Windrose launches in Early Access and quickly becomes one of Steam’s breakout co-op survival games

Windrose has officially launched in Steam Early Access, and it has wasted no time making an impression. Developed by Kraken Express, the pirate-themed survival adventure dropped on 14 April 2026 and throws players into a procedural world of islands, ship combat, crafting, exploration and co-op play.

A pirate survival game with co-op, base building and naval combat

Set in an alternative Age of Piracy, Windrose mixes survival mechanics with action RPG combat and open-world exploration. According to the official game description, players can sail between procedurally generated islands, gather resources, build bases, craft equipment and take on enemies both on land and at sea, either solo or with friends.

The current Early Access version already looks fairly sizeable. Steam’s listed Early Access details say the game includes three biomes, roughly 30 procedurally generated islands, more than 90 hand-crafted points of interest, three playable ships, naval combat with boarding, a full building system, character progression, factions and NPC workers.

Windrose has had a fast start on Steam

The launch has been strong. On its official Steam community page, the team said Windrose sold 1,000,000 copies in six days and passed 200,000 concurrent players, making it one of the more notable Early Access launches on Steam this month.

That early momentum has also brought some expected launch-week pressure. Kraken Express published a post-launch update on 19 April detailing connectivity fixes, the addition of Direct IP connections and updates to save backups after some players ran into networking issues.

Early Access means there is more to come

Kraken Express has also made it clear that Windrose is still at an early stage. On Steam, the studio says it expects the game to remain in Early Access for around 1.5 to 2.5 years, with plans for roughly 50% more content in the full version, including more biomes, bosses, enemies, ships and loot.

That means Windrose is arriving with a solid amount to do already, but also with the usual Early Access caveat: players are jumping in while the game is still evolving. For many, though, that is likely to be part of the appeal, especially for a co-op survival game built around exploration, progression and player feedback.

Hosting is likely to matter for players planning co-op sessions

Because Windrose leans heavily into multiplayer and self-hosted sessions, hosting is already becoming part of the conversation for players who want a smoother co-op setup. For anyone comparing providers, performance and dedicated server options, this guide to the best Windrose hosting is a useful place to start.

Why Windrose is worth watching

There is no shortage of survival games on PC, but Windrose has landed with a stronger hook than most: pirate fantasy, ship combat, co-op exploration and a large procedural world all wrapped into one Early Access package. If Kraken Express can keep improving stability while building out the roadmap to version 1.0, Windrose looks like a game that could stay in the conversation well beyond its launch window.