Earlier today, indie publisher Wired Productions and Tomas Sala, the BAFTA-nominated solo developer of The Falconeer and Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles, announced a surprise multiplayer update for Sala’s creative shipbuilding sandbox game, ShipShaper. Not the type of publisher or developer to shy away from a challenge, the update launches on the same day as Grand Theft Auto VI, November 19th, 2026.
Check out the ShipShaper Multiplayer Playtest teaser trailer below.
ShipShaper launched into Early Access as a creative sandbox game where players design and build their own seafaring vessels, from small trading ships and wooden galleons to vast battlecruisers, then display them in dioramas or glass bottles, or take them out on the open ocean.
Always listening to community feedback, Sala has made several updates to the game since launch, with this multiplayer addition marking the third major step in the game’s Early Access journey as well as bringing ShipShaper’s three core elements together: Creativity, Physics, and Multiplayer.
- Build your ship: From elegant sailing vessels to pre-dreadnought French ironclads, ShipShaper gives players the freedom to design and create their own ships, piece by piece.
- Master the physics: Every design is put to the test through ShipShaper’s physics simulation. Balance, weight, sails, and engineering all matter. Just because something looks seaworthy doesn’t mean it’ll stay afloat.
- Battle your creations: Take your ships online, challenge friends and other players, and enter persistent multiplayer arenas for naval combat and racing. Discover whether your masterpiece is a formidable fighting machine or an overladen, half-sinking piece of junk.
As a bright orange rubber dinghy perched proudly atop a recently surfaced nuclear submarine, ShipShaper’s multiplayer update is going head-to-head with arguably the most anticipated piece of media in the 21st century, launching the same day as Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto VI. But for fans looking to partake in some naval combat before then, they can join the public playtest.
ShipShaper is out now in Early Access on PC, with a demo available now on PC via Steam. The Multiplayer Update goes live on November 19th, 2026.
Have you been enjoying ShipShaper? Are you going to try out the multiplayer combat? Let us know in the comments below, and join the Gamer Social Club Discord to chat about your favourite games, play in community game nights, take part in giveaways, and more!
