Enshrouded Leaves Early Access
On October 15, 2026 at 4 PM CEST, Keen Games released version 1.0 of Enshrouded, on PC through Steam and, for the first time on console, on PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro. The game sells for $39.99, with a 10% launch discount during the first 14 days. The Xbox Series X|S version is announced for spring 2027.
It concludes an Early Access that opened on January 24, 2024 and saw 8 major updates, 14 patches and 42 hotfixes, for more than 5.5 million players according to the studio. The game is played solo or in co-op with up to 16 players on PC and 8 on PlayStation 5. A first hotfix, 1.0.0.1, shipped the same day.
For players, it is the largest update in the game's history. For server administrators, it means a save migration and several new settings worth knowing. This article covers both, relying solely on Keen Games' official changelog and communications.
Embervale in Full
Cinder's Cradle, the Endgame Biome
The Embervale map is now fully revealed with the arrival of Cinder's Cradle, a two-layered northern biome. Below, a lava wasteland dotted with ruins. Above, floating islands built by the Ancients and connected by Shroud tendrils. The biome holds 12 new Shroud Roots and sits, in size, between Blackmire and Veilwater Basin.
Older Regions Grow
Two new Hollow Halls open in the Albaneve Summits and Veilwater Basin. The Springlands, Blackmire and Kindlewastes gain edge-of-map areas with 6 additional Shroud Roots, and several previously hidden structures become accessible. Former no-build zones now welcome player bases. In the Nomad Highlands Shroud, 3 save points were added, and hourglass capsules are more frequent there.
An End, but Not the End
The main Embervale story reaches its conclusion in this version, with the final pieces of the puzzle on the kingdom's fall and its rebirth. Keen Games notes it is an ending "for now", the Shroud and the Fell remain threats, and the studio commits to free and paid content for years to come.
Level 50, Flame and Progression
The maximum level rises to 50, and gear climbs to level 55 once fully upgraded. Flame level 11 unlocks a long-awaited feature, pushing back the Shroud with Flame Altars. The required level can be lowered in the world settings, which directly concerns server administrators, more on that below.
The early game was reworked. The first level-up comes from placing your first Flame Altar, the second from freeing the Blacksmith. Early recipes require less grinding, and armor sets unlock automatically with each Flame upgrade.
Important for everyone, the skill tree is reset the first time an existing save loads in 1.0. Points are refunded and must be spent again.
Combat Reaches a New Dimension
Nine New Spells and Eternal Spells
Mages are the big winners of 1.0. Nine spells arrive, spread across control, area damage, summons and utility.
| Spell | Type |
|---|---|
| Mana Drain | Drains enemy mana continuously |
| Entangle | Control |
| Pillar of Flames | Damage |
| Blizzard | Area damage |
| Ball Lightning | Area damage |
| Summon Fire Totem | Summon |
| Summon Ice Totem | Summon |
| Summon Shock Totem | Summon |
| Summon Hollow Skeleton | Summon |
Every spell now has an Eternal version, 22 in total at tier 7, which consumes no charges and upgrades with perks like a regular spell. Arrows follow the same principle with eternal fire, shock and bone arrows.
Necromancy, Wands and New Skills
Players can summon skeleton allies, with the Gem of Lesser Necromancy and the Advanced Necromancy skill to field more of them. Wands gain a piercing heavy attack, free aim, and two dedicated skills, Aerial Wand Attack and Wand Evasion Attack. Blast and Cast grants +50% damage to the next staff hit within 10 seconds of a wand critical. On the archer side, Puncture, Barrage and Survival Instinct round out the tree. Aim assist makes its debut, enabled by default on controller.
37 New Enemies and a Reworked Boss
The bestiary grows by 37 new enemy types and variants, including 14 specific to Cinder's Cradle. Enemies recover health when players leave combat and investigate when they hear noise. The Albaneve Summits boss was reworked, less health, a new exhausted phase for melee, and a wider arena with grapple anchors.
Sparkworks, Logic in Your Hands
Sparkworks is the 1.0 logic system. It connects inputs, a lever you pull, a pressure plate you step on, to outputs, a door that opens, a trap that triggers. A two-dimensional graph editor lets you assemble mechanisms, puzzles and enemy encounters. The system unlocks by crafting a set of dedicated tools and props.
Combined with Adventure Sharing, which gains new tags, a highlight category and a reworked voting system, Sparkworks opens the door to community-made dungeons and adventures. Keen Games presents this pair as the first step toward shared creation.
Building, Base and Comfort
- Airborne Architect, a skill that lets you fly freely around your base to build.
- Chests upgraded in place and renameable, no more replacing them.
- Auto-loot by holding the collect key.
- Gem forge placeable in your base late game, and the Quick Stash Station available earlier.
- Mei-Yin Chen, a survivor who crafts vanity items for gold coins.
- Factory limit per world, with a warning as you approach the cap.
- Fishing reworked, bait determines the fish tier, and the rod must match.
Visuals, Performance and Sound
The new brick renderer adds detail to distant terrain and buildings. Lighting is specific to each biome, with height fog, improved dynamic global illumination and reworked point light shadows, which allows more light sources in a large base. HDR is supported, with a calibration screen. Video memory use drops, shader compilation is faster, and performance improves on Steam Deck and modest graphics cards.
Lore notes, letters and books are now voiced in English, German and Mandarin, with Dietmar Wunder, the German voice of James Bond, for the German version. Crafting and quest-giver survivors are voiced as well. The interface remains translated into fifteen languages, including French.
On PlayStation 5, the game offers 60 frames per second in Performance mode or 30 in Quality mode, and the PS5 Pro combines both at 60 frames per second thanks to PSSR 2.0, with haptic feedback and adaptive triggers.
What Changes for Your Server
1. Saves Are Migrated Automatically
1.0 introduces a new save format, more compact with a simplified structure. On first load, any save created in version 0.8 or earlier is first backed up, then migrated to the new format. Keen Games goes further and encourages starting a fresh world, as the early game and the world were deeply reworked.
Even though the game makes its own copy, make yours. A full backup from the panel before updating remains the only guarantee of being able to roll back.
2. The Skill Reset Hits Every Player
The skill tree reset applies to each character on its first load in 1.0. Since character progression is stored on the player side, the server has nothing to do with it and cannot prevent it. Warn your community ahead of the big day, it saves you panic tickets.
3. Two New Settings Worth Knowing
- Enemy count set to "Automatic", a new option in the server setting that scales the number of enemies to the size of the party present. It is the setting to favor on a server where the number of connected players varies a lot.
- Flame level required to push back the Shroud, set to 11 by default and lowerable to any level in the world settings. Useful for a community that wants to build early in shrouded areas.
4. Permissions on Dedicated Servers
In hosted co-op, the host now sets a default permission level with a single password, and can promote or demote a player from the social menu. On dedicated servers, nothing changes, user groups and their passwords work as before, and in-game promotion is not available there.
5. Loaded Server, Less Penalized Players
Movement responsiveness was improved when the server is under heavy load, and a low-performance server disrupts gliding less. Server performance warnings were reworked.
6. No Crossplay at Launch
Cross-platform play is not available at release. Keen Games is working on it, with no date. In practice, a PS5 player cannot join your PC server for now.
Hotfix 1.0.0.1
Published on October 15, it fixes several random crashes, crashes linked to specific peripherals attached to the PC, and an indoor brightness issue. Two known issues remain open, excessive reverb in large halls when the master volume is below 100%, and a world edit button that is sometimes inactive, unblocked by subscribing to something in Adventure Sharing.
What to Do on Update Day
- Warn your players, especially about the skill reset and Keen Games' recommendation to start a fresh world.
- Create a full backup from the Backups tab of your panel, and download it.
- Stop the server cleanly.
- Update, then restart while watching the console, save migration happens on the first load.
- Review the settings, enemy count on Automatic or not, required Flame level, user group passwords.
- Test a connection from an updated client before reopening.
To retrieve or upload large save files, SFTP is better suited than the panel file manager, our guide How to Connect to Your Gaming Server via SFTP walks through it. And to automate your backups, the guide How to Schedule Automatic Restarts with Schedules covers the panel's CRON syntax.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is my Early Access world compatible with 1.0?
Yes. It is backed up then migrated automatically on first load. Keen Games still advises starting over, the early game and the world changed a lot.
Why did my skill points disappear?
The tree is reset once, on the first launch in 1.0 with an existing character. Points are refunded, spend them again.
Do I need to buy the game again on PC?
No. Owners of the Early Access version receive 1.0 at no cost.
Can PS5 players join my server?
Not at launch, crossplay is not available. Keen Games is working on it without announcing a date.
What do Early Access players receive?
Three decorative props, a statue, a tome and a signal, redeemable through the Redeem Add-Ons button in the Escape menu. They can be claimed multiple times and placed by a friend in their world.
Looking for an Enshrouded server ready for 1.0? Our plans are on the Enshrouded Hosting page.
Sources, the official 1.0.0.0 changelog, the Enshrouded 1.0 is LIVE announcement, the launch FAQ, the Sparkworks and 1.0 Combat posts, hotfix 1.0.0.1 and Keen Games' launch press release. All images come from Keen Games' official press kit.
Safe travels through Embervale, Flameborn 🔥
