Wayfinder is going single-player after ten months of MMO aspirations 

After struggling to keep up with the development of Wayfinder for its full release, Airship Syndicate is giving up on its MMO aspirations by going single-player. A recent blog post from the developer finally announced the upcoming Wayfinder: Echoes update but also mentioned that this game will ditch its MMO world altogether.

After this patch is released, the title will be relaunched on Steam as an Early Access single-player experience with a $24.99 price tag and 4-player co-op support. Moreover, all progress will be wiped out for founders with existing accounts.

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With a soft reboot this June, Wayfinder will be a paid single-player title with co-op

Announcing the release of Wayfinder: Echoes update for June 11, Airship Syndicate explained in a blog post that can be found on Steam that the game is changing its course drastically, saying:

"Wayfinder will be removing all online requirements and will be a single-player game with optional 3-player co-op. No queues, no login, no accounts."

The blog post explains further that:

"We realize that this is a big shift, but a necessary one to guarantee that the game is around forever. This also means that all progress will not be carried forward due to saves being local and not on a server. This major change will be the basis for what we’re calling Wayfinder's Echoes Update."

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Why is Wayfinder going single-player?

Wayfinder developer Airship Syndicate lost the safety net of having a publisher for this title when Digital Extremes chose to close its external projects in November 2023. That on top of server maintenance woes and the operational costs of developing a large-scale MMO made keeping the game alive a struggle.

Airship Syndicate nevertheless has moved forward with the development solo. In April 2024, the studio turned off this game's sales to work on major changes "challenging some of the core ideas" of the title.

This major rework was part of the shift to a single-player Wayfinder experience in the same vein as the Borderlands games.

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Controversial single-player pivot was the only way to keep Wayfinder alive, says developer

Airship Syndicate's explanation of the game going single-player (Image via Wayfinder Discord)

Wayfinder's decision to go single-player has understandably caused quite a stir in its community. While some Founders and Early Access players are excited to see how the game's massive changes will shape up in its single-player update, some also feel cheated out of an MMO experience.

When asked about why the game is losing all of its MMO features, even though most of its existing playerbase leans towards that genre, a representative from the development team said on the game's official Discord:

"That [building an MMORPG] was our intent, and we worked towards that. When faced with the reality of where we are, and the state of the industry it was shutter the game completely or the Echoes Update. We wanted to deliver something people can have, play, end even mod forever."

Wayfinder: Echoes will become purchasable on Steam on June 11, 2024, with plans for a PS5 release on track. The game's full release for all platforms will come later down the line. Even though it will no longer qualify for the MMORPG tag, Airship Syndicate still plans to offer features promised in the Wayfinder 2024 roadmap.