Gothic 1 Remake adds Marvin Mode and Photo Mode in first free feature update

Gothic 1 Remake received its first feature update on 29 October 2026. Feature Update #1 is free on PC and adds a Photo Mode and the return of Marvin Mode, the game's official cheat mode. On the same day, Alkimia Interactive released a Modkit beta, and the game went 25 percent off in the Gothic Franchise Sale.

What the update contains

In its post "Smile, There is an Update! Gothic 1 Remake Gets Photo Mode and More" from 29 October, the developer describes Marvin Mode as a way to customize the game: opening a lock you could not pick, teleporting, and spawning items, characters or creatures. It is switched on by pressing Esc, typing MARVIN and pressing Esc again; Esc and 42 turn it off. The Photo Mode opens from the pause menu or with the L key.

The Nameless Hero can also get a new haircut and tattoos after a few simple quests for Joru and Baal Namib. GameStar put the option to play bald in its headline. Smaller additions include waiting on benches and better stats for crafted weapons, plus fixes for quest blockers and journal entries across several chapters.

The separate Modkit beta exposes the scripting language and the full script sources, with mods meant for the official Steam Workshop page and the tools reachable through a Steam launch option. The team says it has "no ETA for more mod tools". Photo Mode, Marvin Mode and mod support were announced at THQ Nordic's August showcase, where, according to Gematsu, the studio also promised new modes with alternative progression mechanics. Those are not part of Feature Update #1.

Reaction and background

PC Games calls the return of Marvin Mode probably the biggest fan highlight of the update. PC Games Hardware notes that the mode began in the original Gothic as a hidden developer and debug mode, and that the name Marvin and the number 42 are likely nods to Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

The remake launched on June 5, 2026, and according to GameStar, THQ Nordic reported 500,000 units sold across PC, PS5 and Xbox Series. On Steam, 88 percent of 42,395 reviews are positive, rated Very Positive. The months after launch were not smooth: PC Games Hardware reported in August that new or reintroduced bugs such as audio dropouts caused uproar in the community. In the Steam forum, players pushed hard for modding tools after release, one predicting the game would be "largely dead in a couple months" without them.

The game is currently new in the top sellers of the German Steam store at position 5.

For anyone who has waited, this is a reasonable moment to start: the Gothic Franchise Sale runs until November 5 and drops the price to $37.49 from $49.99, which PC Games calls the all-time low on Steam. The older games in the series and ArcaniA are 80 percent off in the same sale. Modders get a first toolset now, but more tools have no date. Looking further ahead, PC Games Hardware reported that Alkimia named the THQ Nordic Showcase 2027 as a possible date for first footage of its next game.