🏴‍☠️ Windrose · Beginner's Guide

Windrose Beginner's Guide — What It Is, Who's It For, How Co-op Works

Q: What is Windrose?

Windrose is a co-op pirate survival-craft RPG built on Unreal Engine 5 by developer Kraken Express, published by Pocketpair. You build, craft and survive across procedural land-and-sea biomes, sailing between islands with naval combat, quests, factions and settlement building. It launched into PC Early Access on April 14, 2026.

Q: How many players can play Windrose co-op?

Up to 8 players, but the developers recommend 4 for the best experience because higher player counts hurt performance, especially in the late game. There is also a free dedicated server (Steam app 4129620) you can run so the world stays up when you're offline.

Q: What platforms is Windrose on?

PC only at the moment — Windows 10/11 64-bit, sold on Steam, the Epic Games Store and Smilegate Stove, with no storefront exclusivity. There is no confirmed PlayStation 5 or Xbox release; console plans haven't been announced.

Q: How much does Windrose cost?

The base game is 29.99 USD. There is also a 39.99 USD Supporter Bundle. It is in Early Access, so the price can change before 1.0.

Q: Is Windrose finished or still in Early Access?

It's in Early Access — it launched into Steam, Epic and Stove Early Access on April 14, 2026 and is still being patched. Expect settings, balance and content to change between updates; we re-check our guides when it patches.

Q: Does Windrose have a dedicated server?

Yes. There's a free dedicated server tool — Steam app 4129620 (the game itself is app 3041230) — that you don't need to own the game to install. It lets the world keep running while you're offline, which a host-and-play co-op session can't do.

Short version up top, the rabbit-holes below. Windrose is a co-op pirate survival-craft RPG: you wash up, chop and mine your way to a boat, then sail a procedurally built sea of islands — fighting ships, raiding settlements, building your own. It hit PC Early Access on April 14, 2026 and it's the kind of game that's much better with a friend or three. This page is the hub: what the game actually is, what it costs, where to buy it, how many people can play together — and a map to every other Windrose guide we've built (gunpowder, clay, the wharf, trading, fast travel, the regions, and the live server config tool).

Facts here are cross-checked against the Steam store page and multiple independent outlets (Worthplaying, Destructoid, MassivelyOP, Wikipedia, the official dedicated-server guide) · current to June 2026.

Windrose is in Early Access (launched April 2026, no 1.0 date announced) and it patches fast — prices, caps and content can move. We re-check on updates. Anything we couldn't pin down to a clean source is tagged ⚠ verify.

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What Windrose Actually Is

If you've played a survival-crafter — Valheim, Enshrouded, Palworld — the loop will feel familiar, just with the ocean as the main road. Gather, craft, build, upgrade, push into harder territory. The pirate part is not set dressing: a working ship is your transport, your fight platform and your moving home, and most of the map is water between islands you actually sail to.

GenrePirate survival-craft RPG — build, craft and survive across procedural land-and-sea biomes, with quests, factions and reputation layered on top.
The sea bitSailing and naval combat are core: crew a ship, fight other vessels, board them. Land and sea are stitched together rather than loaded as separate screens.
BuildingSettlement building — you don't just plant a base, you grow an outpost and recruit NPCs to it.
EngineBuilt on Unreal Engine 5. ⚠ The exact minor version (reported as 5.3 / 5.4) only comes from a player comment, so treat the decimal as unconfirmed — UE5 itself is solid.

Who made it. Developer Kraken Express, published by Pocketpair — the studio behind Palworld, here wearing its publishing hat. So if Windrose feels like it's aiming at the same "co-op survival with a hook" crowd, that's not a coincidence.

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Where to Buy It, What It Costs, What You Need

PC only for now. No storefront has it locked down, so buy it wherever your friends are — saves and co-op aren't tied to a single store.

Thing	The answer	Notes
Price	$29.99 USD	A $39.99 Supporter Bundle also exists. Early Access price — may change before 1.0.
Stores	Steam · Epic Games Store · Stove	No exclusivity — all three at launch (Stove = Smilegate's storefront).
Platform	PC only	Windows 10 (64-bit) minimum, Windows 11 (64-bit) recommended.
Console?	Not confirmed	No announced PS5 or Xbox version. Don't buy expecting console play yet.
Status	Early Access	Launched April 14, 2026. No 1.0 date announced. Patches frequently.

On the Steam app IDs. The game is Steam app 3041230. The free dedicated server is a separate tool, Steam app 4129620 — you'll see those numbers if you ever host (more below).

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Co-op & Player Count — How Many Can Play

This is the most-asked Windrose question, so here's the honest answer with the caveat the marketing tends to skip: the supported maximum and the good number aren't the same.

Setup	Players	What it means
Recommended party	4	The devs explicitly recommend up to 4 "for the optimal experience." This is the sweet spot.
Supported maximum	up to 8	You can go to 8, but the developers warn it hurts performance — "especially in the late game."
Dedicated server	same caps	Free server tool (Steam app 4129620). Keeps the world up while you're offline.

One honest caveat. The dominant, independently-corroborated framing is 4 recommended, up to 8 supported. A couple of outlier sources float other numbers (one wiki section says "up to 10," some host blogs claim "32 on a dedicated server") — those conflict with the official Steam page and the dedicated-server guide, so we don't treat them as fact. ⚠ verify the actual slider max in your own server settings if you're chasing a big lobby. Until then: assume 8, aim for 4.

Two ways to play together: host-and-play (one person's game is the session — simple, but it ends when the host quits), or the free dedicated server (the world runs on its own and stays up 24/7). For a casual group of friends, host-and-play is fine. For a persistent crew, the dedicated server is the move — and that's where our server config generator earns its keep, building the three JSON files the server needs so you're not hand-editing them.

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Your First Hour — The Honest Orientation

We're keeping this hub tight and link-y on purpose: the deep "how do I make X" answers live on their own pages, kept current as the game patches. Here's the lay of the land so you know which page to open next.

Gather earlyIt's a survival-crafter — wood, stone and basic resources come first. Our resources guide covers the early gatherables (corn, fishing and friends).
Get on the waterYour ship is the whole game's transport. A wharf is how you build and dock it.
Learn the mapProcedural islands across distinct biomes — the map & regions guide orients you, and fast travel saves you the long sail back.
Spend & tradeSettlements and factions mean economy — trading & Tortuga is your pirate-port primer.
Specific recipesThe fiddly material chains get their own pages: clay and gunpowder (you'll want gunpowder for the naval-combat side).

Early Access reality check. Because Windrose patches often, exact recipe amounts and unlock gates are the things most likely to shift. Where a guide leans on a number that sources disagree on, we show the candidates and say we're confirming it — rather than print a confident wrong figure. If something you see in-game doesn't match a page, the game probably moved; tell us and we'll fix it.

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Every Windrose Guide We've Built

This page is the hub — here's the whole cluster. Each one goes deep on a single thing and gets re-checked when the game patches.

Guide	What it answers
Map & Regions	The biomes and how the procedural world is laid out.
Resources (Corn, Fishing)	Early gatherables and where to find them.
How to Get Clay	Where clay comes from and what it's for.
How to Make Gunpowder	The recipe chain for the naval-combat essential.
How to Build a Wharf	Building and docking your ship.
Trading & Tortuga	The economy and the pirate port.
Fast Travel	How to skip the long sail back.
Server Config Generator 🛠️	The live tool: builds your dedicated-server JSON files.

Windrose Beginner FAQ

What is Windrose?

A co-op pirate survival-craft RPG on Unreal Engine 5 by developer Kraken Express (publisher Pocketpair). You build, craft and survive across procedural land-and-sea biomes — sailing between islands with naval combat, quests, factions and settlement building. It launched into PC Early Access on April 14, 2026.

How many players can play Windrose co-op?

Up to 8, but the developers recommend 4 for the best experience — higher counts hurt performance, especially in the late game. There's also a free dedicated server (Steam app 4129620) so the world stays up when you're offline.

What platforms is Windrose on?

PC only right now — Windows 10/11 64-bit, on Steam, the Epic Games Store and Stove, with no storefront exclusivity. There's no confirmed PS5 or Xbox version; console plans haven't been announced.

How much does Windrose cost?

The base game is $29.99 USD. There's also a $39.99 Supporter Bundle. It's in Early Access, so the price can change before 1.0.

Is Windrose finished or still in Early Access?

Still Early Access — it launched into Steam, Epic and Stove Early Access on April 14, 2026 and is actively patched. Expect settings, balance and content to change between updates; we re-check our guides when it patches.

Does Windrose have a dedicated server?

Yes — a free dedicated server tool, Steam app 4129620 (the game itself is app 3041230), which you don't need to own the game to install. It keeps the world running while you're offline, which a host-and-play session can't. Our config generator builds the files it needs.