Pirate games have been through a bit of a renaissance in recent years, with games like Sea of Thieves leading the way as we all seek to carve out our own little piece of paradise in the Caribbean seas and beyond, to secure our pension in the form of buried treasure.
Though there have been some pretty spectacular failures (we're looking at you Skull and Bones), it's seemingly the perfect time for new piratical adventures to hit the market, and that's exactly what one new game is planning to do.
Windrose is a new survival pirate adventure from the helpfully named developer Windrose Crew, and the full extent of what we can expect has just been revealed at the PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted 2025 showcase.
Though you won't have heard of it in this form before, it was actually formerly known as Crosswind, before the rebrand came after an extensive period of testing and feedback from the community, during an Alpha stage which also removed some of the MMO elements that didn't prove popular with the audience.
Windrose Crew
Windrose Set For Early Access Debut in 2026
Though the game was originally set to be an MMO, difficulties in production and potential budgeting proved to be too much, with the developer pivoting to this smaller scale survival game as an alternative, a move that they believe will end in a much better final product.
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In an interview with Wccftech, producer Philip Molodkovets shared the following about the studio’s decision to change course, “The problem is, we realised during the Alpha test that in terms of amount of work and technical limitations, it would be very risky to keep pursuing this huge scope, so we decided to narrow it down a bit and make one thing right.”
“And maybe then we can build on this once we have more experience. It's better to make a good survival game than to make a bad MMO game.”
The game is leaning away from the hardcore survival elements in favour of emphasising the adventure, though you can still expect all the base building goodness and crafting elements that so often define the genre.
The co-op features are likely to be the best thing about the game, with plans to support four players and their swashbuckling ways in the same lobby.
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The only unfortunate part of the equation is that we don’t have a release date just yet, though the game is set to debut into Early Access at some point in 2026.
Topics: Assassins Creed, Indie Games