Cozy farming life sim Starsand Island is now in early Access on PC and Xbox Series X/S, and it’s been pretty popular since its February 11, 2026, release.
The sim sees players head to the countryside of a serene island, where they can befriend the wildlife, create their own farm, and chat with the locals.
In Early Access, the game regularly receives patches, big and small, to address the myriad issues that crop up and to generally tweak the game for a more pleasurable experience.
Here, we go over the latest Starsand Island patch notes, look at its 2026 update roadmap, and catalogue its previous patches.
Starsand Island Early Access Update 0.2.0909 & 0.2.0869 Latest Patch Notes
Optimizations
- Improved the feel of shooting mini-games, making targets easier to hit.
- Optimized the frequency of livestock sound effects.
- Optimized some gameplay rules of in-scene mini-games to make them more casual and relaxing.
- Optimized item recognition, processing devices can now recognize items stored in the Realm Box.
- Improved multi-selection accuracy in Build Mode.
Fixes
- Fixed NPCs showing two quest icons in some cases.
- Fixed crossbow arrows not working on vines.
- Fixed missing guidance in the “Junior Angler” quest.
- Fixed being unable to accept quests from Mentors during the Beach Festival.
- Fixed water vehicles sinking in some cases.
- Fixed shops not refreshing items properly.
- Fixed long loading times for certain save files.
- Fixed missing sound effects for Rollerblades in ruins.
- Fixed quest objectives not updating for the “Expert Explorer” quest.
- Fixed controller input conflicts in the Mount interface.
- Fixed robots producing no output in some cases.
- Fixed vehicles falling through the ground in some cases.
- Fixed incorrect item selection when purchasing with a controller.
- Fixed old Cosmic Guildpitchers being unable to water crops or collect water.
- Fixed incorrect placement of Fish Traps at certain locations.
Fixes
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Fixed an issue where the Cosmic Guildpitcher caused items to disappear from the Home Decoration page. （If your save file has already been affected, you can revert to the previous save version to continue your experience.）
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Fixed an issue where the Roof tab could not be opened on the Build page.
Known Issues
- Cosmic Guildpitcher items crafted before this update are still unable to water crops or collect water. This issue is expected to be fixed in the next update. Newly crafted Cosmic Guildpitchers are not affected.
Previous Patch Notes: Update 0.2.0780
Optimizations
- Improved animal sound effects (ongoing optimization).
- Added more graphics quality options on Steam Deck.
- Optimized livestock pathfinding to reduce cases where animals get stuck and stop grazing, and to improve their ability to handle natural disasters.
- Restored the Luna Deer mount that was lost due to a bug.
Fixes
- Fixed an issue where commission quests could not be completed under certain conditions.
- Fixed an issue where the Cosmic Guildpitcher could not be used for watering.
- Fixed an issue where fish could appear floating in mid-air in certain scenes.
- Fixed an issue where fish would immediately escape after biting the hook in certain cases.
- Fixed an issue where item quantities could become incorrect when using the Realm Box.
- Fixed an issue where moving the camera while painting would change the painting direction.
- Fixed an issue where Bobo would immediately run away when interacted with in certain cases.
- Fixed an issue where robots could not be retrieved in certain situations.
- Fixed an issue where fish traps placed in the small stream near the home could be lost (ongoing fix).
Starsand Island Roadmap of Updates for 2026
Here’s the current Starsand Island roadmap, and a list of previous updates.
March 2026
- Expand the selection of items available for purchase with in-game currency:
- Ethereal Styles: Add the themed outfit set which themed Great Sage Equal to Heaven · Sun Wukong.
- Zerine’s General Store: Add Firework-themed items.
- Lex Woodworks: Add Rednote collaboration items.
April 2026
- Expand NPC voice content and improve existing voice performances.
- Add and further develop the NPC Dating System.
May 2026
- Initially introduce MOD support and provide basic creator tools.
- Enable sharing through the Workshop, allowing players to enrich the warm and creative content ecosystem of Starsand Island together.
June 2026
- Introduce multiplayer gameplay, supporting cooperative play with friends and island visits.
Patch Timeline:
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Starsand Island EA Version Update Log #1 (February 13, 2026)
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Starsand Island EA Version Update Log #2 (February 13, 2026)
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Starsand Island EA Version Update Log #3 (February 15, 2026)
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Starsand Island EA Version Update Log #4 (February 15, 2026)
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Starsand Island EA Version Update Log #5 (February 17, 2026)
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