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As Windrose servers buckle under nearly 100k concurrent Steam players, devs admit they "don't yet have a clear answer" for a fix, ask fans if they "happen to know someone at a major ISP"

News
By Anthony McGlynn published 16 April 2026

Developer Kraken Express says "we're still trying to figure out what exactly is going wrong here"

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Windrose key art shows a pirate holding a gun.
(Image credit: Windrose Crew)
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There have been some choppy waters for Windrose post-launch. While the open-world pirate adventure has managed to attract consistent player numbers, with around 6 figures in Steam concurrents thus far, the servers' overall stability could be improved.

In seeking a remedy, developer Kraken Express has turned to the community for assistance. "If you happen to work with, or know someone at a major EU/NA ISPs who might be open to speaking with us, we would truly appreciate an introduction," the team asked on the official Discord. "It could make a real difference in improving co-op connectivity for everyone."

Oh dear. The devs mention that "several hotfixes are already in development," but double down in the same request on how useful outside support would be: "Your help is incredibly valuable in making sure we address things properly."

Article continues below
You may like
  • Screenshot from Windrose, showing a pirate aiming down the sights of her rifle while standing in front of tropical trees. Open-world pirate survival game Windrose launches to 69,000 peak players and 88% positive Steam reviews
  • Woman wearing bandana appears up-close in front of rocky waters and shipwrecks Windrose hits 1.5 million Steam wishlists as 800,000 players convince devs to leave the bangin' demo up until launch
  • Windrose key art shows a pirate holding a gun. "Assassin's Creed Black Flag is the best pirate game of all time" according to Windrose devs
Windrose: Early Access Release Trailer - YouTube Windrose: Early Access Release Trailer - YouTube
Watch On

Over on Steam, where Windrose went into early access just two days ago, players have noticed requests that appear to come from Russia, raising some eyebrows. Kraken Express alludes to such concerns, while also throwing its hands up and saying the next steps are unclear at present. "We've received multiple reports that some of our server addresses and backend services used for co-op may be restricted or blocklisted by certain ISPs across Europe and North America," the company says.

"To be completely transparent, we're still trying to figure out what exactly is going wrong here," it states. The whole situation is a headscratcher, because it seems to go beyond servers being stress-tested, but hopefully someone from the player-base can bring forth a solution.

"We don't yet have a clear answer, but we're doing everything we can to get to the bottom of it," Kraken Express says to finish.

"Assassin's Creed Black Flag is the best pirate game of all time" according to Windrose devs, so of course they "took inspiration" from it for their viral open-world seafaring game.

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Anthony McGlynn
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Anthony is an Irish entertainment and games journalist, now based in Glasgow. He previously served as Senior Anime Writer at Dexerto and News Editor at The Digital Fix, on top of providing work for Variety, IGN, Den of Geek, PC Gamer, and many more. Besides Studio Ghibli, horror movies, and The Muppets, he enjoys action-RPGs, heavy metal, and pro-wrestling. He interviewed Animal once, not that he won’t stop going on about it or anything.

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