A gargantuan sea monster called the Leviathan then awoke and destroyed their boat, killing J.J. and stranding the husband and the old mayor on a small island.

Eventually, the Fisherman brings back enough supplies for the Foreman to finish construction of the oil rig, and they proceed to drill into the sea floor.

Fearful of the monsters but not wanting to get fired, the Foreman asks the Fisherman to sabotage the oil rig's defense system, which will hopefully convince the Executive to abort the drilling.

The Fisherman does so, and with the defense system down, a tentacled sea monster attacks the oil rig, destroying the drill before being eaten by the Leviathan.

The Executive flees via helicopter, and the Foreman agrees to continue providing the Fisherman with advanced equipment until he and the rest of the oil rig crew can evacuate.

[5] In May 2023, Black Salt Games announced a number of future updates to the game, including boat customization, a photo mode, a "passive mode" that makes hostile creatures no longer aggressive allowing for less stressful gameplay, and a paid DLC expansion revolving around the mysterious Ironhaven Corporation.

[7] On December 15, 2023, crossover content based on Dredge was released as free DLC for Mintrocket's Dave the Diver video game.

[11][12][13][14] Writing for Eurogamer, Edwin Evans-Thirlwell felt that over the course of the game it did not "evolve much", while also criticizing the player's ability to upgrade their ship to make challenges trivial.

[27] Roland Ingram of Nintendo Life praised the night sections, writing that "The story relentlessly sends you out of your comfort zone, out among treacherous cliffs or bobbing vulnerably atop sickeningly deep, dark waters".

[17] Dredge sold over 100,000 copies within the first twenty-four hours of release, a milestone that the developers had expected would take a year or longer to reach.