r/Games: Timberborn 1.0 Launches After a One-Week Delay, Ending Four Years of Early Access

Why this r/Games post matters

Timberborn reaching 1.0 is not just another version-number change for an indie builder. Mechanistry says the game launched out of Early Access on March 12, 2026, one week later than the original March 5 target. That timing note matters, but the larger story is what the release closes out: a four-year stretch of steady iteration in one of the most competitive genres on PC. For city-builder players, 1.0 is a meaningful signal because it marks the point where a long-running experimental success is now presenting itself as a finished foundation rather than a promising work in progress.

What Timberborn built before 1.0

Mechanistry says Timberborn sold over 1 million copies while maintaining an Overwhelmingly Positive rating on Steam during its Early Access period, which began on September 15, 2021. That success did not come from sitting still. The studio says the game received seven major updates before 1.0, and those updates substantially changed the shape of the project. Two playable beaver factions grew into clearly different societies with separate progression paths. The game added 3D water physics, 3D terrain, deeper vertical building, official mod support, Steam Workshop integration, badwater and badtides as harsher environmental threats, endgame wonders, bots, and faction-specific transit such as ziplines for Folktails and Tubeways for Iron Teeth.

Why the 1.0 milestone is important

That history is what makes the 1.0 launch high-signal. Many games use Early Access to search for a core identity, but Timberborn spent years turning community feedback into system-level expansion. By the time 1.0 arrived, the game was not a thin release trying to fill itself in later. It was already a mature builder with maps expanded from 7 to 16, clearer faction identity, and a broader sandbox-to-endgame loop. In practice, the 1.0 label matters because it tells players the studio believes the game's structural promise has become durable enough to stand as a full release.

What still comes next

There are still open questions. Mechanistry's press note focuses on the release milestone and the long road to get there, not on a detailed post-1.0 roadmap. So it is not yet clear whether the studio plans more large systemic additions at the same pace or shifts toward a steadier maintenance model. Even so, the Reddit thread reads as high-signal because 1.0 here means more than marketing. It is the formal endpoint of four years of proven iteration in a genre where many promising builders fade before reaching that line.

Source: Mechanistry press release · Reddit discussion