Ahoy there, sea dogs!
Cannons loaded, sails raised! We’re ready to stare the horrors of the deep right in the eye and send a broadside straight down their throats. Curse of Pirates has officially left Early Access, and Update 1.0 is now live on Steam!
You can finally sail all the way to the edge of the Abyss and face the greatest villain of the Cursed Seas. But don’t charge unprepared! First, we strongly recommend checking out our brand-new trailer:
And before you set sail, here’s everything waiting for you in Curse of Pirates 1.0.
New crew member
Meet Zephy, the Interdimensional Parrot. He travels between worlds, collecting and recording the stories he finds along the way. Zephy is ready to join your crew and share his powers — provided your voyage turns out legendary enough to earn a place in his collection.
Zephy commands the power of wind! With him, you can:
unleash tornadoes that bounce off the edges of the screen like a pinball,
control the space around your ship with a swarm of deadly whirlwinds,
finally make use of dash cooldown reduction,
gain an extra shot based on the distance you’ve traveled.
This feathered troublemaker knows exactly how to turn your ship into a deadly, lightning-fast storm — leaving hundreds of tornadoes in its wake and scaling its damage with your speed.
New Ships
Two new vessels are joining your pirate fleet. Version 1.0 features five playable ships in total, each built around a different playstyle. The two newcomers as usual can be unlocked by defeating bosses.
The Red Junk increases the number of projectiles generated by your abilities. Perfect for captains who believe the best answer to a wave of enemies is an even bigger wave of projectiles.
The Leviathan summons creatures to defend it and empowers abilities built around summoning allies. Maybe these creatures genuinely want to help. Maybe they’re simply waiting for the right moment.
As long as they’re attacking your enemies, does it really matter?
A Voyage Straight into the Abyss
The Cursed Seas have grown larger, deadlier, and considerably stranger. Your runs no longer end after the first few victories. Now, a complete voyage takes you through five consecutive maps, each bringing you closer to more dangerous enemies — and to the ultimate destination of your journey: the dark Abyss itself.
Build your loadout, adapt to changing conditions, and do everything you can to keep your ship afloat until the very end. It’s a long voyage, and the bosses have no intention of patiently waiting while you search for the perfect ability combo.
New Enemies
On the fourth and fifth maps, the influence of the Abyss becomes impossible to ignore. Some enemies still resemble ordinary ships. Others were considerably less fortunate.
Here’s what awaits you in these new waters:
All-Seeing Wanderer — a gigantic eye mounted on a ship. Destroy the eye first: without it, the remaining hull is far less dangerous.
Abyssal Warship — an ordinary pirate vessel overtaken by tentacles, yet somehow still perfectly capable of firing full broadsides.
Forsaken Ghost — leaves behind spectral rot that lingers even after the ship itself has been destroyed.
Brood Summoner — releases small creatures of the Abyss that explode once they reach their target.
Void Parrot — attacks from above with rapid dives and serves as an unpleasant reminder that not every traveler returns from other worlds unchanged.
New Bosses
Three new monsters lie in wait in the darkest reaches of the Abyss.
Sythrix the Void Serpent hides between worlds. Before you can fight this colossal sea beast, you’ll first have to track it down and catch it. Then comes the easy part: surviving an encounter with a giant serpent that already knows the scent of your ship.
The all-seeing Gaze of the Abyss watches your voyage very closely. Fortunately, even ancient interdimensional horrors tend to react poorly to a direct hit from a ship’s cannon.
And finally, the true villain of the story — Azrail the Pirate, Astrid Flameheart’s own father: cursed captain, traitor, and renegade. His appearance is every bit as terrifying as his soul is black.
Metaprogression Returns
We’ve been carefully reading your feedback. Many captains wanted the ability to strengthen their ship between runs — and in Update 1.0, metaprogression is back.
Every voyage now helps prepare you for the next one. Strengthen your ship, unlock permanent upgrades, and visit Mickey’s shop in the Hub to purchase additional bonuses, including rerolls and new ship upgrades.
Fight. Loot. Upgrade. Set sail again. Only now, you return to the sea a little stronger each time. The enemies, unfortunately, haven’t exactly been floating around doing nothing either.
We’ve also made a number of smaller, but no less important improvements:
smoother transitions between the Hub and maps;
a clearer, easier-to-read minimap;
a full map where you can review the locations you’ve already visited;
fixes for cases where ships could become stuck in island geometry;
improved ship and ability selection screens;
new Wind-element Marks to help you create even more ability combinations;
additional ability rebalancing and much more.
We’ll continue improving Curse of Pirates. Thank you for fighting alongside us on the same deck!
We hope Curse of Pirates 1.0 brings you plenty of memorable voyages, ridiculous builds, and spectacular shipwrecks. Share your impressions, feedback, and suggestions with us — and remember, there’s always a seat waiting for you in our Discord tavern!
Yo-ho, see ye on the high seas!
The Curse of Pirates Team
