It's About Pirates Update: Launch Week News, Reviews, and What Comes Next

The first It's About Pirates update cycle is only days old, and it already says a lot about how Elderwoof Games is running its launch. The pirate survivors-like shipped on November 6, 2026, and by the November 9 snapshot of its Steam page it had 34 user reviews, a Mixed rating, and a launch discount with a hard end date. If you are deciding whether to buy in now or wait to see whether an It's About Pirates update changes your mind, the dated details below are worth more than launch-day hype.

This breakdown sticks to what the official Steam listing and the developer's own press materials actually recorded, plus what one early creator's footage shows about the game loop. Where something is unconfirmed, it stays labeled that way.

It's About Pirates Update Snapshot: The Dated Facts From Launch Week

Every figure here is a frozen observation, not a live number. The Steam store listing was captured on 2026-11-09, three days after release.

The review sample is the number that matters most. As of 2026-11-09, the Steam store page recorded 34 total user reviews with a 67% positive split — a Mixed badge earned on a sample small enough that a handful of reviews could shift the percentage considerably.

Reading the It's About Pirates Update Feed So Far

The news feed on Steam tells a short, tidy story. The launch post, dated Friday, November 6, 2026, is the developer's own confirmation that the full game had gone live, with a note about finally pressing the release button and wanting players to explore the complete build. That wording matters: this is a finished 1.0 release, not an early access debut.

The first post-launch update, Update #1, is dated November 7, 2026. Its changelog added Easy, Normal, and Hard difficulty choices for every adventure, with Easy granting more gold, less damage taken, faster kills, and a reduced leaderboard multiplier; it also fixed a tavern controller-navigation issue and added two supporter-pack flags and sails. Update #2 followed on November 9, 2026, adding Ship's Bells, automatic adventure saving, upgrade comparisons, a Treasure Map pool change after Day 9, and a curse bug fix.

The third visible news item goes back further: a September 4, 2026 post about Steam Deck play. In it the developer reported full controller support for gameplay and menus, and said that at Max settings the game held 60 FPS most of the time with occasional drops into the 50s; reducing quality or disabling heavy settings such as water reflections was suggested for more headroom. Valve's compatibility badge still read "Unknown" on the 2026-11-09 capture, so keep the developer's hands-on report separate from Valve's official rating.

What Actually Changed in the Gameplay Loop

The Steam listing and the official indie press kit describe a survivors-style structure wrapped around naval combat. You steer a ship, weapons fire automatically or manually depending on your setting, and each cleared wave feeds an upgrade decision.

Confirmed feature counts from the developer's own store copy and press kit:

• 30 adventures across the campaign structure
• 10 captains with different starting kits
• 6 factions with unique abilities
• More than 140 items to shape a build
• Over 150 ship parts to collect
• Endless mode plus Steam leaderboards
• Automatic or manual aiming

The upgrade loop is where the "build" language earns its keep. Creator footage from a first-look video shows level-ups offering cannon damage tiers, officer hires such as a Powder Monkey for reload and elemental damage or a Spotter for range and crit, plus crew slots and stat lines like morale, plunder, and luck. Weapons seen in that footage include flamethrowers, harpoons, mortars, grapeshot swivels, and rams, with mounts split between forward and rear hardpoints. Treat those specifics as player experience from an early run rather than a complete weapon list.

The same footage shows the run pace driven by "days at sea," with hazard spikes rather than a smooth curve — hammerhead sharks that soak far more damage than their escorts, eel and mermaid packs that strip crew, a giant crab, an octopus, and a volcano zone that punishes slow routing. One tutorial message noted a second chance within the first adventure that preserves progress, which softens the early difficulty curve considerably.

Should You Buy Now or Wait for the Next It's About Pirates Update?

The pricing math is simple and dated. As of the 2026-11-09 capture, Steam listed the game at $9.98 after a 15% introductory discount from $11.75, with the offer marked as ending November 16. That is a real deadline tied to a real price, not a permanent baseline — the $11.75 list price is what applies once the promotion lapses.

There are also two bundles on the page, one pairing the game with Soulstone Survivors and another with Endless Rails, each advertised with an additional bundle-level saving. If you already own either companion title, the bundle route is worth checking before you buy standalone.

The honest case for waiting is review depth. Thirty-four reviews is not enough to call a Mixed badge a verdict, and an It's About Pirates update in the coming weeks could resolve the specific complaints behind the negative ones. The honest case for buying now is that the discount expires November 16 regardless of what patches arrive.

What Players Are Watching For in Future Patches

Nothing below is confirmed content — these are the open threads the store page itself leaves dangling.

Steam Deck status. The compatibility field read "Unknown" at capture, despite a September 2026 news post about playing on the Deck. A formal rating would be the single most useful piece of information for handheld players.

Endgame and leaderboards. Endless mode and Steam Leaderboards are listed as features, and leaderboard integrity is exactly the kind of thing that gets tuned repeatedly after launch. Scores shifting early would not be surprising.

The add-on. The $3.99 It's About Pirates - Supporter Pack contains Dog, Cat, and Crystal ship skins plus Parrot and Dolphin sail-and-flag cosmetics. Steam states that the pack is purely cosmetic and has no gameplay effect.

Post-launch cadence. Update #1 landed on November 7 and Update #2 on November 9, so the studio shipped two patches within three days of release. Whether that becomes a weekly rhythm or a one-off hotfix stretch is the real question behind any It's About Pirates update tracker.

If you want the unfiltered source, the official It's About Pirates Steam listing is where patch notes, review totals, and pricing will appear first, and IGN's game page carries the trailer and release details.

FAQ

When did It's About Pirates release? The game launched on PC on November 6, 2026, per the Steam store page as captured on 2026-11-09. Elderwoof Games developed and published it.

Is there an It's About Pirates update I should wait for before buying? As of 2026-11-09, the most recent post was Update #2, dated November 9, 2026; Update #1 from November 7 is also documented. Both changelogs are public, but no content for a future patch is confirmed. Watch the official listing for further notes.

How is the game reviewed so far? As of 2026-11-09, the Steam store page recorded a Mixed rating with 67% of 34 user reviews positive. That is a small sample from launch week, so the percentage should be read as a snapshot rather than a settled score.

Does it run on Steam Deck? Steam's compatibility field for the game read "Unknown" as of the 2026-11-09 capture, even though a September 4, 2026 news post referenced playing on the Deck. No verified rating was listed at that cutoff.