Windrose is an open-world PvE survival adventure game developed and published by Windrose Crew, an independent studio based in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The game is set in an alternate Age of Piracy around 1700, where players survive, build, craft, and sail across a procedurally generated archipelago. It runs on Unreal Engine.
The game was originally announced under the name Crosswind and rebranded to Windrose in December 2025 during the PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted broadcast. The studio simultaneously renamed from Crosswind Crew to Windrose Crew. The rebrand reflected a shift in design direction away from MMO and PvP toward PvE adventure and co-op.
Premise
You play as a pirate captain who is ambushed and defeated by Blackbeard. Left shipwrecked on an uncharted island with nothing, you have to rebuild from scratch. Blackbeard has forged a pact with the devil and now commands an army of the undead. The British Navy has been wiped out, leaving Tortuga as the last holdout against his forces.
What starts as a grounded story of survival escalates into a conflict between empires, pirate clans, and dark supernatural powers. Columbus's Book of Prophecies features in the plot, with its missing pages describing a treasure that could grant control over the seas.
Core gameplay
Windrose combines several systems into a single loop:
Soulslite combat with sabers, rapiers, pistols, muskets, and more
Naval combat inspired by Assassin's Creed Black Flag
Base building from simple shelters to elaborate forts
Crafting with quality-of-life features like shared base storage
Exploration of a procedurally generated archipelago with 100+ hand-crafted dungeons
Co-op multiplayer for up to 4 players
No hunger or thirst meters
Unlike many survival games, Windrose does not have traditional hunger or thirst systems. Food increases health, stamina, and combat power instead of slowly draining. The approach is similar to Valheim, where eating is a buff rather than a penalty.
Platforms and release
Windrose is planned for Steam Early Access in 2026 on PC (Steam and Epic Games Store). Console versions are planned but secondary to PC development. The game is buy-to-play with no microtransactions or live service monetization. A free demo with 4-6 hours of content launched during Steam Next Fest in February 2026 and received a 94% positive rating from over 1,500 reviews.
Player numbers
The Steam Next Fest demo surpassed 10,000 concurrent players within days of launch. As of February 2026, the game has over 840,000 Steam wishlists, placing it in Steam's top 35 most-wishlisted games. This is the studio's first Steam release.