Now is the best time for everyone who loves survival games. The genre is currently experiencing a kind of golden age on Steam – and you don’t even have to like pirates.
Fans of survival games could hardly escape good news over the past weeks: There were major updates for already popular games, important announcements, and several strong releases.
Especially one new survival game is currently on everyone’s lips: Windrose. And it is fitting that this golden age of survival games on Steam is heralded by a title that revolves around another golden age – that of pirates.
Windrose celebrates over 69,000 players at release
What kind of game is this? The new pirate game Windrose has been highly anticipated since February 2026 when it had a playable demo on Steam. The release in Early Access followed on April 14, 2026.
Within the first hours after release, over 47,000 players already dived into the Caribbean island world of Windrose. Meanwhile, the peak value is significantly higher, at over 69,000 (according to steamdb.info).
Windrose has become for many the pirate game they had hoped for from Skull and Bones. Where the “AAAA game” from Ubisoft disappointed with what you cannot do, Windrose impresses already in Early Access with its sheer wealth of content:
- Windrose lets you explore freely on every island. In doing so, you also discover some old ruins where precious treasures wait – but also powerful enemies.
- In addition to your own ship, you can also build a hideout for your pirate, from which you can already choose from several building styles.
- On board your ship, you can also move freely during a sea battle, operate cannons, and even command your crew to board the enemy ship.
All of this can be experienced alone and in co-op, and it is priced at €29.99 on Steam (until April 21, 2026, it’s only €26.99). One day after the release, the game already has over 2,600 reviews on Steam, of which 88% are positive. This bodes well for a successful Early Access for the title.
Soulmask gives away a DLC, reaches 44,000 players at release
Soulmask left Early Access just a few days before the release of Windrose – on April 10, 2026. Almost two years after the start of Early Access, version 1.0 has attracted over 44,000 players simultaneously into the game (according to steamdb.info).
Although the game launches with some issues in the full version, early buyers and long-time fans receive a complete game world as a gift. Anyone who buys Soulmask until May 10, 2026, gets the largest DLC for the game for free. For currently €26.99 (it will be €29.99 starting April 23, 2026), you get on Steam the main game and the DLC worth €19.99.
Through its mix of open-world survival crafting and recruiting NPCs with which you build your own settlement, Soulmask strongly resembles Conan Exiles at first glance. However, the game’s unique feature is the complex mask system: It allows you to embody each of the NPCs you recruit and utilize their powers. Thus, you play not just one character but your entire tribe.
The new DLC Shifting Sands takes players, as the name suggests, to the desert. More precisely, it is an alternate version of Egypt, where ancient ruins meet futuristic technologies. So, you can now use the desert sun to build a base on one of the new flying ships.
Enshrouded overhauls its combat system significantly
In addition to new releases, there were also major updates and announcements for already popular survival games. For instance, Enshrouded, developed by the Frankfurt studio Keen Games, recently introduced significant changes to its combat system.
In the future, you will be able to execute heavy attacks with your weapons that deal more damage to enemies and drain stamina. Additionally, unique weapon skills and new animations for two-handed weapons will be introduced. Moreover, dodging will soon grant I-frames, making you briefly invulnerable.
Your enemies are also expected to behave more realistically – for instance, trying to dodge projectiles. All of this and more, including the recently announced large skill tree in the style of Path of Exile, brings Enshrouded closer to its 1.0 release, which is planned for Fall 2026. There is already a roadmap for this year as well.
At its core, Enshrouded is a sandbox game with survival and adventure elements, roughly a mix of Valheim and The Legend of Zelda. Additionally, Enshrouded uses a voxel system like in Minecraft, allowing you great freedom in building a base. The focus of Enshrouded is primarily on exploring the picturesque game world and constructing, which leaves you plenty of time to express your creativity.
Dune: Awakening fulfills the biggest wish of PvE players
There’s also big news for Dune: Awakening: The developers announce the end of the long identity crisis that their game has been experiencing since its release. Originally, the game aimed to be much more hardcore survival-oriented. Players were supposed to form large clans and guilds competing for the valuable spice on the desert planet Arrakis.
Over time, however, it became clear that the vast majority of players were not interested in PvP: According to the developers, over 80% focused exclusively on PvE content.
For this reason, they have decided to disallow PvP on official servers outside the deep desert. The deep desert, the endgame area of Dune: Awakening, is also to be provided in separate PvE and PvP versions. Players who want the full PvP experience will be able to host their own servers in the future and activate the option there.
What makes the game so special? Dune: Awakening strongly implements the license underlying the game. Fans of the Dune universe will surely feel at home here. The constant struggle for survival in the inhospitable desert of Arrakis is a real challenge, just as it should be.
Dune: Awakening is also particularly recommended for those who want a real survival MMO. Anyone who enjoys joining up with other players to form large factions can continue to do so here – just with less PvP in the future.
That hasn’t been all, at some point this article has to be finished. One can still mention the survival spinoff of RuneScape, which recently received a comprehensive update, as well as the planned release of Palworld in 2026. The latter is expected to be so massive that it’s worth starting over.
Do you have another survival game in mind that we should definitely talk about right now? If so, feel free to let us know in the comments. Those who only know Windrose as the survival game it is now miss an inconspicuous commonality with the new Crimson Desert. Because both games were originally supposed to offer much more multiplayer: New pirate game on Steam launches today in Early Access, originally intended to be an MMORPG
Your opinion is important to us!
Do you like the article? Then let us know!