New builds went up on October 23: playtest-20261023 on the Test channel and shipping-20261023 on Release. Development is pausing for a few days after this, so here's an honest look at what's in them, and what's still rough.
The free demo and the store are open
The Release channel now has a proper release build, with the developer tools compiled out and the licence checked offline. That build is the free demo: the full game for two hours of in-world play. Paused time and menus don't count. When the two hours are up, the world saves, and if you buy, that same save carries on. Play the free demo.
The store is open too: early access is US$15, and the Supporter Edition is US$30. A membership includes the game, and you keep it after three paid months. Purchases aren't open in the EU and UK yet while we register for VAT there.
Both builds also have Report a bug on the pause screen. It sends a screenshot and the end of the log, and it shows you what it sends before you agree. If the game crashes, Unreal's crash reporter asks whether to send us the report.
The radial walker is a real animal now
Devlog 1 called the walker "in development". It's now a full species, in the valley in both builds. Colonies live in deep water in the Ancient Woodlands and the Tidal Marshes, wherever there are trees close by. It spends the day in the water. At dusk it crosses to the trees and waits, perched and dim, above the paths. At dawn it goes back.
- It drops on what passes underneath: other animals, and you. Tap to struggle, and shake the mouse or the left stick to get free. A stun prod barely bothers it; a blade does.
- Keep your light on it. A perched walker that's lit won't drop.
- It reacts. Its photophores glow low and slow while it waits, and stutter when it grips or is shocked. It clicks, crackles and hisses as it drops.
- It has a real body. You can't walk through it any more, and strikes land on the leg or tentacle you actually hit. When it dies, it leaves a carcass that scavengers find. Out of the water it looks wet: darker, glossier, with a waterline.
- You can tame one, but it's meant to be very hard. It only takes food by day, out of its tree, and a fright, a light or a blow loses all the trust you've built. In our test it took 23 offers, two bites and two bolts.
Still rough: a perched walker at night is hard to make out, which is the point in play but makes it hard to show you. Struggling with a real Xbox controller hasn't been tested on hardware yet, only with simulated input. And when a tamed walker follows you day and night without perching, that's a stand-in we haven't settled.
Gliding primates
The canopy primates' gliding membrane, rebuilt flying-squirrel style (furred, wrist to ankle), is in both builds. We're calling it good for now, with known flaws. Seen from above, the limbs sit on top of the sheet instead of forming its edge. The fringe looks spiky up close, and the fold in their display is a small flat panel.
The valley holds more life
The creature pool is now on by default. Animals far from you live on as records, with their age, health, hunger and home. They become full animals as you approach and go back to records when you leave. Hunts are part of the record, so a save taken mid-chase loads mid-chase. In our measurements with 600 animals in the world, the 40 nearest as full animals cost 3.8 ms a frame, and the pool itself under 0.1 ms.
The dev menu, for everyone on Test
While Wildbound is in pre-alpha, the Test build gives every player the dev menu. Open it with F1, or by pressing both sticks on a controller. It's been rebuilt with eight tabs: movement, time and weather, creatures, walkers, the researcher, camp and vehicles, the field book, and debug. It fits the screen and works fully on a controller. Rows that change your save are marked, and destructive ones ask twice. You can set the time to night, jump to the next walker crossing, or spawn a walker in a tree above you. The Release build has no dev menu.
Credits and how we make the game
The field book's Credits page now rolls and lists every credit: every artist, scan and library we build on, with its licence. It also has a Made with AI section. Much of the code, the tools that build our original models, materials and sounds, and much of the in-game writing are made with AI assistants (Claude, by Anthropic). The early concept boards were made with ChatGPT, as reference only. Supporters have their own page in the field book, and on the site under supporters.
The launcher updates itself
Launcher 0.2.0 keeps itself up to date. A new version installs at start-up and reopens, and the launcher won't update while the game is running or installing. Build names now read as dates, patch notes are formatted, and uninstalling asks once what to keep, your saves included.
A correction to Devlog 2: we said we'd post when code signing was live. We've decided not to buy a code-signing certificate. Windows SmartScreen will keep warning the first time you run the installer. Choose More info, then Run anyway. The launcher's own updates and every game build are signed with our keys, and anything that fails its signature check is refused.
Known issues
- Animals sometimes stand inside each other (Sky Ibex in a herd), and grazers don't yet keep clear of resting predators.
- A Stoneback can freeze, half-sunk in marsh water, for several seconds.
- Lumen Wolves can walk in a crouch that's too deep.
- On the Test channel, saves and worlds may break between builds while we're in pre-alpha.
We also took our creature videos off the media page, because they didn't show the animals well. For now we're sharing stills.
A short pause
We're stepping away for a few days. The builds stay up, and the demo, the store and the launcher keep working. Bug reports and feedback are welcome while we're away; we'll read them when we're back.
Thanks for playing.