Windrose
Server Hosting

What is Windrose?

Windrose is a co-op pirate survival-adventure game. It launched into Early Access on April 14, 2026, on Steam, Epic Games Store, and Stove, and within six days had sold over a million copies and peaked at 200,000 concurrent players. Set in an alternate Age of Piracy in the year 17XX, you play as a pirate captain who has been betrayed and stranded after a job gone wrong, and your goal is to build yourself back up and take on the legendary Blackbeard.

The core loop is build, craft, survive, sail. You'll gather resources on islands, build outposts and bases, craft gear and weapons, recruit a pirate crew, and expand your influence across the seas. The combat is soulslite-inspired, so timing, stamina management, parries, and dodges all matter. You have a full arsenal of melee weapons and muskets, food and potions for buffs, and challenging boss fights. The main story runs around 50-70 hours, and Kraken Express have committed to another 50% of content across a 1.5-2.5 year Early Access roadmap.

Multiplayer

Cybrancee makes setting up a Windrose server quick and simple. In a few clicks your server is live, and you and your friends can jump in and start sailing together. From our game control panel you have full control over your server, including world settings, player permissions, and admin configuration.

Our servers run 24/7, so your world is always online even when you're not. This is a big advantage over self-hosting, where the host has to stay in-game for anyone else to join. With a dedicated server, your crew can log in whenever they want and your progress, ship, base, and faction reputation all stay persistent between sessions.

One of the biggest additions in the Early Access launch is co-op ship controls, where your crew can share command of a vessel. One player steers, another mans the cannons, someone else handles repairs or boarding. It's a proper team dynamic that makes a dedicated server far more worthwhile than passing host duties between friends.

Ship Combat

Ship combat is one of the biggest parts of Windrose, and it works on both land and sea. At sea you'll trade cannon fire with enemy vessels, chase down merchant ships for loot, and close in to board them with sword and musket. Wind direction and positioning genuinely matter, so a well-sailed smaller ship can beat a bigger one if the crew knows what they're doing.

There are three vessels available at launch, each with different stats for speed, firepower, and cargo space. You'll upgrade your ship over time with better cannons, hulls, and sails, and you can repair damage at any dock for a flat 20 wood cost. Boarding actions bring the combat back to land-style melee, where your soulslite skillset comes back into play. Between the ship-to-ship fire, the boarding, and the crew coordination on a dedicated server, naval combat in Windrose ends up being one of the most hands-on systems in the genre.