Starsand Island: the 1.0 release will add multiplayer and couple quests

Starsand Island will leave Early Access on August 18, and it's not just a label change. The biggest addition in this final version: online multiplayer for up to four players, absent since the early launch in February on Xbox Series and (Steam, Microsoft Store).

In concrete terms, this changes things for those who found solo farming a bit repetitive. Exploring ruins, fishing, building - all of it becomes playable with others, with an exclusive currency earned in multiplayer to unlock dedicated rewards in a separate shop. A real parallel system, not just a cosmetic co-op mode bolted on afterward.

Second major piece: social relationships, at the heart of the game, are being significantly expanded. Nineteen NPCs receive new three- and five-heart quests, and the 14 romanceable characters gain brand-new date activities - picnics, kite flying, arcade machines. For a game that leans as much on the community experience as on farming simulation, this is the kind of update that gives players a reason to come back and see the villagers they had already maxed out during Early Access.

On the seasonal content side, the Autumn Pumpkin Carnival event arrives with its own storyline and exclusive quests: hunting for glowing jellyfish, growing festival pumpkins, making candy. The full details of this event deserve their own article - see our dedicated article on the seasonal DLC.

The addition of multiplayer had been requested since the first Early Access feedback on Steam and Xbox, where the game had until now been perceived as a purely solo experience despite its stated social ambitions.