Don't Starve Together 2026 Roadmap

[YourWorstNightm]

9 minutes ago, Waywarbler said:

It's unfortunate but I'm not sure what the alternative is. Giving up on skill trees? Trying to do 3 at a time again (which didn't go so well last time)?

At least we're getting a content update next.

I hope they touch up the last content update by finishing the Sanctum.

[Edible Coal]

5 hours ago, Waywarbler said:

It's unfortunate but I'm not sure what the alternative is. Giving up on skill trees? Trying to do 3 at a time again (which didn't go so well last time)?

At least we're getting a content update next.

they never say content update cannot be joined with a skill tree, i doubt they can fit 4 update in the rest of the year

[Hungry French]

On 4/18/2026 at 3:35 PM, Edible Coal said:

wont be surprise if is 2 years from now for actual release

Nooo... Too much time has passed since the dlc for Hamlet... 😭

[tttlloo]

Bro, I literally do not care about skin compatibility on the new DS game because i would be happy to buy new skins again to support you guys, lol.

The only important thing for me is... Release the game as soon as possible, please, it looks amazing and i can't wait to play it with my friends. And make sure the new game has Wurt and Wormwood in the character roaster or I'll become depressed.

 

Oh and also webber's skill tree? It has become a meme at this point :')

 

Anyway keep up with this amazing work Klei ❤️

 

P.s. sorry for potential bad english

[NPCMaxwell]

On 4/16/2026 at 8:31 PM, Miya_Kopie said:

its likely it has nothing to do with charlie, this seems like its the other part of the constant completely, past beyond charlie's control

Excited to see in that case who the doll is

[Castiliano]

If I could ask Klei ONE question right now, it would be: will there be a fourth arc after "From Beyond"?

[Harrowick]

3 hours ago, Castiliano said:

If I could ask Klei ONE question right now, it would be: will there be a fourth arc after "From Beyond"?

A fourth arc where the lunar and shadows collide possibly resulting in Don't Starve Elsewhere? 

[Nikki Darks]

On 4/21/2026 at 6:02 PM, Castiliano said:

If I could ask Klei ONE question right now, it would be: will there be a fourth arc after "From Beyond"?

Charlie and Waggystaff unite to defeat an even greater evil...

[gaymime]

31 minutes ago, Nikki Darks said:

Charlie and Waggystaff unite to defeat an even greater evil...

Edited April 22 by gaymime
liked my first version better

[LeofelB]

Is there any chances of getting a new gorge event?

[Well-met]

2 hours ago, LeofelB said:

Is there any chances of getting a new gorge event?

nope!

[Sid4053]

Klei which character can be targeted for next skill tree upgrade after wx?

[Soliloquy]

On 4/16/2026 at 11:24 PM, JoeW said:

Today, we’re bringing you the 2026 Roadmap for Don’t Starve Together. We are releasing this a bit late because we also want to address the recently announced “Don’t Starve Elsewhere” and how it relates to Don’t Starve Together scheduling. 

Reminder: This roadmap is only a communication of our schedule as we currently have it planned and may change.

Last year, we saw the Year of the Depths Worm event, we finally released the skill trees for Walter, Wendy, and Wortox, and a Crossover update with Balatro. We completed the lunar Rift arc across two updates and moved forward with the shadow arc. We also had some good holiday event updates as well. For a full list of game updates, you can check out our forums over here: https://forums.kleientertainment.com/game-updates/dst/

Early last year, we made some adjustments to how we plan our updates, and we intend to continue that throughout 2026. We have been working toward updates that are wholly designed with a focus on current goals, rather than designing an update based on a story arc theme and what we can get in during the allotted scheduling period.

You will notice that this year we are a bit more conservative with our plans, as we are allowing for more room to adjust scheduling should we need more time for an update.

This is what we currently have in our scheduling plans. As in previous years, it is always possible that some of this may change based on shifting priorities during development. 

• Year of the Clockwork Knight
• 2 (or more) content updates
• 2 (or more) Skill trees
• Usual Game events
• Interactive Lore
• 3 intermission shorts

What we’re doing and why. 
With the 2023 Roadmap, our updates had an emphasis on endgame content. We did spend some time improving the readability of the game for new players, but it’s been a little while since we spent some real time focused on the meat of the game.

I hesitate to call this coming year a QOL focus, because we’re not so clearly defining it that way internally, but we’re going to spend a lot of time strengthening the core of the game - the parts that you spend the most time with and areas where we could clearly improve.  

So what does that mean? 

This roadmap covers two things: our long-term content plans and our scheduling. The above addresses our scheduling until the next roadmap, and the following addresses how our updates will be arranged going forward.

- Skill Spotlights
Skill tree updates are going to be more focused, and we’re going to keep things limited to one or maybe two characters for an update. Players have come to expect a lot from these updates now, and we want to make sure we do our best to try and deliver on that. 

- Early/Mid-game content
Mostly mid-game here, but we know there is plenty of room for us to work, and many of you have been asking for it. 

- Retouching previous updates
Because of our constant update schedule, we’re often more focused on finishing up and moving to the next thing. We want to go back and see what we can do for previous updates to address balance, older skill updates, and bug fixes.

- The future of Don’t Starve Together
With the announcement of Don’t Starve Elsewhere, we know there is going to be concern about what it means for Don’t Starve Together. 

Don’t Starve Elsewhere has been in development for several years now, and we are not winding down Don’t Starve Together. We aim to support both games concurrently. The update cadence will be slower, as it has been; there are no planned changes to the operation of the game beyond what was already done last year. If that changes, we’ll let people know. 

Going forward, lore is going to cover overall “Don’t Starve” lore and not just DST. We’re going to continue interactive lore stories, Intermissions and update trailers. 

- What about my skins?
We don’t have a direct answer for how exactly we are going to address this right now. We know that we would like to allow you to use your skins purchased in DST. Early on in the development of Don’t Starve Elsewhere, we chose not to let skin compatibility be a design constraint for the game. DSE is a new game, so we chose not to limit character design by compatibility with DST skins. However, it has been clearly in our mind that it’s something we want to solve.

We’re not exactly sure how this is going to work out just yet, but as soon as we know, we’ll let you know. Rest assured that your support is appreciated.

We aren’t ready to say more about Don’t Starve Elsewhere for now. But we’re very excited that you finally get to see it. 

That’s it for now! Have fun out there!

[Roadmap Image Download]

I love this game so much and I always play with my gf and my younger brothers. I have only one request if it is possible, please give skill tree to Wickerbottom first. She is my main character and I cant imagine how fun if  this character got a skill tree. I am look forward to playing this game with Wickerbottom skill tree. Thank for your hard work!

[Boom0]

does this mean we are getting lore for hamlet and shipwrecked (lol im just making this until the update downloads)

[THISTINYTHING]

Can wes have a skill tree where its just more balloons? XD

I want a cute star one.

<3

 

[Jussatoon]

Hopefully Klei can implement some more controller optimizations here and there, regardless of the updates.

[Hungry French]

On 5/1/2026 at 12:24 AM, Boom0 said:

does this mean we are getting lore for hamlet and shipwrecked (lol im just making this until the update downloads)

Who is hamlet and shipwrecked ?

[wormwood123]

13 hours ago, Hungry French said:

Who is hamlet and shipwrecked ?

Holy larp lol

 

its the dlcs for the original game 

[Hungry French]

22 minutes ago, wormwood123 said:

Holy larp lol

 

its the dlcs for the original game

Who ? Who is the original game ?

[Mike23Ua]

I am confused by the 2026 roadmap, how can this years updates be focused on Early/Mid-Game content, if Junes update is meant to be the Shadow Arc Finale? Would that not be the End, End End Game content? 🤔

[Hungry French]

On 5/26/2026 at 1:00 AM, Mike23Ua said:

I am confused by the 2026 roadmap, how can this years updates be focused on Early/Mid-Game content, if Junes update is meant to be the Shadow Arc Finale? Would that not be the End, End End Game content? 🤔

Mike. This is part 1.  Next we  have to wait for the final end end end end content)

[HamBatWilson]

klei give us those fits as actual skins and my soul is yours

[Jakepeng99]

On 5/25/2026 at 11:00 PM, Mike23Ua said:

I am confused by the 2026 roadmap, how can this years updates be focused on Early/Mid-Game content, if Junes update is meant to be the Shadow Arc Finale? Would that not be the End, End End Game content? 🤔

I think its why they added thermic tools as side content.

[Walrusst]

Essentially they are wrapping up their last endgame commitments before putting work into pushing the game to being a coherent experience.

We currently have two games, the sit around and starve camp that people who don't have the oral tradition of what the game is like play where new players hop in, get lost, and go nowhere until they become a mountain of corpses and their efforts go away.

Then the camp of progress where its an adventure game once the oral tradition of what to do has been passed on to you. Huge swaths of player who have second or thirdhand words on what they can do to go forward but who generally are all still resetting the world until they build the experience needed not to become corpses on the way forward. Its not hard to see what the end is, this games essentially an oral tradition, but its a few sages moving about that create parties which are able to push to the end, if they haven't totally secluded themselves to playing on their lonesome.

Its time to tidy up because while I doubt this is the end with mobile coming out, if they want to push any further the cleaning up is essential because they can't afford to make updates for content that nobody is actually reaching. This probably means a bit of power creep being awarded to people who build the bravery to visit dangerous and scary environments. This probably means content that challenges our notions of whats a pure reign of giants don't starve experience. This is fine.

If we need power to get distributed to content that is for lack of a better word "test of bravery" content this at least creates a bridge for players to experience the full flavor of the game. We can use the games vast width to make the experience of climbing up interesting, the experience of the game being this sensation of crawling on the floor until you find something that lets you set up roots is a formula that is engaging if its not done clumsily and wrong.

We've seen episodes of clumsiness before but we also have voices, we've helped them course correct at times, but we also aren't strictly the stewards of the game. Sometimes there is a vision to what klei is doing, and what looks like a dramatic overshoot is prepwork to try and build something later. We've got to believe here. I'd love to help more but I'm also just a stranger to this company that's managed to tread water up to this point. They still work on the things we care about and acknowledge our frustrations with what we have.

Work takes time, and most of us are in the uneasy state of needing to wait and see when it comes to the fate of a game we've played for over a decade at this point.