BitCraft Online Launches Version 1.0 With Fresh World

BitCraft Online left Early Access on Friday, November 13, 2026, when Clockwork Labs launched version 1.0 on Steam and opened a new permanent world at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. The community sandbox MMO is built around players constructing a civilization together in one shared, editable world, and the 1.0 world is where that construction now starts.

Every player starts from zero in the new world. Only a player's name and previously purchased cosmetics carry over from the Early Access 2 world, which isn't being wiped and stays available to everyone. Players choose which world to play in, with separate characters on each. It's a fresh start that doesn't delete the old one.

The launch update reworks the systems players will hit first. Clockwork Labs lists improved Homesteads for solo players and small groups, connected regional markets, and an overhauled farming system, alongside rebalanced settlement progression, empires, trading and world layout. The studio counts 18 months and 32 updates of Early Access behind the release.

The business model changed on the way to launch, and the studio says so plainly. BitCraft was going to go free-to-play when it left beta. It won't. The game stays buy-to-play at $15.99, with a 25 percent discount for the first week after launch, and players who bought in during Early Access don't pay again.

Clockwork Labs ties the paid gate to enforcement, not just revenue. A price on the door gives the studio a better handle on repeat rule-breakers, spam and real-money trading, the developer says. A free trial is possible later, but it isn't part of this launch.

The cadence slows down from here. Updates that arrived every two weeks through most of 2026 move to roughly once a month, and the studio published its post-launch roadmap on November 13. The new world is the product now. What players build in it is the part no patch notes can write.