Stoic today announced the definitive launch date for Towerborne, the side-scrolling brawler action RPG developed in collaboration with Xbox. After being in Game Preview so far, the game will arrive in full version on February 26, leaving the free-to-play model but remaining in the Game Pass Premium and Ultimate catalog. The game will also support the Xbox Play Anywhere feature and will be fully optimized for use on portable devices.

One of the most relevant novelties of this release concerns the radical change of course in the monetization model: the developers have decided to abandon the original idea of a free-to-play title based on permanent connection. Towerborne will in fact become a premium game that can be purchased at the price of 24,99 Euros for the Standard Edition and 29,99 Euros for the Deluxe Edition. This change will allow us to own the full experience permanently, giving us the ability to play in both offline and online co-op modes. The transition to this new format has required a major structural restructuring over the past year, transforming systems that were initially designed to be connected to servers at all times.

With the launch of version 1.0, we will have a complete story characterized by a defined story arc and a final confrontation with an important antagonist. In addition to the main storyline, we will be able to face new side missions and interact with a totally renewed bounty board. The variety of enemies will increase thanks to the introduction of two new bosses, including the main threat of the story, new lieutenants and "shadow" creatures. All this will be supported by a completely rebalanced difficulty system that includes the new "Brutal" level, dedicated to those looking for an extreme challenge.

Exploration and customization will also undergo significant upgrades. The world map has been reimagined and enriched with a new coastal biome, while as far as character enhancement is concerned, we will be able to count on a new Forge system. Through the latter, we will have the ability to modify, improve and recalibrate the statistics of our equipment, adapting it to the new skills that we can unlock.

Finally, the studio has confirmed that there will no longer be purchases of cosmetic items: we will be able to get all the numerous cosmetics available simply through the gameplay for free. The game will boast a soundtrack curated by master Austin Wintory and several technical improvements. For those who have already started the journey during the Early Access phase, it will be possible to import their character and its loot, with the addition of support for multiple save slots to manage multiple games at the same time.