Northern Lights

Northern Lights launched into Early Access on December 14, 2020 and remains there as of today. The game has received substantial development over the years, including a major Overhaul update in December 2021, a Story Mode in June 2022, and a series of feature and bug fix patches culminating in Update 0.17.1 on February 17, 2026. The game is currently at version 0.17 — still explicitly unfinished and far from the 1.0 milestone. The most significant developer communication came in December 2023, when MadGoat Studio candidly disclosed that declining sales had forced all three team members to seek additional employment, and that they were also beginning work on a brand new game. They stated that improvements made for the new game would be backported to Northern Lights and that development would continue — but this was a frank acknowledgment of the difficult position the studio is in. Since that December 2023 post, updates have come infrequently: a feature patch in February 2024, another in June 2024, and then nothing until February 2026 — a gap of roughly 19 months with no developer communication. The most recent activity (two patches in February 2026) shows the team is still engaged, but the pace is slow and the path to 1.0 is undefined. Outstanding goals from the 2022 roadmap — including a co-op survival mode and various content additions — have never been marked as complete or abandoned. Anyone considering this game should be aware that it is actively being worked on but at a slow and uncertain pace, with a very small part-time team divided between two projects. The 1.0 release has no announced timeline.