Pocketpair, the studio behind Palworld, revealed on September 4 that Craftopia, its inaugural sandbox survival game from 2020, will officially debut in 2027. The developers also launched a sixth-anniversary mini-update today and detailed their plans for the game’s upcoming development phase.
Initially launched in Early Access in October 2020 on Steam, Craftopia is a multiplayer open-world survival action title that encompasses activities like hunting, farming, hack-and-slash combat, building, and automation. A significant update in October 2023 revamped much of the gameplay, introducing a seamless map. Alongside its chaotic gameplay, which has traditionally embraced numerous bugs and exploits, the game now allows players to explore and construct within a vast open world.
As Craftopia nears its sixth anniversary in Early Access, Pocketpair has confirmed that the game will finally achieve its 1.0 release in 2027. In the announcement, the developers described Craftopia as a cornerstone of Pocketpair’s history, noting that without it, the studio—and potentially Palworld—would not exist in their current iterations.
At the same time, Pocketpair acknowledged that communication about the game’s progress has sometimes been lacking. “Especially since Palworld’s release, some Craftopia players have understandably felt the game received less focus,” they remarked, while also apologizing and expressing gratitude for fans’ continued support.
For Craftopia’s 1.0 launch, Pocketpair emphasizes that its priority is not merely to add extensive new content. Instead, the team aims to streamline and refine the gameplay mechanics developed over the years while resolving any lingering issues. The objective is to deliver a polished and enjoyable experience.
Pocketpair’s recent growth has also enabled the studio to allocate more resources to Craftopia, allowing the team to address long-standing technical challenges that were once “extremely difficult” to overcome. Players can anticipate additional content updates, with further details to be shared later.
The developers also provided an update on Craftopia’s Xbox iterations, noting that their development paths have diverged from the Steam version. The Xbox Series X|S edition is scheduled to reach 1.0 concurrently with the Steam release. However, Pocketpair has opted to halt development for Xbox One after failing to achieve the desired performance and stability standards. Consequently, the 1.0 release will not arrive on Xbox One, an outcome the developers have apologized for.
Craftopia’s full launch follows Palworld by one year, as the latter entered Early Access later but officially debuted this July. As the open-world survival action game that laid the foundation for Palworld, Craftopia undoubtedly holds a special place in Pocketpair’s history. It will be intriguing to witness how the team further develops the title as its 1.0 release approaches.