Dungeon Settlers Early Access Roadmap – Plans & Dates

The September 4 launch announcement links the official public roadmap. We read it on September 4, 2026, at 10:19 UTC; the page labels its own last update September 4. It includes development targets, known issues and planned improvements, not just future content.

The milestones below match the Steam roadmap image checked earlier that day. This is official-source information, not features or bugs verified by this site in a playable build. The PRE-EA badge records that limit; the checked date is a source check, not a gameplay test.

Planned updates and dates

The roadmap starts at Update 4. Its numbering alone does not establish which updates are installed in your game. These are selected highlights, not the complete feature list.

These are targets, not guarantees. Do not infer dates for Updates 5 and 6 by spacing them evenly between the dated milestones.

September 21–22 developer replies: settlement depth and enchanting

The developer also discussed future changes in replies to Steam reviews. We checked these replies on September 24, 2026. The dates below are the developer-response dates in UTC, not the dates of the player reviews.

• Training a replacement party — planned, not a recovery feature to rely on now. In a September 22 reply, the developer said the settlement should have a larger role, giving the example of recruiting and training new members after losing an entire party in a dungeon. This describes a proposed way to rebuild, not resurrection of dead members. A separate September 22 reply reiterates plans for training and animal domestication. Those topics already appear in the roadmap above; the replies do not announce Update 4 as released or give new training costs, unlock rules or a revised date.
• Enchanting — a future addition, without a release date. In a September 21 reply, the developer said enchanting would come in future updates and could take time. The reply does not identify a patch, recipe, material cost or equipment progression system. Do not assume enchanting is an available upgrade for your current expedition.
• Tutorial presentation — an improvement intention, not a shipped redesign. In another September 21 reply, the developer acknowledged that lengthy tutorial text can be tiring and said they would try to improve it. No replacement tutorial or delivery date is specified.

These replies supplement the dated roadmap snapshot; they do not establish that the Notion page changed or that any of these features shipped. For current recruitment decisions and the separate recruitment-office idea, see the party guide. Plan around options visible in your installed build, not an undated future feature.

Known issues and near-term improvements

Selected points from the developer's September 4 roadmap, not issues we have reproduced or confirmed fixed:

• Hauling and storage: the developer lists rare stalled hauling, repeated pickup/drop behavior when a unit blocks storage access, and no transfer from lower-priority to higher-priority storage. For the stalled-hauling case, the developer suggests picking up and dropping the affected item. The later v0.4.23 patch reports fixes for blocked-destination pickup/drop loops and adds reachability checks before hauling pickup; the September 4 list is historical, not proof these specific bugs remain in the current patch.
• Crashes: the list includes crashes on entering the game on some computers and crashes while playing music in Chrome. Causes are described as unknown; the developer reports that graphics-driver updates helped some entry crashes, not that this fixes every case.
• Japanese and Chinese names: the roadmap listed missing expedition-member names in the "Founding Exploration team" scenario. The developer's later v0.4.12 notes report a fix for Chinese and Japanese unit names when creating an Expedition Team. That is a shipped-patch claim, not our own reproduction or proof that every localisation issue is fixed.
• Dungeon terrain and targeting: the developer reports that placing Housing floors on impassable dungeon tiles does not make them traversable. Room overlaps can also cause units to ignore enemies during automatic targeting. These are listed issues, not reasons to assume you need a different recipe or a stronger party; no universal workaround is provided here.
• Planned improvements: hauling weight thresholds, prevention of construction trapping units, corridor changes and a Mana Saturation indicator. The developer's September 4 suggestion is Emergency Escape for a trapped unit. Better Abyss rewards were also listed here; v0.4.12 now reports increased Abyss Chest reward quantities. v0.4.23 later adds Mana Saturation to the active Environmental Effects list, with an icon and stage tooltips, and changes the Region 2 Safe Floor corridor layout. Neither statement confirms every corridor or trapping issue is resolved.

Check the live official roadmap for the complete list and later revisions before applying a workaround.

October 10 follow-up: v0.4.29 fixes

The official v0.4.29 patch adds an automatic-pickup weight limit and improves units leaving work positions blocked by new walls. The pickup option does not establish that the separate hauling thresholds proposed on September 4 have shipped; the construction fix also does not establish that every trapped-unit case is resolved.

The patch fixes Dungeon Stay tracking across normal floors, adjusts candidate growth and skills, and improves Chinese/Japanese character display and font coverage. The release guide links the practical summaries. These are published patch claims reviewed October 11, not our own build tests. Major Update 4's Q4 target remains a plan; this announcement does not declare that milestone complete.

What can you play now?

That question needs a different source. Steam's Early Access description lists the core settlement-and-dungeon loop and the first two regions. It is the developer's description of the Early Access version, not our build verification. The release and launch guide records confirmed Steam purchase availability and the announced launch time.

A roadmap entry is not evidence that its feature is already playable. Check your installed version and the corresponding patch notes before looking for a planned region or using it in a build. This site has not tested an Early Access build, so it does not supply verified recipes, research costs or food rates from this roadmap.

Multiplayer, mods and Steam Deck

The roadmap Q&A says multiplayer is not expected for this game. A hypothetical follow-up is not a co-op commitment for Dungeon Settlers. See the multiplayer guide.

Modding is planned in stages, beginning with the undated Update 5 beta. That does not establish current Workshop availability. Steam Deck support remains under consideration; the planned Linux release is not a new Deck compatibility rating. The Steam Deck guide explains the separate Playable rating and its caveats.

September 6 priorities: status after v0.4.23

The developer's Your Feedback in Action announcement separated changes already released from improvements being prepared. The September 12 v0.4.23 patch now provides these follow-ups:

• Level-up locks — announced as shipped: Lock Consecration Results is a separate option on every Management Difficulty and can be changed during a campaign. It is distinct from Expedition Founding locks added in v0.4.19.
• Combat visibility — announced as shipped: an unseen enemy's tile is briefly revealed when that enemy attacks an allied unit.
• Stamina pressure — a specific adjustment: active-skill Energy costs are reduced on Easy and Normal Combat Difficulty. This does not mean rest was removed or every difficulty received the same adjustment.
• Movement — specific fixes, not a blanket guarantee: the patch addresses reserved positions in work checks, unreachable hauling and repair positions, and pathfinding. Do not infer that all combat detours or blocked tiles are fixed.

The September 12 patch does not announce the roadmap's major Update 4 as released. These are dated official statements, not fixes tested by this site. The roadmap summary above retains its September 4 source date; later patch notes provide separate evidence of specific changes.

How to use the roadmap

Use it to decide whether the direction interests you, not to fill gaps in your current save. If a future feature is essential to your purchase decision, wait for evidence that it shipped. For features you can see in your build, the tools accept your own observed values without turning plans into game data.