Deep Blue Sushi Known Issues & Fixes

Deep Blue Sushi is in Early Access and the PaperPixel team is iterating on roughly weekly patches. This page mirrors the live Known Issues list from the Steam Community hub and adds context — what triggers each bug, why it is happening, and the workaround you can use right now. The current build on Steam is v0.1.6-ea.3 (Dining Table, Customer AI & Multiplayer Update, Aug 25, 2026); anything older should be considered stale.

Status Snapshot For v0.1.6-ea.3

• 5-player service stability: markedly improved. The retry-on-migration fix in this build resolves most of the “kicked back to title” disconnects that plagued the v0.1.5-ea.8 launch.
• Dining table stuck state: fixed in this build. Old save files with a stuck dining table are auto-migrated on first read.
• Customer wall-clipping: fixed in this build. Customers now use the proper pathfinding grid instead of the legacy straight-line spline.
• First-launch localisation: fixed in v0.1.3-ea.2. If you launched the game on day one and never updated, two of the 31 languages can still show English — patch the game.
• Player collision: toggleable since v0.1.5-ea.8. Default ON. If players are clipping into the prep counter on a 4K monitor, switch it OFF in the lobby.

Open Bugs Sorted By Impact

High Impact

1. Quest HUD flicker on the first Sleep quest of a run — opening the Sleep quest card before the previous quest’s animation finishes causes the HUD overlay to flicker for ~1 second. Workaround: wait for the quest complete animation to finish before opening the next card. Tracked for v0.1.7.
2. Steam Overlay hotkey collision with chop timing — Shift+Tab or friends hotkeys can overlap with the chop timing window and pin chat. Workaround: rebind your Steam overlay hotkey in Settings → Overlay → Hotkeys. Tracked for v0.1.7.
3. Lobby host migration races on bad networks — a host leaving during service triggers a re-election that occasionally double-promotes a player, then forces a rejoin. v0.1.6-ea.3 added a 3x retry that handles most cases but not all. Workaround: the remaining players can keep playing; the late joiner picks up automatically on the next sync tick.

Medium Impact

4. Late-joiner spawn point on Windows 10 + GTX 1050 — players joining an in-progress lobby can spawn at the dive dock instead of the kitchen for the first 5 seconds. Workaround: dive into the water and surface; the spawn point updates. Tracked for v0.1.7.
5. Audio mix in 5-player lobbies — ocean ambient still slightly louder than ideal during peak service on Windows 10 64-bit systems with the recommended GPU. Reduced in v0.1.5-ea.8 but not eliminated. Workaround: cycle audio output to headphones in the audio settings.
6. Outfit sync after host migration — fixed in v0.1.6-ea.3 for new migrations, but save files that started before the patch may still show the new host in default chef whites for one session. Workaround: swap outfits in the customization menu — the new selection syncs immediately.

Low Impact (Cosmetic)

7. Otter NPC spawning inside the wall near the ChefDesk — rate reduced in v0.1.6-ea.3 but not eliminated. Workaround: move toward the NPC and it will path-find to the correct location.
8. Animation blend pop when a player switches from dive to chef stance mid-jump — fixed for solo play, still present in co-op. Patched in the next build.
9. Hair clipping through headwear on certain customisation presets — purely visual. Switching headwear style usually clears it.

Performance Notes For v0.1.6-ea.3

Frametime variance in a 5-player rush is down ~18% versus v0.1.5-ea.8 on the recommended-spec target, but stutter can still appear under three common scenarios:

• CPU-bound kitchen simulation — the 12-table service hits hard on quad-core CPUs (i5-8400 / Ryzen 5 2600). The cap is unlocked frames; the fix is to lock to 60 FPS through the NVIDIA / AMD control panel until PaperPixel lands the next optimisation pass.
• Overlay contention — Discord, GeForce Experience, MSI Afterburner, and Steam Overlay can all hitch the kitchen input pipeline. Workaround: close overlays before starting a service.
• Hard disk paging — players on HDD see hitches when the kitchen pre-fetches new orders. Workaround: install Deep Blue Sushi on an SSD; the Steam store page explicitly recommends SSD.

Multiplayer Connectivity

Most launch-week disconnects come from two underlying causes:

• Lobby host migration races — a host leaving during service triggers a re-election that occasionally double-promotes a player, then forces a rejoin. Mitigated in v0.1.6-ea.3 with a 3x retry but can still happen under bad network. Workaround: the remaining players can keep playing; the late joiner picks up automatically on the next sync tick.
• NAT type strict — players behind strict NAT see frequent drops. Workaround: enable UPnP on your router or put the console / PC in the DMZ.

UI Scaling

If text or HUD elements do not scale correctly on your monitor, your operating system’s DPI scaling is the most common cause. Deep Blue Sushi uses the system DPI of your Windows user account. Try one of:

1. Right-click the Deep Blue Sushi executable in Steam → Properties → Compatibility → Change high DPI settings → Application.
2. Set Windows Settings → Display → Scale to 100% (or 125%) rather than custom scaling.
3. If you use a multi-monitor rig with mixed scaling, run the game fullscreen on the primary monitor.

Audio Issues

On some sound cards, switching audio output (headphones ↔ speakers ↔ HDMI) while the game is running can leave the audio engine in a half-initialised state. Fix: quit the game, switch output, relaunch.

Save Data Safety

• Cloud saves are enabled by default and propagate after every session. v0.1.5-ea.10 switched conflict resolution to most-recent-timestamp.
• Local saves are stored under %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\PaperPixelGames\Deep Blue Sushi\ as SaveSlot_*.es3 plus a ClientSave.es3 for shared client state. Back up this folder before joining a playtest or loading a modded save.
• Restore previous save: Settings → Save Data → Restore Previous Save rolls back one generation on the same slot (added in v0.1.5-ea.10).
• No wipes planned during Early Access. If a wipe is ever needed, PaperPixel will announce 7 days in advance on Steam news.

How To Report A Bug That Is Not On This List

1. Open Steam Community → Deep Blue Sushi → Discussions → Bug Reports.
2. Use the Pinned tag if your bug matches one of the open reports above (helps the team rank impact).
3. Provide your build string (v0.1.6-ea.3 etc.) from Settings → About, your OS / driver version, and a short clip if you have one.
4. The in-game bug-report tool (Esc → Report) attaches your last 60 seconds of system telemetry automatically.

Upcoming Fixes Tracked For v0.1.7

• Quest HUD flicker on first Sleep quest.
• Steam Overlay hotkey collisions with chop timing.
• Late-joiner spawn point logic on Windows 10 + GTX 1050 baseline GPU.
• Otter NPC pathing polish.
• Animation blend pop on mid-jump dive ↔ chef stance transition.

Related Content

• Patch Notes for what is already shipped
• Early Access Roadmap for what is planned next
• Getting Started for the current gameplay loop
• Co-op Tips for multiplayer workaround patterns