Console Release & Summer Update
It's been a little over two years since Bellwright stepped into Early Access. Rougher around the edges than it is today, and lacking many features that we all take for granted by now, but you'd shown up for it anyway and you've stayed to see it evolve side by side with us. More than anything, this update is our way of saying thank you for that.
This time, we didn't start by asking "what else can we add to our ever-growing digital love child?" We asked, "how do we make what's already here better, and more pleasant to play, no matter how and, more importantly, where you play?" Almost everything in this update grew out of that one single question, and with your feedback over the years, your bug reports, and preview branch discussions, everyone on the team feels like this update is as much our achievement as it is yours.
The biggest part of that "more pleasant to play" promise is by far performance. An enormous optimization pass, a jump to Unreal Engine 5.7, updated DLSS, FSR and XeSS, and we finally tracked down the late game micro-freezes on big settlements that so many of you with thousands of hours of playtime have been reporting.
After the Halmare Isles' story upped the ante for how the narrative can flow in Bellwright, we gave the early quests and the opening hours the attention they'd long deserved, so the introduction to the world is clearer, warmer, and plays far better. It's worth a fresh save even if you've been with us since day one, as there's quite a bit you might not have known about the Lowlands, its history, and the people of Haerndean.
Beyond that, there have been dozens of new features, improvements, and all kinds of changes that we've been gathering from you: a planning mode to lay out a whole settlement or individual buildings and decorations before spending a single resource, a way to connect your own roads and travel signs to the existing road network, food diet and medicine slots in gear presets, and squads that hold together over long distances, and are far easier to command from the map, and much more.
Console Release
With all that, it finally felt like the right moment to open the doors a little wider. Bellwright is now available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S! If you've ever felt like a revolutionary at heart, but the couch is just soooo cozy and soft (most of us at Donkey Crew can relate; why do you think we made it?) - welcome, and please let us know how you're liking the game. And if you're a PC veteran who's been here since the early days, we kindly ask you to avoid openly posting spoilers on Discord, at least for the time being.
All the versions are nearly identical in every way, and are available right now on platform stores!
Co-op – We hit some unexpected bugs that prevented us from launching co-op on both Xbox and Playstation on schedule. We know how important playing together is to the Bellwright experience, so we made the call to hold it back until it's polished and ready. Rest assured, we expect it to arrive within the next two weeks, if not sooner. Thank you for understanding!
What's Next
There's a third (and a fourth!) big thing we've been quietly working toward too, and it's one a lot of you have been asking about.
Crossplay - playing alongside your friends, whatever platform they're on, and self-hosted dedicated servers are both in active development, and both are coming later this year. Likely before the next major update.
Mostly though, we just want to say thank you. This update exists because you kept showing us which parts of Bellwright deserve a little more love, and cared enough to keep telling us. To everyone who's stuck with us through the rough patches, and to everyone setting foot in the Lowlands for the very first time today - we're glad you're here. Jump in, drag a friend along with you, and keep pointing us at whatever we should tackle next!
