Tanks: The Crusades

Tanks: The Crusades is a free-to-play top-down tank shooter by solo developer Matei Budiu that has received a sustained stream of major updates since its Steam launch on June 24, 2021. The game's major content releases form a clear pattern: v1.4.0 on July 30, 2022 (tank editor, new tank types, new bullet types); v1.5.0 on March 23, 2023 (new arcade mode, crusade improvements); and v1.6.0 on February 1, 2026 (fully overhauled item system, Steam Workshop, player tank builds, major multiplayer improvements). The gap between v1.4.0 and v1.5.0 was about 8 months; the gap between v1.5.0 and v1.6.0 was nearly 3 years, reflecting the scope of the v1.6 overhaul. Follow-up patches shipped on February 2, 2026 (v1.6.1) and April 1, 2026 (v1.6.2, an April Fools joke build that has since been archived). The developer has not announced that development is complete. The v1.6.0 post references "the last few years of the game's development," a phrase that frames development as ongoing rather than concluded. The v1.5.0 post (March 2023) explicitly stated "there are still more updates coming." No post has reversed this stance. As of today (October 1, 2026), the last developer communication was on April 1, 2026 — approximately 6 months ago. This is a meaningful stretch of silence, but given the developer's established pattern of multi-year gaps between major versions (the v1.5 to v1.6 gap was nearly 3 years), 6 months of silence after a major release is well within the historical pattern for this project. There are no unresolved commitments or announced-but-unshipped content that would make this a concern — the developer simply works on long cycles. The sustained pattern of major updates with no announced ending supports ongoing development.