Tarsier Studios is essentially disabling the internal disconnect code in this version. For those of us who have been booted from a session right as the horror peaks, this is a significant shift. The goal is to keep players connected even when the network flinches, though the devs warn that this could lead to some visual desyncs if your ping is particularly unstable.
Beyond the network overhaul, this update is a massive cleanup operation. It packs in nearly 300 bug fixes, specifically targeting those annoying soft blockers and the notorious crashes during the tank chase sequence. If you've been stuck because an environmental trigger failed to fire, this patch likely has the solution. Note that because this is a beta branch, cross-play with players on version 1.5 is currently disabled; you'll need both players on 1.6 to explore the island together.
For the PC crowd specifically, if you're rocking an Nvidia GPU and still seeing the desktop more than the game, the studio is strongly recommending a driver update alongside this patch. Stability seems to be the primary focus here, ensuring the atmosphere remains tense because of the monsters, not because you're worried about a crash. You can opt-in to the dev branch via the Steam properties menu to test these fixes immediately.
Soren