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Windrose hotfix should help connectivity issues, with more fixes "underway" as the open-world pirate game sails past 113,000 concurrent Steam players

News
By Anthony McGlynn published 17 April 2026

Kraken Express is fixing the leaks

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Windrose early access trailer screenshot shows a female pirate.
(Image credit: Kraken Express)
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The devs behind Windrose are starting to gain some control over the choppy waters the game's encountered since launching this week. A new hotfix deals with some of the connectivity issues, as the pirate sandbox breaks its own record for concurrent players.

Although Windrose isn't short of any attention right now, blowing right by 100,000 concurrents on Steam since going into early access, developer Kraken Express has been up against it trying to resolve some annoying networking problems. A quick hotfix is now live, with the intent of remedying these hurdles for at least some players.

"Disabled the access token generation cooldown for dedicated servers, this should alleviate some of the connectivity issues for dedicated hosts," the patch notes read. Another, more minor problem is also addressed: "Fixed an issue where the client did not check the server version before connecting, it now displays a UI error message if the server is outdated."

Article continues below
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  • Windrose key art shows a pirate holding a gun. As Windrose servers buckle, devs ask fans if they "happen to know someone at a major ISP"
  • 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 sells 500k copies in 48 hours, proving the hunger for piracy is alive and well
Windrose: Early Access Release Trailer - YouTube Windrose: Early Access Release Trailer - YouTube
Watch On

Kraken Express is clearly under a little bit of pressure at the minute, because the team previously admitted it couldn't quite work out where the problems are coming from, and turned to the community for help. Problems with connectivity can be difficult to tease out, but at least there are some solutions to be rolled out. It's noted that "more connectivity fixes are underway," they're just in testing at the minute.

The game's early access landing hasn't been stifled too badly, though, because on April 16, mere days after it became playable, it reached 113,930 concurrent players on Steam. It teetered on the six-figure mark the previous day, before finally jumping over with aplomb.

It seems plenty are enjoying sailing the seven seas for every bit of treasure they can find. A predominantly co-op experience, Windrose is all about getting a crew together to take on whatever stands between you and your gold. 'X' may not yet mark the spot for the connectivity issues, but Kraken Express is finding plenty of riches regardless.

Be sure to check out our list of new games for 2026 and beyond to see what else is on the horizon.

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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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