Devblog #5: New teaser, buy-to-play confirmed, Early Access in 2026

[p]Ahoy, mateys![/p][p]Since the Alpha ended, it may have seemed quiet on the surface, but behind the scenes we’ve been hard at work. During this time, we reviewed player feedback, analyzed playtest data, and reassessed our priorities. Today, we are ready to share important updates on the direction of the project.[/p][p]Before we dive in, here’s our little summer progress teaser:[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]This short preview offers a glimpse of what we’ve been working on:[/p]

[p]Among the highlights is the Ashlands — a scorched, dangerous biome, with new secrets and treasures buried under volcanic ash. It is filled with new quests, challenging enemies, expansive dungeons, and more.[/p]
[p]The seas are also becoming livelier, with visible crew on deck, complete with new animations and recruitment mechanics. Water physics and behaviour are also being updated to make naval part of the game more dynamic and immersive.[/p]
[p]Tortuga has been completely reimagined — now a besieged outpost, where the living hold defense against the dead.[/p]
[p]…and there is much more to come — we’ll share additional details in future devblogs![/p]

[p][/p][h2]Winds of change[/h2][p]Let’s get to the key points before we dive in to elaborate on each one.[/p]

[p]We are changing the genre focus of the game to a more traditional survival game with PvE co-op as the main multiplayer component.[/p]
[p]We are changing the distribution model from free-to-play to a traditional buy-to-play game.[/p]
[p]Our goal now is to bring Crosswind to Early Access on Steam somewhere in 2026 as a solid, enjoyable survival game which we can support with content and feature updates on its way to 1.0 and hopefully, beyond.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Moving to classic co-op experience[/h2][p]When Crosswind first took shape, our core vision was a survival game built around progression through distinct biomes and bosses, enhanced by MMO-lite elements.[/p][p]Players would have their own worlds to control, with PvE gameplay entirely in their hands, but could also venture into shared zones featuring both PvE and PvP encounters. It was an ambitious blend, and in the early days we even referred to it as a “survival MMO.”[/p][p]The Alpha Test highlighted several factors that made us change our vision.[/p]

[p]We faced some hard truths about the technical challenges of this original approach. Supporting the kind of infrastructure needed for a true MMO (even if it’s MMO-lite) experience is a major undertaking, especially while aiming for the level of polish and quality we expect of ourselves. Providing stable, global server coverage and seamless large-scale multiplayer is a significant challenge for a studio of our size. [/p]
[p]At the same time, many players told us they were perfectly satisfied playing Crosswind solo or with a group of friends, enjoying the traditional survival gameplay without requiring a large-scale online environment.[/p]
[p]Another important observation was that the majority of our players came from a traditional survival gaming background. Their feedback made it clear they valued the depth, pacing, and atmosphere of that style over the structure of an MMO.[/p]

[p]Taking both this feedback and our own limitations into account, we have decided to focus Crosswind’s multiplayer on PvE co-op rather than MMO-lite.[/p][p]This means you will be able to play offline, host your own sessions, run dedicated servers, and — in the future — play with mods (and even if not supported, mods will at least be technically feasible). [/p][p]PvP is not entirely off the table, but it will be a much, much lower priority for now. Implementing it properly would require a lot of effort that is currently needed to complete the core of the game. We remain open to exploring PvP in the future, but no commitments can be made at this point.[/p][p]In summation, Crosswind will move forward as a classic survival game with PvE co-op at its core, rather than an MMO-lite survival. We understand that this is a big change, but we believe it is the right step to develop Crosswind to be a fun, enjoyable game for you, while offline play, self hosting and dedicated servers will provide additional flexibility that was not feasible technically in the old concept.[/p][p][/p][h2]Buy-to-play instead of free-to-play[/h2][p]Another topic that frequently comes up in community discussions is monetization. For a long time, we imagined that Crosswind could be free-to-play. However, we have always maintained that our priority is to first create a game worth supporting, and only then decide how players might support it. Now, we believe the time has come to make that decision.[/p][p]After moving to a classic PvE co-op approach and reviewing Alpha feedback, it became clear that most of our audience prefers a one-time purchase model. A free-to-play version would require monetizing multiple aspects of the game — which could be controversial unless limited strictly to cosmetics — and would also require a constant flow of monetized content. We came to another hard truth: as a small team, sustaining Crosswind as a “live service” game would take resources away from developing new features, expanding the world, and improving the core experience.[/p][p]In addition, the buy-to-play model has long been a staple of the survival genre. As fans of survival games ourselves, after getting the full picture with the genre shift and your feedback, the choice felt natural. This way, we can dedicate our time and energy to where it matters most: building richer gameplay, expanding the world, and improving overall quality.[/p][p][/p][h2]Our next big step — Early Access [/h2][p]Since the Alpha, one of the most common questions has been whether we will move directly into Early Access. The short answer is no — not yet. While the Alpha was a significant milestone, it did not reach the level of completeness we believe an Early Access release should have. [/p][p]Thanks to you, we received a large amount of feedback covering mechanics, balance, stability, and quality-of-life features. We believe addressing these points are a must-have for Early Access launch. For us, Early Access is the next major milestone, and we want it to feel substantial — polished, content-rich, and worth investing your time in.[/p][p]Not everything teased in the trailer is necessarily scheduled for Early Access launch, but you can expect more features and quality-of-life improvements compared to the Alpha. The Early Access version will be larger than the playtest, and we will continue to expand it, while taking your feedback on board along the way.[/p][p]We are currently aiming for Early Access in 2026, and the exact release window will be announced in a future update.[/p][p][/p][h2]Looking ahead — together[/h2][p]We understand that these changes may raise questions, and we will be happy to address them. For now, our focus is on building a strong foundation that reflects what players value most in Crosswind and what we as a team can bring to life in the best quality possible. With your feedback and support, we are confident in creating a game worth your time.[/p][p]Thank you for following our progress.[/p][p]Yours truly,
The Crosswind Crew
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