BitCraft Online 1.0 Launches on Steam With a Fresh World

Clockwork Labs has launched BitCraft Online 1.0 on Steam, closing out Early Access for the community sandbox MMO. A fresh-start world opens on November 13 at 10am ET, and every character in the new world starts from zero, with only player names and previously purchased cosmetics carrying over, according to the official 1.0 announcement.

• Game: BitCraft Online 1.0, a community sandbox MMO from Clockwork Labs
• Launch: November 13 2026 at 10am ET on Steam, leaving Early Access
• World: new 1.0 world with a full fresh start, Early Access 2 world stays open
• Price: 15.99 USD buy to play with a 25 percent launch week sale
• Carryover: player names reserved for three months plus purchased cosmetics only

A fresh world for every player

The headline change is the new world itself. When the 1.0 world opens, newcomers and returning players begin on equal footing, building settlements, trade relationships and communities from the ground up. The existing Early Access 2 world remains available to all players, and each account can hold one separate character in each world. Only names and previously purchased cosmetics transfer, so progress, resources and territory all reset in the new world.

Clockwork Labs frames the launch the way MMO studios usually frame a beta exit rather than a finish line. For some Early Access games, version 1.0 means development winds down. Here the studio calls it a starting line, with players building and progressing knowing their achievements are permanent this time. The team plans to share a post launch roadmap on November 13 and shift from biweekly patches to roughly monthly updates, with smaller fixes landing in between.

Fresh starts have become a proven way to pull lapsed players back into persistent online games, and BitCraft pairs its reset with the kind of serverwide land rush that suits a player built civilization. The timing also lands close to ArcheAge Chronicles entering Steam Early Access on November 4, giving MMO fans two very different persistent worlds to weigh this month.

Homesteads, regional markets and overhauled farming

Version 1.0 ships a wide set of systems changes alongside the new world. Homesteads get a clearer role as the lower cost option for solo players and small groups, with fixed claim sizes and fewer services than full Townships. Settlement advancement has been rebalanced, maintenance costs reduced and claim capacity expanded, which should lower the upkeep burden that wore on smaller groups during Early Access.

Trading gets connected regional markets and bank storage, linking listings and stored goods across each region to support the player driven economy. Farming moves fully into the fields, with players planting, watering, fertilizing and harvesting crops directly rather than through abstracted menus. Ocean settlements open building on the open water, while claimed river crossings gain protection against unauthorized removal.

Movement of goods gets attention too. A large rebalance of mounts and vehicles smooths out hauling large amounts of cargo, longer lasting resources stretch gathering runs further, and updated stability requirements change how builders plan larger structures. Scholar gameplay expands with added profession activities, and improved onboarding is meant to help new arrivals find their place in a world where veteran groups already know every system.

Price stays at 15.99 with a launch week sale

BitCraft Online 1.0 costs 15.99 USD as a buy to play title on the Steam store page, with a 25 percent discount running through the first week after launch. Players who bought the game during Early Access do not need to buy it again. The studio says it once intended to go free to play at launch but decided a paid game gives a better path forward, since free accounts make life easier for ban evaders, griefers, spammers and real money traders and add moderation load for a small team. A free trial remains possible in the future.

Premium purchases made during Early Access have already been credited to player BitCraft HUB accounts, and listed collectibles are granted in both worlds at the start of the 1.0 world. Going forward, purchased shards are credited to the account and can be spent in either world, with bought items syncing to the HUB account and appearing in the other world on the next login. Early Access 2 players can also reserve their previous name in the new world on the same account, with names held for at least three months before unclaimed ones can go to other players.

Eighteen months of Early Access behind it

The 1.0 build caps roughly 18 months of Early Access development across 32 updates. Along the way the game added quest driven progression, animal domestication and breeding, new mounts and pets, expanded gathering professions, cooperative profession dungeons and late game combat challenges. Quality of life tooling grew too, with equipment presets, a configurable action bar, improved storage and inventory transfers, and coordination tools for settlements and empires. Empire progression runs on earnable Hexite Energy, tying territorial development directly to play.

That foundation matters because BitCraft asks more of its players than a theme park MMO. In its shared editable world, small homesteads grow beside bustling towns and player led empires, and everything from gathered resources to crafted goods to trade networks comes from player effort. Fans of player driven worlds may also want to watch Wildercrown, the RuneScape inspired MMO now taking shape, but BitCraft is the one leaving Early Access this week with a live economy to join from day one.

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