title: "Windrose devs are asking players for ISP contacts as co-op issues continue" excerpt: "Windrose is off to a strong start on Steam, but co-op and dedicated server" problems are causing headaches. Now the devs are asking players for help tracing the issue. category: esports date: '2026-04-16T08:00:51+08:00' author: Aimirul tags:
- Windrose
- PC gaming
- co-op
- Steam
- survival games featured: false coverImage: /images/esports/windrose-devs-are-asking-players-for-isp-contacts-as-co-op-issues-continue.jpg
Windrose has had the kind of early access launch most new survival games would happily take. The PvE co-op title hit nearly 100,000 concurrent players on Steam by its second day, and user reviews have stayed very positive so far.
But even with that strong start, one problem keeps getting in the way, online co-op stability.
Developer Kraken Express has now gone public with just how messy the situation is. In the game's Discord, the team asked whether any players know someone working at a major ISP in Europe or North America who might be willing to talk. According to the studio, that kind of contact could help them figure out what is affecting co-op connectivity.
That is a pretty unusual thing to see from a game developer, and it shows the team is still trying to pin down the exact cause instead of pretending everything is under control.
Kraken Express said it has received multiple reports that some server addresses and backend services tied to Windrose co-op may be restricted or blocklisted by certain ISPs in EU and NA regions. The studio also admitted it still does not have a clear answer yet, saying something is "clearly interfering" with connections and that several hotfixes are already in development.
That lines up with what players have been reporting. PC Gamer said it experienced heavy lag spikes and long hangs while testing co-op, even between two players located only a few hours apart in northern California. So this does not sound like a small edge case or random bad ping issue.
Dedicated server users have also raised concerns about how limited Windrose's current server tools are. Reports say the game does not let players connect through a specific forwarded port in the way many dedicated server setups normally do. That has made self-hosting feel more barebones than expected.
Some players are also looking closely at Windrose's backend addresses after one Steam user flagged that the dedicated server infrastructure appeared to be requesting registration from a Russia endpoint. PC Gamer said it checked the server code and found a specific Windrose support URL that routes to a Moscow IP address. At the same time, the report noted that Kraken Express is based in Uzbekistan, not Russia, and that the software also includes similar URLs tied to Europe and South Korea.
So right now, there is still more confusion than clarity. The developers have not directly explained why some players are seeing traffic route that way, and until they do, suspicion from parts of the community is probably not going away.
For Malaysian and SEA players, this is worth watching even if the current ISP discussion is focused on Europe and North America. Co-op survival games live or die on whether you can jump in with your squad without weird lag, connection hangs, or server setup drama. If routing or backend issues are already causing trouble in major regions, players here could also feel the pain, especially when cross-region play or community-hosted servers enter the picture.
The good news is that Kraken Express does seem to be actively working on fixes instead of going silent. The less reassuring part is that the studio still sounds like it is diagnosing the problem in real time.
For now, Windrose still has momentum, but the next few hotfixes are going to matter a lot. A PvE co-op game can survive a rough launch week. What it cannot afford is for partying up with friends to keep feeling macam gamble every time.
Source: PC Gamer
