Enshrouded Teases Its Next Update at Gamescom 2025
Keen Games has officially revealed the next major update for Enshrouded, titled Wake of the Water, with a brand-new trailer shown during Gamescom 2025 Opening Night Live. The update is set to release in October 2025, marking another step toward the game’s highly anticipated 1.0 launch in 2026.
The trailer showcased a new wave of survival mechanics centered on water physics — something players have been asking for since the game’s Early Access debut. The reveal suggests not only expanded exploration but also entirely new ways to interact with the environment and approach combat.
From Early Access Success to Major Content Expansions
Enshrouded first entered Early Access in January 2024 and quickly gained popularity, blending co-op survival with RPG progression. Set in the vast open world of Embervale, the game allows up to 16 players to explore, build, craft, and battle monsters together while surviving against hunger, thirst, and environmental dangers.
While its initial release saw a massive spike of over 160,000 concurrent players on Steam, the player base stabilized to smaller numbers in the following months. Even so, Enshrouded retained a steady survival community and remained one of Keen Games’ most successful projects to date.
The studio has since delivered a series of updates, each expanding the game’s systems and content. With Wake of the Water, Keen Games is introducing one of its most ambitious features yet.
Wake of the Water: A New Survival Challenge
Although full patch notes have not yet been released, the Gamescom trailer revealed several details about the upcoming update. For the first time, players will be able to:
- Swim through lakes and rivers, expanding the playable world’s verticality.
- Engage in underwater combat, with enemies possibly lurking below the surface.
- Use water to their advantage — including flooding areas by breaking walls or unleashing stored water.
This emphasis on interactive environments ties back to Keen Games’ earlier comments about the future of Enshrouded. Developers previously mentioned plans to expand with features like water, traps, moving objects, and new traversal mechanics. Wake of the Water is the first major step toward that vision.
Could This Revive Enshrouded’s Popularity?
Player activity in Enshrouded has fluctuated since launch. After its huge release spike, concurrent player counts dropped significantly, with a later peak of around 40,000 players in November 2024. The introduction of water physics and interactive environments could spark renewed interest among survival fans and bring old players back into Embervale.
If the update delivers on the level of interactivity teased in the trailer, it may be one of the most transformative patches since the game’s release — a turning point before the full 1.0 version.
Looking Ahead to the 1.0 Release
Keen Games has confirmed that Enshrouded will officially reach version 1.0 in 2026, but updates like Wake of the Water ensure that the game continues to evolve along the way. By adding large-scale mechanics such as water systems, the developers are setting the foundation for a deeper, more dynamic survival experience.
The October update is shaping up to be one of the most significant milestones for the title yet, and survival fans will be watching closely to see how much it changes the flow of gameplay in Embervale.
