TheRetroArcade
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Joined: Feb 2026
Joined: Feb 2026
"We want to lock this in firmly and ship the game on time," said Windrose Crew on its Discord.
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Pirate survival game Windrose is having a moment. It's one of the most popular demos at Steam Next Fest, it's got so many concurrent players it shows up on Steam's most-played charts, and earlier this week it cannonballed to over 1 million wishlists. Plus, its combination of survival systems, open world pirate ship battles, and uplifting sea shanties makes for a heck of a lot of fun.
So when developer Windrose Crew announced a new trailer would be released today, a lot of players (including me) assumed a release date, or at least a release window, would come with it. The trailer shown today for IGN Fan Fest, while boisterous as always, doesn't give any indication of when the game will be out, however.
"Guys, I know many of you hoped for the release date reveal today, and we understand your passion—trust me, we are so eager to lock in the date and announce it to you as well," the development team posted in the game's official Discord about an hour after the new trailer appeared. "But now is not the time to do it."
Noting that the full version of the game "could be several times bigger in content and scale than the demo" in terms of numbers of islands, points of interest, ships, and enemies, Windrose Crew said it wants to polish the game further and incorporate some player feedback before taking the step of announcing a release date.
"The process of building the game for you is a huge inspiration, your attention to Windrose is very humbling, but please, let us cook more," the team said on Discord. "When we feel confident enough, we will announce the release date. I promise, we are not holding this information to tease your anticipation. We are holding it because we want to lock this in firmly and ship the game on time and in [the] best condition possible."
As Tom Petty, who himself would have made a fine pirate, once said: "Waiting is the hardest part." But much better to hold back a release date than promise one that can't be met. I'm sure that boisterous crew of over 1 million wishlist pirates will agree.
2026 games: All the upcoming gamesBest PC games: Our all-time favoritesFree PC games: Freebie festBest FPS games: Finest gunplayBest RPGs: Grand adventuresBest co-op games: Better together
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Chris started playing PC games in the 1980s, started writing about them in the early 2000s, and (finally) started getting paid to write about them in th...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
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When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
You are now subscribed
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Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
Pirate survival game Windrose is having a moment. It's one of the most popular demos at Steam Next Fest, it's got so many concurrent players it shows up on Steam's most-played charts, and earlier this week it cannonballed to over 1 million wishlists. Plus, its combination of survival systems, open world pirate ship battles, and uplifting sea shanties makes for a heck of a lot of fun.
So when developer Windrose Crew announced a new trailer would be released today, a lot of players (including me) assumed a release date, or at least a release window, would come with it. The trailer shown today for IGN Fan Fest, while boisterous as always, doesn't give any indication of when the game will be out, however.
"Guys, I know many of you hoped for the release date reveal today, and we understand your passion—trust me, we are so eager to lock in the date and announce it to you as well," the development team posted in the game's official Discord about an hour after the new trailer appeared. "But now is not the time to do it."
Noting that the full version of the game "could be several times bigger in content and scale than the demo" in terms of numbers of islands, points of interest, ships, and enemies, Windrose Crew said it wants to polish the game further and incorporate some player feedback before taking the step of announcing a release date.
"The process of building the game for you is a huge inspiration, your attention to Windrose is very humbling, but please, let us cook more," the team said on Discord. "When we feel confident enough, we will announce the release date. I promise, we are not holding this information to tease your anticipation. We are holding it because we want to lock this in firmly and ship the game on time and in [the] best condition possible."
As Tom Petty, who himself would have made a fine pirate, once said: "Waiting is the hardest part." But much better to hold back a release date than promise one that can't be met. I'm sure that boisterous crew of over 1 million wishlist pirates will agree.
2026 games: All the upcoming gamesBest PC games: Our all-time favoritesFree PC games: Freebie festBest FPS games: Finest gunplayBest RPGs: Grand adventuresBest co-op games: Better together
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Chris started playing PC games in the 1980s, started writing about them in the early 2000s, and (finally) started getting paid to write about them in th...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?