The Sailing Beta launches on June 26th at 11:30 BST and will last until July 3rd!
Following a successful Sailing Alpha back in March, the team has spent the last couple of months reviewing your feedback and making improvements to our first new skill. While mobile players weren't able to take part in the Alpha test, we're pleased to confirm that the Sailing Beta will be fully playable on mobile devices!
The Sailing Beta introduces several new features for you to get hands-on with:
- Ship Combat and Bounty Tasks, where you'll take down creatures at sea.
- Crew Management, which will allow you to recruit NPC sailors and assign them to roles on your ship.
- Random events at sea!
Whether you're returning from the Alpha or setting sail for the very first time, now is the perfect opportunity to experience Sailing for yourself. We'll keep a close eye on your feedback, so please let us know your thoughts as they will help guide our next stage of development.
A full breakdown of what’s included in the Beta will be posted when the Beta goes live on June 26th, but for now, here's a quick overview of what you can expect!
What’s New?
Mobile
We’re especially interested in hearing from our dedicated mobile community on how Sailing feels across different mobile devices. We’ve tested Sailing across multiple devices ourselves, however the data we have pales in comparison to the insight we'll get from thousands of you. We're looking for feedback on how intuitive it feels, whether ship movement is natural on mobile and any performance issues or visual bugs you might encounter.
So, if you've ever wanted to sail uncharted waters during your daily commute or just maximise your bathroom-break efficiency, now’s your chance!
Ship Combat
Did you think the sea would be safe? Think again!
In the Sailing Beta, you'll experience Ship Combat for the very first time, encountering dangerous sea monsters. To take them down, you need to build a Cannon aboard your ship, load it with Cannonballs and FIRE!
Ship Combat is still in the early stages, so don't expect raid-level mechanics just yet. We've designed it to feel like traditional combat, but with some unique differences to fit Sailing. To engage in Ship Combat, we recommend you try out the new Bounty Tasks. They ask you to kill monsters and bring back the loot to a Port Master, much like Hunter Rumours.
Many of you have asked about Ship PvP, and while this is not part of our launch plans, we are pleased to say that Ship Combat has been designed in a way that makes PvP a real possibility in the future.
Multiplayer and Crew Management
No sailor should have to brave the seas alone - unless, of course, you're attempting a new Sailing YouTube series. Hint.
With the introduction of Ship Combat, you’ll need some loyal crewmates to watch your back – and this update has plenty for you to choose from! With the new Crew Management System you’ll be able to recruit familiar NPC sailors and assign them roles on your ship. Each NPC will have set stats (Helmsmanship, Privateering and Deckhandiness) and proficiencies as well as unique personalities and backgrounds.
During the Beta, you can recruit up to four Crewmates. We’ll give you some hints, but finding them will be up to you!
Random Events at Sea
To help keep things exciting on long voyages, we're also adding Random Events that can spawn as you explore the ocean.
We’ll track how long you’ve been Sailing and spawn regular random events on the horizon. Interact with them, and you’ll get rewards! These short encounters have been made in direct response to feedback from the Alpha, so do let us know how you feel about them.
How to Provide Feedback
When the Sailing Beta opens, please be sure to share your feedback with us so that we know how to prioritize our development time and efforts.
The most important avenue for feedback is through the Beta feedback survey, which will be linked via the Sailing FAQ Panel on a Beta World. We know that some players felt that our in-game Alpha survey wasn't visible enough, so this time around we will also remind players to fill out the survey before logging out.
In addition to the survey, we really value your discussions and contributions on social and community platforms, so please do join the discussion on Reddit, Twitter/X, the Sailing Discord, or the Official OSRS Discord.
What’s Next?
The Sailing Beta brings us one step closer to launching our first new skill and your input is critical to making sure it meets your expectations.
We'll be closely monitoring survey responses and community discussions throughout the Beta. No matter how you voted on Sailing, your feedback is valued and can influence its direction.
We'd also like to thank everyone who recently took part in the latest Sailing poll. Our next poll blog will cover skilling content and new resources coming with Sailing. To avoid overlap with the Beta, we now expect to publish it in July. Fair warning, there’s a lot to cover – so it may even be split into two parts if it exceeds our usual word limit!
So, get ready to raise anchor, recruit your crew, and help shape Old School RuneScape history. We'll see you in the Sailing Beta on June 26th!
You can also discuss this update on the 2007Scape subreddit, the Steam forums, or the community-led OSRS Discord in the #gameupdate channel. For more info on the above content, check out the official Old School Wiki.
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