Ahoy, Sky Sailors! Exactly one year ago, we opened up the skies and officially invited you aboard the Aloft ship. Sailing towards the hurricane with our trusty crewmates beside us, we shaped Aloft together: a windswept world borne out of the fragmented chaos left behind by ancient civilizations, overrun by fungal corruption, and evolving through your hands as much as ours. So today, we celebrate a year of Early Access – a year of building, soaring, exploring, and restoring the skies together.
“Only by knowing where we've been, will we know where to go.”
We have so much in store for the future, but before we glide on ahead, let’s take a look back at the journey behind us.
After a little over 3 years of development, 7 demo updates, 22 Devlogs, and 4+ community playtests, Aloft finally released into Early Access on January 15th, 2025. Our goal for Early Access was simple: get Aloft into your hands, refine the gameplay experience, and shape its direction – all with the help of your feedback. Since then, we released 3 major content updates adding more depth to the world, improving core systems, and elevating Aloft to a more complete and enjoyable experience.
Our first major update, Critters & Wonders, welcomed ADORABLE lil’ creatures and insects, bringing much-needed life to the open world of Aloft and its ecosystems. It also marked the debut of Wonder Islands – bespoke, exploration-focused and story-driven islands, which quickly captured the community's attention. We also added Shared Home islands at the request of players, allowing them to collaborate and create a base together.
Wonder Islands were such a hit that we decided to double down on them in our second major update, Puzzles & Pyrologics, which introduced puzzle-filled ruins and the means to create your own logic system. The brain-bending challenges proved tough, but offered great rewards for those willing to test their wits. A brand-new resource, Emberstone, empowered players to build their own complex puzzles and contraptions. To celebrate the community’s creativity, we added 3 unique player-made islands, the winning entries from our Island Creator Contest!
Last but certainly not least, the Bloom & Blight update was our biggest yet and it was so well-received! Listening to your feedback, we knew we had to improve the game’s progression, pacing, and ecosystem activities, so that’s exactly what we did! The ancient Life Trees and their saplings provided clearer ecosystem restoration objectives, the Tech Tree allowed for increased agency, and the wind lanes fast-tracked long distance travel between archipelagos. The brand-new Sportox and Flogade corruption strains added more depth to the reworked combat and research experience. The update also came with a necessary reset due to file data changes and a new more robust save system.
Our community’s creativity, much like the skies of Aloft, is truly endless and what better way to showcase it than with contests? We were blown away by the imagination and skill you all displayed in your creations. Thank you again for your participation and congratulations to the winners! #MyHomeinAloft Photo Mode Contest Winners:
Island Creator Contest Winners:
Without further ado, here’s a glimpse of what we have planned for 2026: This year, we want to take our time to craft updates with great care, but also invest development time into doing a deep polish and optimisation pass for the eventual 1.0 release. Furthermore, the keen-eyed amongst you will have noticed we removed some items from the 2025 Roadmap. Simply put, the game evolved in a way that made some of those items less relevant to the player experience so we decided to focus our time on more impactful features.
And now, the news you’ve all been waiting for: we’re thrilled to announce that the next update for Aloft, Gliders & Gales, will arrive on February 12! Focused entirely on gliders, this update will push your soaring skills to the next level with new glider challenges and a wide range of upgrades and customisation options.
We truly can’t say it enough: Aloft owes part of its success to our amazing community. Your feedback is invaluable, helping us make Aloft even better than we ever imagined. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you, and here’s to another incredible year in the skies!