Windrose, formerly Crosswind, is an upcoming PvE co-op pirate survival crafting game that recently made waves during the Steam Next Fest, attracting over 22,000 concurrent players during its demo period. The Discord server for the game also ballooned to well over 20,000 members, and the hype for the game's expected release date reveal was so intense that the development team felt the need to temper expectations when it released the Raging Seas trailer for IGN Fan Fest. In the announcement following the trailer release, the developer behind the game explained that the game's potential scope made it impossible to announce a realistic launch date at the time, adding that "the full EA version of the game could be several times bigger in content and scale than the demo. Like x10 islands, x10 points of interest, more ships, enemies, crafting and building, etc."

In short, the developer asked fans to "let us cook more," explaining that the priority needs to be delivering a quality experience and shipping the game "on time and in best condition possible." The message goes on to promise fans that a release date will be revealed as soon as the development team is confident that it can deliver on all of its goals without having to delay the game. Windrose combines crafting mechanics, adventures on the high seas, and Souls-like combat in an ambitious new project. The demo offered players access to three islands, a ship and crew, early quests and boarding, and a limited selection of weapons, enemies, and survival mechanics. Obviously, the game has a pretty vast scope, and it's being developed by an indie team, so it makes sense that the developers would ask players to be patient for the release date and other information.The full message from the developer reads as follows:

Guys, I know many of you hoped for the release date reveal today, and we understand your passion -- trust me, we are so eager to lock in the date and announce it to you as well. But now is not the time to do it. In many ways the full EA version of the game could be several times bigger in content and scale than the demo. Like x10 islands, x10 points of interest, more ships, enemies, crafting and building, etc. This is a huge amount of content. We are working hard to polish it at least to the same level of quality you have seen in the demo PLUS we still hope to squeeze in some QoL requests we have heard in the last few weeks.

The process of building the game for you is a huge inspiration, your attention to Windrose is very humbling, but please, let us cook more. When we feel confident enough, we will announce the release date. I promise, we are not holding this information to tease your anticipation. We are holding if because we want to lock this in firmly and ship the game on time and in best condition possible.

Hope you'll understand and still enjoy the trailer.