"Every update is a bonus, not a right" Peak developers respond to "lazy" criticism

Top developers have responded to criticism claiming that the game has not received enough meaningful updates that add new content, with one player calling the developers “lazy”. The claim comes after news that Top would get at least one update until 2026.

Top experienced almost immediate success upon its release in June 2025, moving five million copies in less than a month. With over ten million copies of Top sold to date, the lack of a promise of long-term updates and content additions has not gone down well with all of these players. However, if you look at the developers' point of view, the reasoning for an end to updates makes a lot of sense.

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Peak developers defend themselves against “lazy” claims

On Twitter, one user took issue with Topsaying they are angry that the game has a “lazy development cycle” when the team “could do so much more with it.” The team at Landfall didn't take long to respond to the claim, pointing out that Landfall and Aggro Crab, the game's dual developers, are not live service studios, and pointed to the many updates the game has received since its release. The developer noted that updates are a bonus rather than a right, given the nature of the two development studios.

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The same person then said that the game needs an update “that actually makes sense”, suggesting that game customization and easier modding would be a big plus. Landfall explained that “full customization is a big question,” though the developer is open to suggestions from the community. However, when it comes to modding Topthey noted that they had been fully engaged with the modding community, and that when asked if the community wanted a mod workshop, they were not interested. The team also drew attention to the fact that the game will receive “at least one more” update.

To be fair, Top has received a number of updates since launch, adding new biomes, items, enemies and more. The developer Aggro Crab has already started work on a new project called Crashout Crewwhich is expected to be released later in 2026, and has likely taken the majority of the team's focus away from Top. Although the teams are probably happy with it Top has been so well received and sold so well that it was originally part of a game jam that was developed over the course of just four months. Chances are, neither team expected the game to perform this well, and they hadn't planned to provide significant long-term updates accordingly.

This has also been an ongoing problem with the indie sphere of games, especially those that have rocketed to viral popularity out of the blue. Deadly businessfor example, has been incredibly popular since its release, and while it has seen many updates, most of them have been minor, with the only developer dropping out entirely for a time to work on a new game called Welcome to the dark place. Another big indie hit that has had similar problems is the ghost hunting game Phasmophobia. While it has had quite a few updates at this point, including some major map rework, incorporating new elements and new ghosts, fans have criticized the game for pushing back on promised updates, including Phasmophobia Horror 2.0 rework and the game's exit from early access, which was originally thought to happen in 2024, but still hasn't come out.

It is also worth noting that Top was developed after Another crab's treasurewhich left the team at Aggro Crab in a state of burnout after years of work. To put a similar level of grinding in the development of Top may well have worsened the situation for the developers. While some players may be disappointed by it Top won't be a live service title with continuous updates for the foreseeable future, the last major update for the game, its inherent gameplay loop and mods from fans can help keep it interesting for a long time yet.