Kraken Express has officially pulled back the curtain on the 2026 roadmap for Windrose, confirming that the pirate-themed survival RPG will receive its first major content expansion, titled Ashlands, later this year. The announcement follows a successful Early Access launch on Steam that has seen the title gain significant traction within the survival-crafting community. While a firm release date for the expansion remains unannounced, the development team indicated that players should expect the new biome to arrive no earlier than late October.
The Ashlands update is set to introduce a volcanic or charred environment to the game’s existing archipelago, serving as the first significant extension of the title’s world-building and narrative. Beyond the addition of the new biome, Kraken Express is prioritizing a “major evolution” of core gameplay mechanics. This shift suggests that the update will be more than just a map expansion, potentially overhauled to accommodate the unfolding story that the developers have promised to deliver as the game progresses through its Early Access period.
In the immediate future, the studio is shifting its focus toward technical stability and quality-of-life improvements. The roadmap outlines a series of smaller, rapid-fire updates designed to address CPU and disk usage, connectivity issues, and Steam Cloud save bugs. Additionally, players can expect over 40 new building parts intended to fix current inconsistencies in the construction system. To facilitate better communication during this process, the developer has launched windrose.support, a beta platform where players can report bugs and vote on community-suggested features.
Despite the growing demand for a console release, Kraken Express remains committed to the PC platform for the time being. The latest update clarified that there are currently no active plans to bring Windrose to PS5 or other consoles until the game reaches its 1.0 version. For now, the development team is focused on refining the crafting and building loops on Steam, ensuring the foundation is solid before navigating the complexities of a multi-platform launch.
