Rise of Piracy

Early access since Feb 2026

The perfect blend of Action, Adventure and RTS. Begin your journey as the lowly captain of a small vessel. End as the commander of a threatening fleet. Rise to glory how you see fit. Trade, fight, recruit, grow, pillage, ally, destroy & conquer.

77% positive · 552 reviews

Not yet

In early access, content still planned

High confidence

Content Planned

Not yet

In early access, content still planned

High confidence

Content Planned

Where to buy

Steam Updated 12 Oct 2026 $15.99

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Evaluation

Rise of Piracy entered Early Access on February 24, 2026, developed by solo developer IrishJohnGames and published by MicroProse. The game has been receiving consistent, frequent updates since launch — the developer has shipped 50 numbered updates in roughly six months, including five major milestone updates (marking each month in Early Access) and over a dozen feature patches. The most recent major update (July 30, 2026, marking five months in Early Access) performed a large-scale project refactor to improve development speed, added Steam Input/Rich Presence/Timeline integrations, and included scaffolding for several features explicitly locked pending future updates: a Ship Details/Glossary screen, a Faction Island Summary with customization options, and Faction influence overlays. The developer noted these features would unlock "in the next Regular Update" and "in the next 2 Regular Updates," confirming active development work is ongoing and near-term. The August 4, 2026 hotfix and the August 12, 2026 patch (update #50) continue bug-fixing work, with the latter explicitly mentioning scaffolding added to accommodate an upcoming Mayors/Captains update — a named feature that has not yet shipped. The developer communicates with the community at least weekly, posts consistent milestone updates each month, and has an active public roadmap. There is no indication of any slowdown or approach to a 1.0 release — quite the opposite, as the July 2026 major update was described as laying groundwork to "go full sail ahead on some of the more major items." The game remains firmly in active Early Access development with clearly committed future content on the way.

Evidence

Update #50 fixes major bugs and adds a Cargo Summary QOL feature. Patch notes explicitly mention scaffolding added to the Loot screen to accommodate the upcoming Mayors/Captains update — a named feature not yet shipped.

news post · Aug 12, 2026 source content planned

high

Five-month Early Access milestone update: major project refactor completed to speed up future development. New features include Steam Input, Rich Presence, and Timeline integrations. Scaffolding added for Ship Details/Glossary screen, Faction Island Summary, and Faction influence overlays — all explicitly locked pending completion in upcoming updates. Developer states they can now 'go full sail ahead' on major items.

news post · Jul 30, 2026 source content planned

high

Media

Details

Developer

IrishJohnGames

Publisher

MicroProse Software

Achievements

Platform

Windows

Controller

—

Steam Deck

Unsupported

Players

Single-player

Simulation Pirates Exploration Naval Sandbox Sailing Naval Combat Action RTS War RTS Choose Your Own Adventure Military Diplomacy Action RPG Strategy

About this game

Rise of Piracy focuses heavily on progression and growth. In your campaign, you will first be given a small ship and a handful of coin. Complete missions and find treasure to build your economic strength and relations with the other factions. You can also choose to fight, boarding or sinking other vessels for loot. Build up your fleet of ships and their crews to take on the most challenging tasks such as capture islands of various strength and composition. Defeating large colonial fleets in grand scale naval warfare. Hunt pirates or long lost treasures. Uncovering mysterious lands filled with dangers as you go.

Campaign Sandbox

Everything in Rise of Piracy is carefully hand-crafted to be a new experience and challenge, no procedural generation. Every building in is destructible, allowing you to level an island from afar via bombardment from your fleet before sending your crews as landing parties to conquer them. Talk to mayors of settlements and captains of fleets to uncover hidden lands, or find them yourself through exploration and investigation.

Create your Own Story

Piracy is optional. Choose to trade with over 200 commodities that can be found scattered around the world. Ports with specialized trading routes and dedicated merchants to trade with. Add trading ships to your fleet to maximize your transportation potential. Build relations with other factions to increase your trading effectiveness. Engaging in war, hunting bounties, or seeking hidden treasures are also viable means of building your bank.

Forge Alliances

A deep diplomacy system allows relationships to grow between all factions. Engage in diplomacy with every faction you meet. NPC factions will go to war with one another and their assets will change hands. Changing the balance of powers can impact your play-style, increasing warship activity, and blocking trade routes.

Become the Threat

Fill your fleet with a large variety of playable ships from the 1600s - 1900s, from the light and fast Sloop to the tremendous firepower but limited maneuverability that comes with the 120 Gun ship of the Line. Taverns provide a great place to hire crewmen for your fleet. Fill your ships with specialized crew. Use them to board hostile ships, or invading and capturing islands to secure passive income. Hostile actions will have consequences amongst the factions - fleets of pirate hunters are constantly seeking bounties. Campaign difficulty will grow dynamically and remain challenging no matter how strong players get.