1. The Legend of Khiimori
  2. News

The Legend of Khiimori News

Developer Diary #22 | Soundtrack Making-of

Dear Couriers,

Sit back, relax, and enjoy… today it’s all about the sounds of the steppe and the music of The Legend of Khiimori.

[h2]Soundtrack Making-of[/h2]
For us, music has always been at the heart of every unforgettable game experience, and The Legend of Khiimori is no exception. That is why our soundtrack has been a top priority from day one!

Composing for this world is particularly inspiring because the game isn’t just set in Mongolia, it takes place in the ancient 13th century, a time and place rich with distinctive sounds and cultural depth. A setting that gives us an incredible playground filled with unique instruments, rhythms, and melodies to explore.

To bring this to life, we’re collaborating with the traditional Mongolian band Khukh Mongol, as well as Zolzaya Boldbaatar, master of the Morin Khuur (horsehead fiddle), whose strings and bow are made out of horsehair. You may remember Zolzaya from our Gamescom 2025 booth, where he performed the Morin Khuur live to captivate the crowd.

The making-of video also touches on other traditional Mongolian instruments, such as the Shagai, which consists of sheep’s knuckle bone.

Check out our The Legend of Khiimori Soundtrack Making‑of below! Share it, like it, pump up the volume:
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Main Theme The Legend of Khiimori - Main Theme by Community
Dancing Town The Legend of Khiimori - Dancing Town by Community

Enjoy our Sound of 13th Century Mongolia

[h2]Sound Effects straight from the Horse Ranch[/h2]
And it’s not just the music that brings our world to life! Sound effects (SFX) play an equally crucial role, especially in an open‑world adventure built around horses. That’s why we went the extra mile and captured many of these sounds live on a real horse ranch. You can see how we did it in the behind‑the‑scenes video we shared last year:
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Soundtrack on Vinyl and CD[/h2]
If you want to get the soundtrack of The Legend of Khiimori on Vinyl (featuring a Bonus Track) or CD, head over to our BackerKit Shop for these and more merch items. Please note that all items from the shop will not be sent out until the full release of the game. Let’s rock:
Pre-order The Legend of Khiimori (PC & Consoles) on BackerKit

Click to shop

How do you like our soundtrack so far? Ready to pick up the Morin Khuur yourself? :D
Let us know in the comments below!
Your Team at Aesir Interactive
PS: The Early Access release of The Legend of Khiimori on March 3rd, 2026, on Steam and the Epic Games Store is only the beginning! More features and content will be added throughout Early Access. Make sure to check our Trello board to see what we’re currently working on and which content and features are coming next:
The Legend of Khiimori - Development Roadmap

Courier Rider ready to deliver

[hr][/hr][h3]Previous Developer Diaries can be found here:[/h3]

[hr][/hr][h2]Join the Community[/h2][p]Bluesky Facebook Instagram Threads TikTok Twitter

Discord Twitch YouTube Website[/p]

Developer Diary #21 | Spirit Combat & Corrupted Zones

Dear Couriers,

This is a big one!

We received a lot of feedback from our Alpha Playtesters, and one of the most common requests was to expand the use of Naraa’s bow and arrows, as well as to dig deeper into the myths and spirituality of 13th‑century Mongolia that heavily inspired our game.

Yes, we do have hunting in the game, but as stated in the past, it will be presented in a respectful way and true to historical Mongolian culture. So, no spamming arrows or ruthless hunting.

The other aspect is the huge potential that Mongolian spirituality has to offer. So, please welcome:

Spirit Combat in a Corrupted Zone

[h2]Spirit Combat and Corrupted Zones[/h2]
In Mongolian culture, gods and spirits are understood to be associated with specific geographical locations, animals or even objects (more on this exciting topic below). With that in mind, we decided to feature Blessed Locations as well as Corrupted Zones.

Blessed Locations are usually ancient ruins that are considered sacred. Corrupted Zones, on the other hand, are areas near Ovoos (Mongolian shrines) that have been damaged by people, thus angering the spirits.

These areas will be marked on the map and will be haunted by spirits at night. The light of the scenery will change and the spirits frighten your horse (scare buff). You can choose to ride around them or confront them with your bow and arrow! This means that Spirit Combat is optional. However, the rewards can be significant if you choose to confront them!

Not only will your level of Prestige (our experience points) increase, but if you succeed, Starflowers will begin to grow in the area. These can then be used at Blessed Locations to craft improved items, such as a Blessed Health Syrup, which is more effective than the regular one.

On top of that, you can craft special items that will assist you in your Spirit Combat.

Corrupted Zones also have a cooldown, meaning that after a few days they will become haunted again, ready to offer a fresh portion of risk and reward!

Check out the Video below for a first impression of a corrupted zone that will return to normal once all spirits have been defeated:
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h2]Inspired by Mongolian Spirituality [/h2]
As you know, we strive to deliver an experience that feels authentic to 13th‑century Mongolia and not a 100% historically accurate one: our take on Mongolian spirituality is fantastical, partially inspired by ancient myths and folklore.

So, let’s get started. Mongolian spirituality is not based on a strict binary of good/bad or even heaven/hell. Spirits are part of the world and they share it with humans. Some are vicious and mischievous, while others are friendly and helpful, and sometimes they’re even both.

[h3]Gods[/h3]

Mongolian Tengrism is an animist faith which focuses on the worship of spirits and the various Mongolian gods. Gods are understood to be associated with geographical locations. A mountain or a river was a minor god, and you made offerings to them for protection and fortune. Finally, there are 99 deities (tengri): 55 White (beneficent) and 44 Black (terrible to evildoers and enemies of the Mongol Nation).

As Tibetan Buddhism enters the upper classes in the 13th century, entities called the four Dignities (Gurada, Snow Leopard, Tiger, and Dragon), and Khiimori are introduced. Each represents the four winds, virtues, and elements. Khiimori isn’t just an entity, but also your soul or the breath of the soul, and it’s depicted as your wind horse.

[h3]Mongolian Cosmology: Corruption and Imbalance [/h3]

The universe is divided into three worlds, or realms (Upper, Middle, and Lower), and these worlds are both separate and sort of overlap:

  • Upper Realm: A pure, beautiful, and compassionate world that is the home of the high deities and is typically not inhabited by human souls. Legends say it has seven suns and Tengri, The Eternal Blue Sky rules as the supreme deity.
  • Middle Realm: Our world where humans and animals reside. High places are seen as close to the Upper Realm, and Ovoos are placed there. Low places are seen as close to the lower realm. Sometimes deer stones were at “thin places”.
  • Lower Realm: An underworld more than a hell, but it is an abode of wicked souls, devils, and evil deities. It’s a dark place where the sun and moon are half orbs, rather than full orbs. It is the source of malevolent entities that cause disease and mental illness in Middle World.

[h3]Sacred Thinking[/h3]

Ancient Mongolian sacred thinking was landscape-focused rather than monument-focused, spirit-presence oriented rather than artifact oriented, and maintained through ritual rather than preserved through time.

So, ruins aren't sacred because they're old, and even looting ruins might be an act of preservation. It would all be about the relationship to the space. New things can be sacred, old things can be sacred.

For example, trees possess a certain spiritual power, and according to legend, Genghis Khan kept a collection of special trees in his palace to which shamans would pay homage, as it was believed that a tree represented the “center of the universe.”

Early, partly unused Spirit Combat Concept Art

[h2]To cozy, or not to cozy, that is the question[/h2]
Once again, the Spirit Combat is completely optional. On top of that we will already have various difficulty settings available at Early Access, reducing the damage taken from the attack of a spirit.

However, we do hope that the Spirit Combat and Corrupted Zones add another layer of excitement to our system-driven open world, further enabling YOU to write your own stories in 13th century Mongolia :)

Explore our system-driven open world

[h2]Win a 200 EUR Mifcom PC Voucher [/h2]
As mentioned before, a decent PC is required to run The Legend of Khiimori (see Minimum Specs below).

So, just in case you want to upgrade your hardware, we have partnered up with amazing Mifcom once again to give away 30 Mifcom vouchers worth €200 each for getting one of their hot gaming PCs. Enter the contest via Instagram, Facebook, or X:

Instagram

Facebook

X

The Legend of Khiimori - PC Minimum Specs:
  • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
  • OS: Windows 10 64 bit or later (Windows 11 recommended for Intel 12th and 13th gen CPUs)
  • Processor: Intel Core i7-8700K / AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
  • Memory: 16 GB RAM
  • Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (6GB) / AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (6GB)
  • DirectX: Version 12
  • Storage: 60 GB available space
  • Additional Notes: SSD required. Full Shader Model 6.6 (with Atomics) support is required


Got an old machine? Win one of 30 Mifcom gaming PC vouchers worth €200 each!

Does the Spirit Combat sounds like a nice addition to you? Any feedback or further ideas? Please leave a comment below!

Your Team at Aesir Interactive

PS: Make sure to check our Trello board to see what we are currently working on and what content/features will be available when: The Legend of Khiimori - Development Roadmap

[hr][/hr][h3]Previous Developer Diaries can be found here:[/h3]

[hr][/hr][h2]Join the Community[/h2][p]Bluesky Facebook Instagram Threads TikTok Twitter

Discord Twitch YouTube Website[/p]

Developer Diary #20 | Courier Video & New Key Art

Dear Couriers!

We’re excited to share something truly special with you this week! Enjoy our new five‑minute gameplay video, “A Day in the Life of a Courier”, captured directly from the current build.

[h2]A Day in the Life of a Courier[/h2]
The video features commentary from our experienced Design Director, Steve, who guides you through a full gameplay loop.

You’ll follow Naraa through one complete, eventful day in 13th‑century Mongolia, from preparing her deliveries as a thriving Yam courier to facing the many challenges of the open wilds.

Watch the video here:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

We are quite happy of how everything is coming together, and we can’t wait for you to experience it! What did you think of the video above? Did you enjoy it? Any feedback? Please let us know below, or join our Discord for in‑depth discussions and everything The Legend of Khiimori.

[h2]New Key Artwork Revealed[/h2]
We are also proud to unveil our new Key Artwork today!

It showcases the tone and atmosphere of The Legend of Khiimori, from the vast Mongolian landscapes, to the bond between Naraa and her horse, as well as the spirit and challenges of the Yam courier tradition.

We hope it gives you a good sense of the world that we are building for you.

New Key Artwork

[h2]Reminder: Khiimori Merchandise[/h2]
Once again, our BackerKit Shop has opened to the public and everyone can buy The Legend of Khiimori merch there! Some hot items are already available and more will be added in the future. Please note that the merchandise from the BackerKit Shop will not be sent out until the full-release of the game, and that the game itself is not available via the BackerKit Shop

Another delivery, for another day…

Any questions? Like our flow? Please comment below :)
Your Team at Aesir Interactive

[hr][/hr][h3]Previous Developer Diaries can be found here:[/h3]

[hr][/hr][h2]Join the Community[/h2][p]Bluesky Facebook Instagram Threads TikTok Twitter

Discord Twitch YouTube Website[/p]

Developer Diary #19 | Early Access Launch Features & Roadmap

Lovely Couriers! Our Early Access release date is inching closer and closer, and our team is working hard to fit the most valuable improvements into the bit of time we have left to make the best first impression we can.

For today’s dev log, we want to dive more deeper into what you can expect from Early Access now that we’ve spent additional time on it, which updates to expect after the initial launch and which aspects of the game will take longer still.

[h2]System-Driven Gameplay[/h2]
In our last dev diary, we already talked a bit about systems and story, but we’ll reiterate it here because this is an important topic we want our players to be aware of: Do not expect a main story in our Early Access release. The initial version of the game will have plenty of missions and things to do, but our focus is on discovery through exploration, and the hundreds of small personal stories that emerge from the gameplay itself, depending on the routes you take and the paths you go down. This also means that what a “playthrough” of the available content will look like can vary a great deal between players!

With that being said, we do have a special narration-related treat for you today, and that is an exclusive first look at our Intro Cutscene!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Voice Acting[/h2]
As you can hear in the video above, we are incredibly proud to introduce Erica Baatarbold as the voice of Naraa! Erica is a native speaker of both English and Mongolian, and we’re beyond thrilled to have her on board. Stay tuned to hear more from her very soon!

For the Early Access release, voice-over will only be available in English and Mongolian. Our focus is on conversations featuring Naraa herself, and we’re working with eight voice actors per language to give life to our most important side characters as well as generic NPC dialogue. Not all dialogue will be voiced over for Early Access, since many texts are still subject to change.

We’re particularly happy to offer Mongolian language support, both in the voice over as well as in all dialogues and UI: Mongolian is often a low priority in localizing video games, and very few games come in Mongolian at all. Since Mongolian people’s roles are often limited to enemy hordes shouting commands, hearing regular dialogue in the language is rarer still.

Facial animations are already in(n) as well

[h2]Recent Additions[/h2]
With the extra time we’ve had since moving our release back a few months after the Next Fest Demo, we’ve tried to improve on the most urgent fronts, based on the feedback we’ve gotten from people who played the public demo, as well as from the Alpha Playtesters who backed us on Kickstarter.

Exciting recent additions and updates include the following:

  • We overhauled various aspects of the the horse riding controls, as explained in more detail here. The changes include animation reworks, physics-based movement and iterating on controls while keeping what was already working well.
  • We added new items to craft and use, such as additional arrow types, powder pouches and other recipes
  • We created additional mission types and updated our cargo missions
  • We added Outpost Stables that allow for the player to change horses while on a long journey, including options to upgrade them
  • We added places where your hard-earned in-game resources can be invested for permanent upgrades such as building bridges or upgrading certain locations.
  • The map now contains more points of interests with specific rewards and challenges – we won’t spoil the details on this one though!
You got an interesting point there

[h2]Upcoming Updates[/h2]
As you all know by now, Early Access is not the end of the road. We’ll absolutely keep our eyes and ears open for urgent feedback and reports, but we also have a lot of specific improvements already planned for the coming months:

For example, we plan to:
  • Overhaul portions of the user interface for better looks and easier understanding, such as the Horse Overview, Merchants, Crafting and parts of the HUD
  • Improve direct player feedback on things that are affecting your horse, e.g. what is causing its stamina/health conditions
  • Add more NPCs for the player to interact with, and making those NPCs feel more alive by making them busier and more emotive
  • Improve animal behavior AI for both horses and wildlife
  • Add more prominent wind and weather effects that affect you while riding, e.g. with the wind at your back giving you a speed boost
  • Further planned changes on our immediate to-do-list are iterating on cargo balancing, active item collecting and powder pouch gameplay feel.


Note that most of the Stretch Goals unlocked during our Kickstarter campaign will not yet be available in the Early Access release but are planned for later down the road, in time for the launch! For a closer look at what’s planned, we recommend keeping an eye on our Roadmap Trello Board!



[h2]The Game You Want[/h2]
When discussing our Early Access expectations, our Game Design Director recently put it best: Early Access is a process. There’s the game that we have, and there’s the game that our audience wants. Even after months of playtesting and improving, there will inevitably be a gap in between those two things. Early Access is the tool that allows us – through your reviews, feedback and discussions – to find out precisely where that gap is, and to fix it in time.

For that, we hugely appreciate your patience and your passion, so we can together shape The Legend of Khiimori into the best game possible.

13th century Mongolia and its diverse landscape

[h2]Khiimori Merchandise[/h2]

Missed out on the Kickstarter campaign? Then we have some great news!

Our BackerKit Shop has opened to the public and everyone can buy The Legend of Khiimori merch there!

Some hot items are already available and more will be added in the future. Please note that the merchandise from the BackerKit Shop will not be sent out until the full-release of the game, and that the game itself is not available via the BackerKit Shop.

Feel free to spread the news as this is a direct way to support the development of our game for those who have missed out on the original Kickstarter.

What deliveries will the villagers request?

Thank you for your time, and stay tuned for even more exciting news and information about the game next week!

[hr][/hr][h3]Previous Developer Diaries can be found here:[/h3]

[hr][/hr][h2]Join the Community[/h2][p]Bluesky Facebook Instagram Threads TikTok Twitter

Discord Twitch YouTube Website[/p]

Developer Diary #18 | Taming the Open Wilds of 13th Century Mongolia

Dear Couriers,

We hope you had a nice holiday and we wish you all a “Happy New Year 2026” - the year of our Early Access launch!

As you can image the team is super excited (and super busy) to make sure the Early Access launch of The Legend of Khiimori on March 3rd, 2026 on Steam will be successful.

[h2]The Road to Early Access[/h2]

As described in Dev Diary #16, the priorities we set ourselves are about adding new features as well as polishing what’s already there:


Basically, we want to make sure that the four main pillars of the game are already fun and accessible once we launch into Early Access:

  1. Authentic Horses
  2. Believable Setting
  3. Vivid Open World
  4. Enjoyable Mechanic
Ideal spot for a Courier Rider to take a break
[hr][/hr]
[h2]Rethinking Horse Movement[/h2]

A: The Challenge

Horses are at the heart of The Legend of Khiimori. We want them to feel alive and authentic: powerful when galloping, precise when navigating tight spaces, and responsive to player input. Our initial custom movement system achieved much of this, but as development progressed, we hit some walls. After many discussions, we decided to take a leap of faith and rebuild parts of the movement from scratch, striving to ensure that the new movement will be more responsive and fun to ride!

We took our playtester’s feedback to heart, which repeatedly mentioned the following issues:

  1. Horse Behaviour & Controls
    Especially turning, jumping, and braking did not feel dynamic enough.
  2. Invisible Walls
    Player movement was restricted to ensure the horse only went where it makes sense. But what makes sense to us is not always what players like to do, right? ;)
  3. Animation Stuttering
    Animations sometimes glitched. Thus, we decided to overhaul the animation system as well.

On top of that, the old system grew more and more complex and harder to maintain: any rebalancing would take longer than intended. So we took a jump into the unknown and decided to rebuild it from scratch, with the potential to bring the movement to the next level!

B: The Consequence

After prototyping and testing a completely new approach, relying more on the Unreal Engine physics simulation, we decided to take the leap for a full migration. Both, the movement controls and animations are being rebuild.

Of course, scope is still a challenge. Games like Read Dead Redemption 2 have over 6.000 motion matched animations, which would blow our budget. So we have to decide where to focus our efforts, and where to make compromises.

Not everything will work perfectly right away, and we need your feedback during Early Access to get the most out of the new system.

C: The Outcome

Once migration is complete, you will notice:
  • Smoother riding
  • More responsive controls
  • Natural obstacle handling
  • Greater freedom to go where you like
  • Larger horse variety
  • Better performance

Horses are the soul of our game, and getting their movement right is non‑negotiable. This wasn’t just a technical refactor: it was about delivering the experience players deserve.

The new system is cleaner, faster, and unlocks many new possibilities, up to level designers being able to introduce more movement‑related challenges, making you rely more on your riding skills… and face more severe consequences if you fail.

We are not 100% done yet, and things will still need to be polished, but ultimately, this opens up a more realistic and fun riding experience. And at the end of the day, that’s what matters most!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]First impressions of new CCC

[hr][/hr]
[h2]Systems vs. Story[/h2]
Did the headline grab your attention? Great, because it is an important topic for the Early Access version of The Legend of Khiimori that will be a system-driven rather than a story-driven experience (for now). So, why is that a good thing?

Generally speaking, story-driven games carefully guide players through a predefined narrative, offering powerful authored moments.

System-driven games, however, hand over that authorship to the player. Instead of being told what the story is, players create their own through interacting systems: movement, survival, traversal, consequences, and choice. Every decision, mistake, and unexpected outcome becomes part of a personal journey that exists only because you played the game the way you did.

This is what makes system-driven games so compelling: no two, self-written stories are the same, and the most memorable moments aren’t scripted cutscenes, but (in a best-case scenario) hard-earned triumphs, near-failures, and exciting journeys that emerge naturally from the world itself.

We hope that you will play an active part of this journey, giving us feedback (ideally via Discord), commenting on the game and thus creating a mutual success story!

System-driven: “Ride” your own stories!

Are you looking forward to our Early Access launch? Do you have any questions for us? Please feel free to post a comment below. 🙂

[hr][/hr][h3]Previous Developer Diaries can be found here:[/h3]
[hr][/hr][h2]Join the Community[/h2][p]Bluesky Facebook Instagram Threads TikTok Twitter

Discord Twitch YouTube Website[/p]