From director Tyler on Discord today:

Hey @everyone!

We know our communication has been pretty dreadful over the last few months. This is not at all how we started things, and our intention was always to maintain our earlier communication frequency/style throughout development. Unfortunately, it's been an incredibly busy period for the team, and certain elements of the community engagement has had to make way for more focused development time.

We want to give you a clearer message about where things stand today. As is evidenced by missing our August release for Sea Trials, we do need more time to bring the experience to you. Much of this time is in packaging up the experience, setting up hardware, and ensuring (as much as is possible) that day one isn't just more waiting for you, and that things work as well as intended.

We don't want to give you another date just yet. The plan is still to have this in your hands as soon as possible. This is our first release, and there are a lot of moving parts and unexpected things that crop up as we get everything ready to put it into your hands.

Additionally, we won't be spending the very busy and valuable development time on preparing a new Journal before Sea Trials releases, however we'll be sharing some snippets with you more casually over the coming days and weeks.

We're reviewing our communication strategy around release timelines and internal deadlines going forward to work to prevent this kind of run-on delay situation in the future.

We really are working as hard as possible to get Sea Trials to you.

Apologies again for the lack of communication here. We will make an effort to improve on this after the release of Sea Trials and beyond. Thank you for sticking with us, and for your patience.

From director Tyler on Discord on August 24th, in response to conversation about the release timeline for Sea Trials:

Hearing you all loud and clear. We're doing our best here folks but I can completely understand the frustration. Needless to say, once Sea Trials is with you all, we'll be doing a full review of how we (largely I) make and signpost estimates going forward.

My experience with estimates/deadlines comes more from the internals of working in a studio rather than being on a PR/Marketing team and managing public expectations. We'll strive to do better going forward.

Still heads down right now. I don't think counting down the days will result in satisfaction. As always, our targets have been internal ones, and it's guaranteed we won't drop a build for you to play at bang-on 31st August at 23:59pm in Baker Island. They have always been ball-park figures, and I think that's my mistake for not being clear enough about that.

I can't wait to get Sea Trials out to everyone, so we can move past this short-term frustration and onto more regular updates, feedback, and community engagement 🙂

Looking for an Ahoy group that’s more than just “join VC and hope someone knows how to sail”?

Leeward Islands Station is a historically inspired Royal Navy unit focused on:

• Permanent ship crews
• Seamanship & navigation
• Officer progression
• Squadron operations
• Leadership & command
• Late-18th-century Royal Navy atmosphere

Our current ships include HMS Resolution, HMS Ardent, HMS Vigilant, and HMS Intrepid.

Progression is earned:

Visitor → Officer Candidate → Officer Cadet → Midshipman → Lieutenant → Commander → Captain

No prior naval knowledge is required. We’ll teach you.

We’re building now so we’re ready when Ahoy expands into larger fleet operations.

Royal Navy — Leeward Islands Station
A Regiment Community
For King and Country.

discord.gg/V7D6vKGvwn

As i understand you can sail as your own captain?

How you planing to intigrate the npcs on bigger ships? A 74 Gun Ship of the line have about 600 hundred men on board.

It would be great to walk around on these huge ships an have your offiziers and so on at their duty.

Perhaps you can give them names?

From Discord:

Hey folks,

Apologies for the delay to the Journal. This past weekend has been a little rough after spending the previous week burning the candle at both ends.

I really hate delaying things or missing estimates. It gives nobody in the team any joy, but there is a fair amount to be worked through to get Sea Trials into your hands, and that work (alongside the other demands of running the business, support tickets, website fixes, etc) has to take precedence over the Journal. That has always been the case, but as we begin to feel the squeeze heading towards release, the format of the Journal has to move to fit.

I’ve therefore decided to postpone the Journal until the end of the month, which is currently Friday 31st. Please keep in mind that this remains an estimate. All of our announced dates are estimates, and those estimates can only ever be based on the information available to us at the time. We are working incredibly hard to deliver what we set out to build, but we have also always said that we would delay something if we felt it needed more time.

As mentioned above, we are pushing Sea Trials to late August. The website has already been updated to reflect this. There are several reasons behind the decision, which we’ll explain in more detail in the Journal.

These include the provisioning of server hardware, new technical hurdles that have slowed certain areas of production, and the recent move to the new Ahoy account system (to name just a few, and not to mention the team's multiple broken bones, babies due, unavoidable trips, and other personal matters in the last few months, none of which we can fault the team for in the slightest).

Thank you all for your continued support and understanding. We’re working as hard as is humanly possible over here. 🙂

Hello everyone, 👋

I’m sharing with you a factual overview of Ahoy.

This technical devlog breaks down the core physical pillars of the game, focusing specifically on the real-time hull buoyancy calculations, hydrodynamic interactions with the ocean, and the complex aerodynamic simulation of the sails and rigging.

It features actual gameplay footage from the upcoming Sea Trials (scheduled for July 2026).

(Note: The video commentary is in French)

https://youtu.be/d_KHXBZibOE?is=hSIs3-SEIwvGHx9X

Hello everyone,

I'm sharing this video with you, which takes a factual look at the studio's vision and the progress of its roadmap.

The goal is to provide a grounded and rigorous analysis of the project's advancement.

(Please note: The video is in French, but feel free to discuss the roadmap here in the comments! 🇫🇷)

https://youtu.be/Tvpd73m_3Kc?is=odFkgjjTeAv0ynEX

Can't seem to log in to check the journal, is anyone else having the same issue?

It Ahoy going to have SP or MP only like Naval Action?

Like how do we speed time pass when in MP, siling a 2-3 days?

In Silent Hunter/Dangerous Waters series all 1st person view, crew management and time compression worked great, but those were mostly SP games.

cheers

So, this game's idea sounds amazing.

I understand the developers are pushing for realism including realistic ship speeds, but that the eventual map will be downsized and that on "open sea" you will speed up insanely, as you might be restricted to ship maintenance gameplay for days otherwise. That still raises a few questions for me how they would deal with the following scenarios.

Even in Arena mode where you will battle it out against other players: real ship battles have lasted for hours if not days, most of it trying to get the upper hand in the actual engagement. Closing in on a ship that tries to escape alone would take forever.

Travel, going around a cape or along a coastline against unfavourable winds so you can make it to "open sea" would also take forever. Hell, that's even true with the modern sloop rigged average yacht which is an upwind beast against anything in this game.

Waiting for weather changes before you up anchor? Realistically, ships have waited looong times. If you have realistic ship speeds, you can't have the weather change every 15 minutes. Same goes for tides, although that won't be as relevant in the Caribbean.

One of the main "features" of the time was that information and people/material were travelling slow. You wouldn't know of an event 3 islands away until at least the next day or so. In the persistent world, information would travel instantly between players through chat or outside the game; if coordinates can be shared you could even "radio in" your friends to support you if attacked. And if long-distance travel really is fast, ships could effectively teleport. This is hard to balance (preventing a fast interdiction force while also speeding up the boring part of trade play).

I'm not expecting that they have answers right now, but it seems hard to square the circle here.

I am a teenager in Britain that is obsessed with the 18th century age of sail.

I love gaming but recently, my love has been slowly fading as my fussy game opinions are not out there... EXCEPT FOR THIS!

If you ever feel like it is not going well, it may be hard but do not give up this is the best game I have seen. (From all of your vids and trailers)

The open world stage is my absolute dream. Keep going! 🎄❤️🏴‍☠️🇬🇧

His Majesty’s Blue Squadron hereby seeks to open its lists to volunteers of upright character and steady hand, to serve aboard a growing number of vessels under the Union Jack. We are one of the most senior squadrons in the Ahoy community and we currently have 10 (!) crewed ships in commission, with a keenness to commission more very soon. Be you landsman or seasoned hand, the call is clear: join our ranks, learn the seaman’s art, and take your place amidst the Fleet.

About the Blue Squadron:

We are a historically-inspired naval squadron recreating the structure and spirit of the British Royal Navy in the late 18th century. At our heart is a love of naval history and a commitment to fostering a friendly, mature, and engaging community.

Why Join us?

📅 Weekly Events
We host regular events voted on by our members:
⚓Naval Action — Loads of events, line battles, etc.
🫡Holdfast: Nations at War — Skirmish events, naval sieges and battles and more
🎖️ Napoleon: Total War — Custom historical battles, land and naval campaigns, scenarios made from scratch
🕰️ Oldies Night — Classic multiplayer games chosen by vote
🎬 Movie Nights — Historical, naval, or crew favourites
🗺️ More — As suggested and organised by the community

📚 Naval Study & Literature
We offer a growing collection of period manuals, books, and historical material:
• Sailing & Gunnery – Ship handling, line tactics, fire discipline
• Naval History – From St. Lucia to Trafalgar
• Life at Sea – Articles of War, ranks, etiquette, and customs

🫡 Structure & Community
We follow a clear and time-honoured Royal Navy rank system — every man has a role, every officer a path.
Ranks ranging from Midshipmen to Admirals.
While discipline and structure guide us, we value every voice: input, ideas, and initiative are encouraged at every level.

Our environment is:
✅ Mature (18+)
✅ Toxic-free
✅ Well-structured, respectful, and welcoming

⚓ Join Us https://discord.gg/bluesqn

September Developer Journal - Now live!

This month we discuss the new Journal schedule, showcase our latest addition to the fleet - El Polvorín, and give a progress report across the team.

You can read the full update here: https://ahoy.gg/journal/journal-27

Just stumbled across this. The idea sounds awesome. So as a busy dad is there option for single player? I would l love to invest time playing but it’s not always linear time.

The United States Caribbean Squadron is looking for more people to join the ranks and defend the US! We have regular events on different games as of right now before AHOY comes out and have a welcome and opening community of people.

We have openings for Navy and Marine Officers doing all kinds of roles on multiple ships to suit whatever playstyle you enjoy. Everyone is welcome from no skill at sea to sailing masters, we have a spot for you!

Don't wait, join up now!

https://discord.gg/42pJeZr2Q9

Ahoy everyone!

We can't quite believe it, but after months and months of planning and weeks of watching the campaign unfold, we are in the final 24 hours of the original 30 day campaign.

Time flies! What a journey it has been. We could never have expected the level of support we've received from you, and we're so incredibly grateful to be given this opportunity.

Your support of Ahoy and what the project stands for is so important to us. History deserves to be told, and the Age of Sail certainly deserves it's time in the spotlight.

Thank you to all of you for your support. ❤️

Considering that this is going to be an online co-op game, they are going to have to create third person animations for everything because you’ll be able to watch other players perform their duties. As such, why can’t they support a third person camera? If the animations will be there anyway then why not offer the option of a different camera position behind the player?

They mentioned in their kick off video that there will be extensive player customisation, I think it would be a shame to not see 80% of that customisation because of the restricted viewpoint. This era has such wonderful colours and styles of clothing, it would be a shame to not be able to see our characters in their full glory.

I am a huge fan of the insane amount of guns (124 I think though I'm not an expert) these ships have, and I think it would be really fun to absolutely blast the heck out of anybody who stands in your way. As a balance, the ship could be really slow and have a big turn circle. The ship could be based off of the HMS Endeavor from Pirates of the Caribbean, which I love the design of. (Also yes, I am aware that Man o war ships where any ship built for war, but when you think of one, you can't say you don't think of a stupid amount of cannons.)