack 6 instead of 3.
  • The Repair Kit's own fuel capacity goes from 3 to 6.

Update 9: mouse keybinds, separate sensitivity and smoother item handling

Update 9 is mostly about controls and handling.

  • You can now bind the side mouse buttons freely.
  • There are separate sensitivity values for six states: Idle, Hip, Scope, Sniper Scope, Turret and Turret Scope.
  • Items and weapons currently held in your hands can be placed straight into storage. Previously you had to unequip them first.

Dropping and stowing items with X was reworked too:

  • Press X with a small item or weapon in hand: the item goes back into your inventory.
  • Press X with a large item in hand: the item drops to the ground and you re-equip the last small item you carried (or your bare hands if there isn't one).
  • Hold X: the carried item drops to the ground in both cases. With a large item, you then re-equip the last small item you carried.

The stance on teamers: GBMM, Players Conduct and a visible SteamID

tinyBuild and Hologryph are being more open about their move against pre-teaming and queue sniping, meaning players who manipulate matchmaking to land on smaller-crew servers together. The team states this behaviour is prohibited and will get your account banned.

What's actually happening:

  • New admins handle bans and review reports faster and more regularly.
  • Bans against pre-teamers are now issued daily instead of in large waves.
  • A code of conduct will have to be accepted before playing. Update 9 already shows the EULA and Players Conduct on first launch, and after that only when they change.
  • The SteamID now sits next to the player name. That helps when processing reports that didn't come through the in-game "Report Player" function.
  • The full rollout of GBMM is described as the starting point against queue sniping. The studio is also looking into queue delays and active checks for players who keep landing on the same server together.
  • A system for reviewing reports in real time, including spectating reported players, is in the works but still early in development.

You can report suspicious players through the in-game system or on Discord.

Cheat fixes, exploit fixes and anti-cheat false positives

Both updates close a range of holes.

From Update 8:

  • Several duplication exploits fixed.
  • Fixed an exploit that let default ammo be changed into a special ammo type.
  • Possibly fixed: a cheater could steal items from the box in your hands remotely.
  • Possibly fixed: a Trampler moving through another Trampler on collision.
  • Anti-cheat false positives fixed for grabbing the ladder mid-jump while driving toward the island, starting parkour during that same jump, and turret fire triggering a "Suspicious Activity" message.
  • Trampler legs ended up in the wrong position after re-entering the game. Fixed.
  • Weapons had no animation and no recoil when firing and toggling the flashlight at the same time.
  • Upior positions could differ between client and server.

From Update 9:

  • Possibly fixed: artifacts could be used more than once.
  • Anti-cheat false positives fixed for using the Trampler ladder below a certain height and for resuming an expedition after exiting to the main menu while crouched.
  • Blueprints with no access to the Core Compartments could be created.
  • Tramplers could be built with compartments outside the designated area.
  • Pass-through compartments such as cargo decks and framed stairs could block access to the Essential Compartments without triggering a pathfinding error.
  • The Trampler kept moving after the steering wheel was destroyed.
  • Backend fix for getting stuck on the "Waiting for rival expeditions 0/0" screen.
  • Smaller fixes to turret icons, the "Evacuation temporarily unavailable" message, the Storage prompt with too many hotkey options, and crew bodies left behind in the Captain's lobby.

What's still open

The known-issues list is shorter after Update 9, but not empty. Still open, among others:

  • The game can freeze briefly when you close the Players List. It happens from the fourth close onward.
  • The character can't enter the expedition if the invite was accepted behind the tutorial pop-up.
  • Items sometimes show inside the character's body, and large items float around them.
  • The character can become invulnerable to melee damage while interacting with turrets or the steering wheel.
  • Bullets can pass through the character on a speed-boosted Trampler.
  • The shotgun may deal no damage at very close range.
  • Ironclads can be triggered multiple times by re-entering the trigger area.
  • Blueprints can't be deleted.
  • After an Orbital Strike on the Smuggler control scheme, animations on turrets and the steering wheel can break. Workaround: get any tool or weapon in hand, or respawn.
  • The character's hands are "broken" while carrying energy rods.

FAQ

Do I need to download anything for Update 8 and 9?

Yes. Both are regular client updates and install automatically through Steam. Update 8 released on 20 August 2026, Update 9 on 1 September 2026.

What exactly is gear-based matchmaking?

Matchmaking builds a gear score from your installed Trampler compartments and stored equipment and looks for opponents in a similar range. The system is marked BETA and can still change. It can make finding a match slightly slower, but you always fall back into the general queue and never end up without a game.

Is pre-teaming punished now?

Yes. tinyBuild and Hologryph classify pre-teaming and queue sniping as prohibited behaviour that leads to an account ban. Bans are said to be issued daily, alongside a mandatory Players Conduct and the visible SteamID next to player names.

Is the Repair Kit permanently usable now?

It's no longer destroyed after use; you reload it with fuel from ironclads. Taken into an expedition, it starts with an empty tank. Update 9 also increased its stack and fuel sizes.

Taken together, both updates make it fairly clear what the team is working on right now: making matchmaking fairer and making life harder for teamers, without letting queue times blow up. How GBMM feels in your own games will show over the next few weeks.