- Update 18 - The graphics update - 17 September 2026
Update 0.18.0 – Esmar in a New Light This is the biggest visual update so far. Esmar looks very different now, and there's also a new Market, a Photo Mode and a lot more. ✨ Improved Graphics New foliage models: grass, flowers and bushes have been updated, with their own look for forests, deserts and snowy regions. New tree models that sway in the wind. Cliffs: mesas now have rocky cliff edges instead of plain slopes. Better-looking buildings: more parallax and details for the Town Hall, houses, Woodcutter, Forester, Sawmill, Masonry, Farm, Carpenter, Blacksmith, Iron and Gold Smelters, Tannery, Olive Farm, Oil Press, Vineyard, Workshop, wooden towers and more. New villagers and soldiers: new character models, animations and equipment, including new shoulder armor. Decorations stay visible while you place a building, and roads blend into the ground more smoothly. 🪙 New Building: The Mar…
- Update 0.17.0 - The bot update - 8 August 2026
0.17.0 New opponents The AI has been rewritten from the ground up. Instead of a single generic opponent, you now choose a named character to play against, each with its own economy, army composition and way of attacking. Gaius Asinus Maximus, "The Donkey" — Difficulty ★☆☆ Produces endless cheap militia and light infantry. Never upgrades. Attacks too early. Spends resources inefficiently. Livia Vulpes Varra, "The Fox" — Difficulty ★★☆ Expands efficiently. Raids vulnerable targets. Mixes unit types. Retreats from unfavorable fights. Tries to exploit weaknesses. Quintus Aquilus, "The Eagle" — Difficulty ★★★ Prefers strong units. Defends his territory well. Uses every tool at his disposal to destroy you — heavy towers, garrisons, siege workshops and a standing reserve. Choose an opponent — a new lobby screen shows each character's portrait, difficulty rating and description before you seat…
- QoL Update 0.16.2 - 27 June 2026
* New: Infinite soldier recruitment (ctrl + click) * New: You can set a rally point for the training camp and arena * New: Window mode remembers the last window position * New: Clients can see the match settings as the host changes them * New: Pressing ESC in single player mode pauses the game * Fix: Pathfinding did not properly work when the destination was blocked * Fix: Some tooltips did not show * Fix: Carriers preferring long transport routes * Fix: Newly planted trees did not block anything * Fix: Heal effect visible in FOW
- Update 0.16.0 - 4 June 2026
Features: - Updated to Flax Engine 1.12: this increases the performance in some scenarios and generally improves many things - New building: Field Hospital - New building: Large Watchtower - Shader improvements for some buildings Quality of life: - Building grids and obstacles are now shown when placing a building - Double-click a soldier to select all - Carriers pick what to carry more efficiently so round-trips are generally shorter - Various UI improvements Bugfixes: - Multiplayer stability - Small client-side bugs
- Update 0.15.0 - 20 May 2026
- New: netcode has been reworked to much more reliably connect to any lobby - New: Add window mode to graphics settings - New: Military units have thumbnails now - Fix: Camera does not move when selecting units anymore - Fix: Some objects were visible in semi-revealed FOW - Fix: Foliage render distance - Fix: Client-only animation errors
- Update 0.14.0 - 2 May 2026
New: Level generator now has 5 different modes to pick from: Island, Central Lake, Deep Forest, Desert, Mountains New: Added one Gladiator to spawnpoints for scouting New: Improved resource deposit models New: Slight network improvements Fix: Players sometimes spawned on islands Fix: Some effect were visible in FOW Fix: Soldiers sometimes didn't occupy towers in multiplayer games Fix: Menu rendering order Fix: Barracks sometimes not training soliders even when weapons and villagers were available Fix: Multiple mines could be built on the same deposit
- 2026 Roadmap - 30 April 2026
Hello everyone!Here is the updated roadmap.Thanks for your feedback, I'm overwhelmed by the interaction with you guys!Cheers!
- Patch 0.13.0 - 24 April 2026
New: Changed global lighting and color grading for more contrast and vibrant colors New: Stonecutters can now share deposits, but only one stonecutter can work at a time on a deposit. Stonecutters will automatically find the most suitable deposit that is either inside your territory or in neutral land. New: Added a NAT type info panel to the server list. This will give you a rough idea on how well your network infrastructure is suited for p2p mutliplayer matches. New: Reduced network traffic usage Fix: No longer show "Victory!" UI when playing alone or without enemies Fix: Fog of war was randomly revealed at the map center Fix: UI parts were not showing when setting UI scale beyond a certain value Fix: Worktimer of some buildings sometimes had a large value
- Patch 0.12.0 - 20 April 2026
New: More stone is generated on maps (new games only) New: Build UI now highlights build options based on the players progress New: Reduced the blocking margin around beaches - you can build closer to the sea now and your units can dip their toes in the sea Fix: Removed startup sound Fix: Moved explosion sfx to the background channel Fix: Left-clicking on the minimap did de-select units Fix: Olive trees and some cows were visible through the FOW Fix: Available carrier counter was incorrect on clients Fix: The counter was incorrect after loading a game
- Patch 0.11.3 - 18 April 2026
New: Item stack info added to training camp and arena New: Towers heal garrisoned units Fix: Ready villagers counter sometimes displayed the wrong value
- Patch 0.11.1 - 17 April 2026
New: Top bar now shows the villager count and the idle villager count Fix: Capturing unoccupied towers did not claim any territory Fix: Soldiers did teleport when re-garrisoning Fix: Demolish button did not work on some buildings Fix: Villagers transported items to enemy buildings in some cases
- Update 0.11.0 - 15 April 2026
New: Attack warning signal when your settlement is under attack Fix: Stonecutter did not release it's stone deposit when demolished Fix: Stonecutter refused to work when it's stone deposit was *just* outside it's range
- Explorers of Esmar - Early Access now out with 10% launch discount! - 15 April 2026
Hello there! Explorers of Esmar is finally released to Early Access.There will be a 10% discount for the next two weeks!Grab it now while it's still hot! (There's a demo available, too!)Your feedback will directly shape the future of the game. Expect ongoing updates, improvements, and new features as development continues.If you enjoy the game, please consider leaving a review — it helps more than you think!Thank you for your support ❤️
- Early Access - 11 April 2026
Hey there!We've got an Early Access release date: 15/April/2026!There's a new trailer, too: If you haven't yet, why not try out the demo? It's been updated as well:
- Roadmap - 4 December 2025
Hello there!As I'm working on the game, I'm happy to announce the roadmap for the past and following months. Hopefully this will give you an idea about the state of the game and the goals I'm working towards.Cheers!
- Development Update + New Demo Available - 15 October 2025
Hey everyone!I’ve been working hard in the past months on some big improvements for Explorers of Esmar, and I’m excited to share what’s new. This update focuses on making battles more strategic, the world more nice to look at, and the game overall smoother to play — and you can try some of it right now in the updated free demo.NEW BATTLE SYSTEMCombat in Esmar has evolved quite a bit! You can now garrison soldiers inside your towers to provide them with various buffs depending on the soldier type. Positioning also plays a bigger role — units on higher ground gain advantages in attack strength.Behind the scenes, I’ve also reworked how territory is calculated, which should make borders feel fairer and more dynamic around contested territory.IMPROVED MAP GENERATORThe terrain algorithm got a major overhaul. The world now generates plateaus and varied elevations, adding more depth (literally!…
