# Insurgency: Sandstorm Update 1.20 Operation: Clear Sight – Release Notes - Product: Insurgency: Sandstorm (https://whatsnew.fyi/product/insurgency-sandstorm) - Vendor: New World Interactive - Date: 2026-02-24 - Original notes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/581320/view/537753449305999675 - Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/insurgency-sandstorm/releases/2026-02-24-update-1.20-operation-clear-sight-release-notes What's New is an index, not a publisher: every entry below links to the vendor's own release notes, which are the authoritative source. Entries are labelled where they are hand-curated sample data, pre-releases, or drawn from a secondary source such as a developer blog. Reuse: the summaries, labels and curation here are © What's New. Quote freely with attribution and a link back; wholesale republication of the corpus is not permitted — terms: https://whatsnew.fyi/terms. The vendors' own release notes remain their publishers'. --- - **added** — Add Romero 8T optic for Security faction as a CQB-focused sight with wide-window sight picture - **added** — Add PKO-6 optic for Insurgent faction as a compact, lightweight CQB-focused sight - **added** — Add Tier 3 Challenges with more demanding objectives including killing 500 enemies with Fire Support as Commander, winning 100 rounds without dying, and performing 500 headshots with a sidearm - **added** — Add GRS Operator Gear Set for Security faction containing seven cosmetic gear pieces - **added** — Add Jackal Gear Set for Insurgent faction containing six cosmetic gear pieces - **added** — Add Canyon Weapon Skin Set for Security faction with six cosmetic skins - **added** — Add Jezzail Weapon Skin Set for Insurgent faction with six cosmetic skins - **added** — Add Clear Sight-themed cosmetic patches for both factions including Operation Clear Sight, Lizard, Raven Skull, Wolf Head, Rise Up, Fight On, Get Some, Zoomie 1, Zoomie 2, FSEC 1, and FSEC 2 - **added** — Include Wwise project access in mod editor to grant modders creative freedom when incorporating custom sounds into projects - **changed** — Improve mod editor to allow modders to upload mods larger than 2GB directly through the editor - **fixed** — Fix an issue where some colour variations could not be applied to customized items - **fixed** — Fix an issue where graphical artifacts could be seen during gameplay - **fixed** — Fix an issue where bots in Hardcore Checkpoint were different from previous versions Hello soldiers! Welcome to the release notes for Update 1.20 **Operation: Clear Sight**! This update features two new sights, new difficult challenges to grind, mod editor improvements, and new cosmetics for both factions! First things first, take a look at our upcoming new map, Hold, coming next update (Update 1.21 Operation: ███████). Inspired by Ministry, it features a police station caught in a violent takeover by Insurgent forces. WIP images below! ##### **MOD EDITOR IMPROVEMENTS** Insurgency's origins are deeply rooted in modding. Starting as a mod for the Source engine, Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat led to a standalone sequel released in 2014 that we’re sure many of you are familiar with, called Insurgency, and then on to Insurgency: Sandstorm. It's important to remember our roots, and mod support is one way of fulfilling that for the team. We know the modding community has felt left behind in recent years, especially as the release on consoles led our focus to expand. We know the modding tools have been deteriorating. This leads us to today. We have been working with many from the modding community over the last two updates to address issues flagged for us as important and to add features that should help make even cooler stuff. This one's been coming for a long time, including addressing requests like access to our Wwise project, which is included in this update. This grants modders more creative freedom when incorporating custom sounds into their projects. A guide is available to help mod creators [**here**](https://mod.io/g/insurgencysandstorm/r/how-to-add-custom-sounds-to-mods-intermediate). Additionally, we've taken significant steps to improve the content-creation experience in the editor. Modders can now upload mods larger than 2GB directly through the editor. This should help streamline the publishing process. Because the workflow has changed, we've created a [**guide**](https://mod.io/g/insurgencysandstorm/r/mod-creation-update-and-publishing) that walks through the process of creating, uploading, and updating mods. Finally, we’d like to acknowledge members of the modding community who have stood by us throughout the years. They have spent countless hours creating awesome content that many of you know, including maps from our mapping contest, like Prison and Last Light. The ISMC Team, The SAGAS Team, The Sandstorm 1944 Team, The Project Reimagined Team, TOCA_, RareKiwi, Deerslug, Reeecompile, Scotify, VIX, WintorOperator, Tisa13, =Freddy=, Peglegswansoon, Heromanofe, invalidnick, D3M0N123, TayLord, Jason, \ Tazzy, fatmarrow, Zapatista, Juu, Flaykes, SpartanViperz, Snakeyio, GamerChick5567, 2Happy, LeiMuu, Pyr4mus, Jojo6393457, SgtPepper_47, -TrashCan-, B4NDO, Destinate, Comrade Romanov, Smkndrtz, JustARadish, Dr House, CrazTheKing, Prof. Orribilus, tarAn-OD, \k24uk. Thank you to each of you. ## **TIER 3 CHALLENGES ARE HERE** In our previous update, Operation: Shell Shock, we introduced Challenges as a way for players to earn rewards while playing Insurgency: Sandstorm. We’re building on top of that foundation by introducing Tier 3 Challenges. These will raise the bar with more demanding objectives built for those ready to prove their experience and skill. Here are a few challenges that you can expect to have to grind for: - Kill 500 enemies with Fire Support as a Commander. - Win 100 rounds without dying (good luck!). - Perform 500 headshots with a sidearm. ##### **NEW OPTICS** As the operation name implies, we are expanding weapon customization by introducing two new CQB-focused optics that can be used across all your existing loadouts. These new attachments support close-quarters gameplay and are designed to be effective across a variety of maps and situations, including future environments. ##### **New Security Optic: Romero 8T** _Built for durability, the Romero 8T sight provides a crisp, wide-window sight picture in any environment._ ##### **New Insurgent Optic: PKO-6** _Compac _[Truncated at 4000 characters — full notes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/581320/view/537753449305999675]_