Development Update: Q1 2026

Hey everyone, time for a quick update! :-)

If you read our last blog post, you know we've shifted into a new phase of development. For the past three years, we built Golden Tides to move fast. Test ideas, break things, iterate, figure out what this game actually is. That was the plan, and it worked. We found it.

Now we're in a different phase: building for production. Taking everything we learned and constructing systems designed to ship and scale. Same game, same vision, just built on a foundation that lets us deliver content at the pace Golden Tides deserves.

That work is going well. Really well, actually. Here's a quick update on what we've been up to and what's next.

Playtests Are Returning End of Q1

Once the build is ready, we're opening the doors again. When you get your hands on it, you'll feel the difference. Tighter responsiveness, smoother movement and combat, the kind of polish that's hard to describe but obvious the moment you play.

We'll share specific dates as we get closer.

The Roster Is Growing

We've been working on new heroes, and we're excited about the variety we're bringing to the lineup. These will take a bit longer to be ready, but they're all in active development.

Without spoiling too much:

A young earth mage who controls the battlefield. Small, scrappy, hits like a boulder.

A high-mobility blade master.

A tank that takes "protecting your teammates" literally. He also likes to curl up and roll around.

And a time-bending support who's going to be SCARY in the right hands.

And MANY more!

We want everyone to find their hero, that character where you go "oh, this was made for me." Building out a diverse roster is how we get there.

New Environments

The Archipelago is expanding. We've got a new lava island in the works full of unique mechanics that are going to shake up the game!

Fresh UI

We're also rebuilding our UI from the ground up. Cleaner, more intuitive, prettier. It's one of those things that touches every part of the experience, and we're giving it the attention it deserves.

We've Been Listening

We've taken in a lot of feedback from previous playtests and we're acting on it. Major improvements coming across the board. We'll get into specifics later, but for now just know that if you gave us feedback, we heard it, and you'll see the results.

Website Revamp

New design, cleaner layout, and we added a blog where we'll be posting more regular updates. Dev diaries, hero deep-dives, behind-the-scenes content. We want to give you a real window into what we're building and why.

One More Thing

We've got some news coming that we can't share quite yet. Good news. The kind worth waiting for. Soon. 👀

Lastly

We know the past few months have been quieter on the public-facing side. That's what building mode looks like sometimes. Fewer flashy announcements, more heads-down work. But the energy internally is high. The team is locked in. We can see how this all comes together now, and that's a good feeling.

Thanks for sticking with us through the quieter stretches. Q1 is going to be a lot more active.

More soon.

— Anomie