Last Oasis has been a side-eye magnet in the MMO world for a few years now. The “woodpunk” survival MMORPG had the misfortune to launch into early access in March 2020, right as the west was confronting the COVID pandemic, and it struggled badly, at one point going offline for a full week and offering refunds. In spite of a strong early response from players, its population dwindled along with its updates – and its reviews. By 2022, the lead dev admitted the game sucked and attempted to save it with a fifth season that didn’t go over well at all. By last fall, the team teased a sixth season and mod support, but reviews had turned hard against it as studio Donkey Crew was already working on a second game, Bellwright.
Indeed, just last week, we noted that Bellwright is heading into early access over its own on April 23rd, all while Donkey Crew kept mum on the fate of Last Oasis, which has now been in early access for over four years; Donkey Crew only admitted to press that it understood the skepticism and suggested Bellwright would be a chance to fix both games and regain player trust.
Well, this week the team took some tangible steps toward that asserted goal with the release of the Last Oasis modkit it promised last fall and a bit of movement on season 6.
“We are thrilled to unveil the release of our long-awaited Modkit,” Donkey Crew wrote on Steam. “This opens up a world of possibilities, allowing for complete customization within Last Oasis. With access to these powerful tools, players will have the ability to craft experiences tailored to their wildest imaginations. From tweaking all game mechanics to creating entirely new items, weapons and creatures, the Modkit empowers you to shape the game how you want it.”
As for season 6, the team says it’s “too early to talk about too many specifics” (note: Season 5 launched almost two years ago), but it does say that “the official servers have to provide a unique experience that cannot be replicated on a private server and [it] believe[s] that role is emergent PVP in a large scale world.”
“This focus brings with it a certain set of assumptions about things like pacing, gameplay loops, persistence, safety mechanics, etc. For example, starting with Season 6, we will start regular periodic wipes, and balance the game around that duration, which is currently planned to be two months. We are also carefully considering all of the safety mechanics that have been put into Last Oasis throughout the seasons, such as stone building, removal of the lobby, and how to balance competition between clan sizes, just to name a few.”
“Extensive beta testing” is apparently en route, though no dates are given.
