Almost five months after it rebuilt the Colony in Unreal Engine 5, Gothic 1 Remake has received its first Feature Update. Alkimia Interactive and THQ Nordic released it today as a free update on PC. It adds a full Photo Mode, brings back the series' famous Marvin Mode cheat console, and lets the Nameless Hero finally visit a barber. On the same day the team opened the first stage of official mod support with a Modkit beta that exposes the game's scripting language and full script sources. To mark the occasion, the remake is 25% off on Steam until November 5, its first discount of that size since launch.
Photo Mode comes to the Valley of Mines
The headline addition is a Photo Mode, which you can open from the pause menu or with the L key on PC. The developers call it extensive and say it comes with a range of options for framing and styling shots. For a remake whose main selling point has been how its stormy, barrier-lit valley looks in Unreal Engine 5, that is a natural fit. Screenshot hunters no longer need to hide the HUD and hope for the best, and the Colony's skyline, with the magical barrier crackling overhead, is the obvious first subject.
Marvin Mode is back, officially
Long-time players will know the name. Marvin Mode was the hidden debug and cheat mode of the 2001 original, and the remake now ships an official version of it. With it active you can do anything from popping a lock you could not pick to teleporting, or spawning items, characters and creatures. In other words, you can bend the Colony to suit the way you want to play.
The way in is a deliberate nod to the original. Press Esc, type MARVIN, then press Esc again and follow the prompts. To turn it off, press Esc and type 42. The update notes list it as a new feature in its own right, so this is a supported toggle rather than a leftover from development.
A haircut and tattoos for the Nameless Hero
The third big feature is cosmetic but tied to the story. Members of the Swamp Camp's Brotherhood can now customise the Nameless Hero with new hairstyles and tattoos, the first time the remake has let you change his look in any meaningful way. The options are unlocked by finishing a few simple quests for Joru and Baal Namib. THQ Nordic jokes that the makeover will make the hero look "even more nameless", but it also gives players who side with the Sleeper's followers something visible to show for it.
A smaller quality-of-life addition rounds out the new features: you can now wait while sitting on a bench, a familiar way to skip time in classic RPGs.
Balance tweaks and a long list of fixes
Beyond the headline features, the update tightens a lot of the moment-to-moment game. Crafted weapons now have better stats, NPCs react to more sounds, and there is a dedicated animation for dying in water from damage. On the bug-fix side:
- Equipping two identical rings now works as it should.
- The game's item logic checks now count what is in the player's pouch.
- Many location and enemy journal entries that were not unlocking now unlock correctly.
- Green Goblins carry clubs and swords again, and Goblin Warriors carry morning stars.
- Saturas no longer sells the Water Mage robe twice.
Quest fixes run through the whole story. In Chapter 1, the "Aaron Chest" quest no longer blocks if you solve it out of order. Chapter 2 fixes Gor Na Dun's reaction in combat during the Minecrawler Nest trial. Chapter 3 adds fallbacks for Lester, Milten and Gorn when you already hold their focus stone before the focus quest begins. Chapter 4 fixes interacting with golem corpses from any angle, and makes sure Urshak appears in the Ruined Castle after you trigger "Find The Orc Shaman". Mad Kalom's combat behaviour, navigation and attacks have also been polished for the Chapter 6 encounter.
The Modkit beta opens the scripts
Gothic has one of the most enduring modding scenes of any early-2000s RPG, so the second announcement may matter more in the long run. The Modkit beta is the first stage of the official mod support the team promised. It exposes the remake's scripting language and publishes the complete script sources, which means modders can rework NPC behaviour, combat balance, quests and new mechanics instead of only swapping assets.
Mods are distributed through an official Steam Workshop page for the remake. The mod manager can be opened with a launch option in Steam, or by running G1R-Win64-Shipping.exe with the -ModManagementUI argument. Alkimia has published documentation for the toolkit on its GitHub pages and asks creators to follow its modding terms and licence. The studio has not given a timeline for further tools, saying only that it has "a few more ideas".
Gothic franchise sale on Steam
Alongside the update, THQ Nordic has started a Gothic Franchise Sale on Steam, running from today until November 5. Gothic 1 Remake is 25% off, which puts it at $37.49 in the US. The original Gothic, Gothic II and Gothic 3, along with ArcaniA, are all 80% off. If you have been waiting to see whether the remake would get post-launch support, Photo Mode, Marvin Mode and an open scripting toolkit are a solid answer.
Gothic 1 Remake launched on June 5, 2026 for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. THQ Nordic's announcement lists Feature Update 1 as available now for free on PC.
