Survival Pirate Game Crosswind Going Early Access in 2026, Drops Free-to-Play Model
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Developer Crosswind Crew, the team behind the upcoming survival pirate game Crosswind, has announced major changes following feedback from the alpha test held in June 2025. The game is shifting its vision to focus on a PvE-oriented survival experience rather than a full-scale MMO. Along with this change, the team is moving away from a free-to-play model and is now targeting a Steam Early Access release in 2026.
From MMO Ambitions to PvE Survival
The alpha test revealed that players are perfectly fine playing solo or with friends, and it looks like their original vision has made the developers realize how ambitious their project actually is if they continue to pursue delivering this MMO foundation. In response to player feedback and the possible technical challenges the developers will face, they are shifting the game to me more PvE focused. Crosswind will now support offline play, player-hosted dedicated servers, and modding support.
PvP will still be available but will no longer be the primary focus. Instead, the development team wants to deliver a more personal and customizable survival experience.
From Free-to-Play to Premium Purchase
Initially planned as a free-to-play title, Crosswind will now launch as a one-time purchase game. According to the developers:
“After moving to a classic PvE co-op approach and reviewing Alpha feedback, it became clear that most of our audience prefers a one-time purchase model,” says the developers. “
A free-to-play version would require monetizing multiple aspects of the game — which could be controversial unless limited strictly to cosmetics — and would also require a constant flow of monetized content. We came to another hard truth: as a small team, sustaining Crosswind as a “live service” game would take resources away from developing new features, expanding the world, and improving the core experience.”
Road to Early Access
The team admits Crosswind is not yet ready for Early Access, but development throughout 2025 will focus on hitting that goal. Early 2026 is the target, though the timeline will depend on whether the game meets the team’s quality standards.
This is refreshing to see - Developers absorbing all that they could to make decisive changes and decisions based on player feedback thanks to the short but sweet alpha session that occurred in June 2025.
My time with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 made me realize how overdue we are for a brand-new entry. This is a franchise that doesn’t need to reinvent itself to stay relevant. Sometimes, being fun is enough, and this remake delivers just that.