In an unexpected move, Towerborne, an Xbox published title actually launched first into early access on Steam as a free-to-play game in September 2024. In April 2025, the game launched into Game Preview on Xbox, Xbox PC, and Xbox Game Pass. Now developer Stoic have announced that on February 26, 2026 Towerborne is coming to even more platforms and is shifting from free-to-play to a paid game model as well.
What is Towerborne
Towerborne is a side-scrolling looter brawler where players inhabit an Ace, a fully customizable character in the universe of the City of Numbers. Aces all fall under four distinct jobs the Sentinel, Pyroclast, Rockbreaker, and Shadow Striker. Each job has its own set of gear to craft or find, and player abilities to unlock too.
One of the major changes coming with this new 1.0 update completely transforms the game from an always online experience into one that can be purchased and played strictly offline. Although this may disappoint those who enjoyed the free-to-play aspect, at least the game will be very modestly priced for those that prefer to own their games. The standard edition will cost $24.99 and there’s also a deluxe edition for $29.99 which features extra crafting materials, cosmetics and rare aspects.
What’s New
In the announcement Stoic states that quite a number of changes had to be made to the game to take it from its original form into what it will be at launch.
This change required deep structural rebuilding over the past year, transforming systems originally designed around constant connectivity. The result is a stronger, more accessible, and more player-friendly version of Towerborne
The game now has a complete story featuring a major antagonist and other smaller bosses, sidequests, and a bounty board. The difficulty of the game has been revamped and a new brutal difficulty has been added. There’s a new coastal biome, a forge system which allows players to upgrade, modify, and re-roll stats. New music has also been added from the legendary Austin Wintory. Not to mention, cosmetics are now all free and unlockable through gameplay with more being added with this full launch.
Perhaps the biggest addition for Towerborne is the new platform the game will appear on once it launches. It was previously only on Xbox consoles, Xbox Game Pass, and PC via Steam and Xbox PC, but now it will also debut on PlayStation 5 as well. Opening the game up to an entire new player base once it arrives on February 26, 2026.
Source: Xbox Wire
