After smashing through our concurrent player count record (previously 3,400) with a whopping 6,400+ players on launch day we then went on to set the ceiling even higher, breaking our record another 3 times and capping off the weekend with a 9,700+ concurrent player peak. We're most impressed!

Similarly, the official Holdfast Discord server has been flooded with fellows joining our great community, a massive 10,000+ new members have joined since July 9th on release day. Feel free to join us over there, there's plenty for you to get involved with or even to just post a screenshot or two, we'd love to see them.

https://discord.gg/holdfastgame

Since release we've been hard at work tackling some of the issues players faced since the update. Thankfully none of these were too egregious and have now been rectified to hopefully ensure players can join in on the fun without facing trivial problems. For a full list of changes check out the changelog linked at the end of this post.

The week since launch has been relatively smooth sailing with thousands upon thousands of players all joining the battlefields of Holdfast. The servers held firm despite an outpouring of players joining the game simultaneously at a far faster rate than we had excepted. It was quite the sight to behold!

To continue the celebrations starting from Friday July 18th and running until July 21st. Holdfast enjoyers will be able to gather an increased 1.5x XP while playing on Official servers. Use this opportunity to increase your soldier rank to unlock orders with increased shilling rewards which can then be spent in the barracks to kit your classes out.

Do let us know on Discord if you face any issues folks. We’ll be sure to look into it. As always, we thank you for your generous support, and until next time, may good health be yours. :oheart:

Changelog - Game Version 3.00.2

Count
● 2 features and improvements.
● 15 bug fixes.

Click here for the full change log.

- Anvil Game Studios

Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Walki, Jackson, Harper, Storey, UberJuice, Stan, Gest, Matt, Grandayy, Charles:Cute_Rat:, Winston (The Cat) & Nelson (The Other Cat).

Steel has been given! Holdfast has broken it's all time concurrent player count record with a whopping 6,500+ peak on launch day. The massive response to the games console release has been exceptional and a real joy to see everyone getting stuck in with some Holdfast goodness.

Yesterday will be a day to remember for a long time for all of us at Anvil Game Studios.

We were also delighted to see that Holdfast made its way onto the best sellers list for the Playstation store, an achievement we're extremely proud of. We've seen equally as impressive results on the Xbox front with absolute troves of new soldiers making their way onto the big beautiful battlefields of Holdfast.

To handle the expected even greater increase of players this weekend we'll be looking to rolling out some additional servers with some of these servers heading down under! 🇦🇺

We're bringing back our officially hosted Australian Holdfast servers ready for all oceanic Holdfast enjoyers to hop on and start giving 'em some Aussie might. We look forward to welcoming in all the good fellows to these new region servers.

To celebrate all this we'll be issuing out an increase to Shillings and XP earned through the games daily missions. For new and old players alike this is a perfect chance to get a head start towards that musket or frying pan you've always desired. 🪙

Simply hop on any official Holdfast server over the weekend of July 12th-13th to start earning these extra rewards. Be sure to join us on the official Discord server for an even deeper dive into the Holdfast community.

Once again we thank you for all your support. Here's to many more years of Holdfast and until next time, may good health be yours. :oheart:

https://discord.gg/holdfastgame

- Anvil Game Studios

Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Walki, Jackson, Harper, Storey, UberJuice, Stan, Gest, Matt, Grandayy, Charles:Cute_Rat:, Winston (The Cat) & Nelson (The Other Cat).

The day has finally arrived! Give 'em steel lads. Holdfast is OUT NOW with full crossplay support on the Xbox Series S / X, PlayStation 5 and Steam with over 150+ players all battling it out in one big beautiful battlefield across various devices. 

Watch the official release trailer

Holdfast goes way beyond just muskets, it is a thriving community of players from all across the globe with a passion for history, gaming and above all fun. From land to sea you'll always find fellows to fight alongside. Now, with this release, players on Steam, Xbox and Playstation devices will be able to simultaneously connect to the same servers with full crossplay supported right out the box.

This all comes as a direct result of our ongoing efforts to bring the game into the new era and to an even greater audience. Now more than ever players across the globe will be able to hop on Holdfast with their preferred platform and enlist for the King’s shilling.

Out Now! Enlist today.

Holdfast truly went above and beyond everything we expected the game could be, it could not have been done without your ongoing support through the years. We'd like to extend a special thanks to you all for making the game what it is. We're extremely proud to be bringing the game to an even larger audience.

Work on the game is still very much ongoing and we look forward to getting stuck in again with some Naval action after this massive release. Come join us on the official Discord and get involved!

As always, we thank you for your support, and until next time, may good health be yours. :oheart:

https://discord.gg/holdfastgame

- Anvil Game Studios

Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Walki, Jackson, Harper, Storey, UberJuice, Stan, Gest, Matt, Grandayy, Charles:Cute_Rat:, Winston (The Cat) & Nelson (The Other Cat).

Holdfast updated! Fresh off the development line we have a whole barrel load of features and improvements making their way into the game as we sync things up ready for the long awaited crossplay update.

Holdfast: Nations At War will be coming to Xbox Series S / X and PlayStation 5 / Pro on July 9th 2025. Before taking a read of the blog, if you haven't already be sure to watch the official release date announcement trailer for Holdfast on consoles.

As we near ever closer to the massive crossplay release the team has been hard at work polishing off some final changes to the game to make it even more accessible. The brand new account linking method with our official Discord has been introduced to provide a more robust and stable way of linking your game account with your Discord account to gather in-game rewards. Take a read at the quick start guide to linking your Discord account here.



We've also taken another pass on the controller aim assist and introduced a subtle aim assist for melee mode to help provide a more balanced experience for players on controller. We look forward to welcoming feedback on this.

Platform icons will now also display via both the server browser and the in-game scoreboard.

For a full list of features & improvements plus a slew of bug fixes take a look at the full change log linked at the end of this post. Do let us know on Discord if you face any issues folks. We’ll be sure to look into it. As always, we thank you for your generous support, and until next time, may good health be yours. :oheart:

https://discord.gg/holdfastgame

Changelog - Game Version 3.0.9315.23205

Count
● 12 features and improvements.
● 8 bug fixes.
Click here for the full change log.

- Anvil Game Studios Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Walki, Jackson, Harper, Storey, UberJuice, Stan, Gest, Matt, Grandayy, Charles :Cute_Rat:, Winston (The Cat) & Nelson (The Other Cat).

The 'Summer of Holdfast' is here! Leading into the Xbox & Playstation releases on July 9th 2025 Holdfast will be on sale on Steam at a whopping 75% off! Enlist to fight the foe today and earn your 40 shillings from the King.

You can also take this opportunity to purchase the games DLC's at a discounted price too. From ornately decorated firearms to dashing uniforms our cosmetic only purchasable content has you covered.

Base Game

https://store.steampowered.com/app/589290/Holdfast_Nations_At_War/Blackpowder Firearmshttps://store.steampowered.com/app/3320400/Holdfast_Nations_At_War__Blackpowder_Firearms/Collectors Editionhttps://store.steampowered.com/bundle/13424/Holdfast_Collectors_Edition/

Starting June 26th and running until July 10th. Holdfast enjoyers will be able to gather an increased 1.5x XP while playing on Official servers. Use this opportunity to increase your soldier rank to unlock orders with increased shilling rewards which can then be spent in the barracks to kit your classes out.

Official event servers will have an increase of 4x XP for those looking for some more regimental focussed gameplay. Hop onto a public linebattle to start gathering this increased reward, you can find a full schedule of public events via the Holdfast discord.

https://discord.gg/holdfastgame

If you've yet to hear the news, Holdfast will be releasing onto the Xbox Series X / S & Playstation 5 / Pro on July 9th 2025. Featuring full crossplay support with over 150+ players per server all battling it out across various platforms. You can give the official announcement trailer a watch below.

We look forward to welcoming in all the new faces as we reach ever closer to the long awaited console release. Thank you for your support and until next time, may good health be yours. :oheart:

- Anvil Game Studios

Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Walki, Jackson, Harper, Storey, UberJuice, Stan, Gest, Matt, Grandayy, Charles:Cute_Rat:, Winston (The Cat) & Nelson (The Other Cat).

Firstly a thank you to the community for the amazing response we've had since announcing that Holdfast: Nations At War will be coming to Xbox Series S / X and PlayStation 5 / Pro on July 9th 2025. Before taking a read of the blog, if you haven't already be sure to watch the official release date announcement trailer for Holdfast on consoles.

As we approach the ever so exciting console release, we're here to dish out a few more tweaks and balances to further prepare the game for launch day. Featuring new quality of life improvements, gameplay tweaks and a load of bug fixes.

A small focus of the update was to improve the squad camp experience, now players will be offered to join other squads if their squad camp is destroyed or not set up. Players spawning fresh into the round will also be prompted to join a random squad from the available list.

To further promote squad gameplay and improve some balancing we've taken a pass over the classes that are allowed to spawn on squad camps Here are the changes we've undertaken:

• Light Infantry from 3 to Unlimited

• Rifleman from 0 to 3

• Musician from 2 to 3

• Flag Bearer from 1 to 2

• Surgeon from 1 to 2

• Carpenter from 1 to 2

• Sergeant from 1 to 2

The squad camp ability has also had its cooldown reduced to just 2 minutes.

To tackle a long stemming issue of new players especially not knowing what combat state the player is in, players using a controller will now also be given a new indication when using a firearm and swapping from shooting to melee mode and vice versa. This can be disabled via the options for those who don't wish to see it.

This is just handful of the changes and additions with this release, for a more detailed view of the tweaks and fixes check out the changelog linked at the bottom of the post.

Do let us know on Discord if you face any issues folks. We’ll be sure to look into it. As always, we thank you for your generous support, and until next time, may good health be yours. :oheart:

https://discord.gg/holdfastgame

Changelog 107 - Game Version 2.32.9300.20891

Count
● 15 features and improvements.
● 2 gameplay additions.
● 23 bug fixes.

Click here for the full change log.

- Anvil Game Studios

Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Walki, Jackson, Harper, Storey, UberJuice, Stan, Gest, Matt, Grandayy, Charles:Cute_Rat:, Winston (The Cat) & Nelson (The Other Cat).

The time has finally come to make an announcement or two that we here at Anvil Game Studios have been very eager to give for some time now. 

Prepare to.. Give em steel! On July 9th 2025 Holdfast will be released onto consoles with full crossplay support and will be available on the Xbox Series S / X and the PlayStation 5 / Pro with over 150+ players all battling it out across various devices. 

This all comes as a direct result of our ongoing efforts to bring the game into the new era and to an even greater audience. Now more than ever players across the globe will be able to hop on Holdfast with their preferred platform and enlist for the King’s shilling.

Watch The Trailer

Wishlist Now @ http://holdfastgame.com/

Holdfast exceeded all expectations since releasing into Early Access all the way back in 2017 and now we’re very proud to be welcoming in a new era of Holdfast and players who have yet had the chance to sink their teeth into what this great game and community has to offer. The community is the beating heart of the game and encouraging player to player interaction and roleplay will forever remain a forefront of the development.

Work on the game is still very much ongoing and we look forward to attending to feedback leading up to and after this massive release. Come join us on the official Discord and get involved!

https://discord.gg/holdfastgame

Hoist the sails and prepare to embark on new naval experiences. In the immediate months following the console release we’ll be following things up with a much overdue naval expansion update.

Featuring an increased naval player count, new mechanics such as ship cannon repairs, a whole ocean full of new naval battlefield and coastal siege maps plus reworks of some classics and community favourites.

There’s a whole lot more than that too, so run out the guns, douse the lanterns and prepare to walk in the boots of a hero of Trafalgar. We’ll also be dishing out some tweaks and balances as we continue to work closely with the dedicated naval community that have many years of experience on this side of the game. 

Get involved and help spread the good word of Holdfast to the masses. We're opening up early access to our new partner programme that allows content creators gather in-game rewards for videos reaching specific view milestones. More rewards will be included post-release!

Have a treasure trove of funny Holdfast clips? Go to the the following form - Holdfast Creator Programme and download the “Media Pack”. Inside you’ll find an end card that you can place at the end of your clips. Should you have any questions don't shy away from reaching out to us. Our contact details are in the same form.

Rewards

• Earn 500 in-game shillings for every video that reaches over 10,000 views featuring the end card leading up to release.

• Earn the 'Community Champion' in-game title for your glorious contributions.

• Earn the 'Verified Creator' role on the Official Discord providing you with early access to our new partner program.

• The community posted video with the most views will receive a copy of the Collectors Edition of the game on their chosen platform.

These plentiful years of Holdfast have been a pleasure and a joy for each and every one of us and we’re still not done yet! We’re dedicated to continuing to develop and support Holdfast for many moons to come and we’re very excited to have you all join us on this delightful journey throughout these years.

Without your ongoing support none of this would be possible. From the entire team and as always, we thank you for your generous support, and until next time, may good health be yours. :oheart:

- Anvil Game Studios

Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Walki, Jackson, Harper, Storey, UberJuice, Stan, Gest, Matt, Grandayy, Charles:Cute_Rat:, Winston (The Cat) & Nelson (The Other Cat).

Holdfast updated! Continuing strong in our mission of polishing up the game and making it ever more accessible we’re pleased to announce the release of this next update.

Featuring a plethora of quality of life features, optimisations and bug fixes, this release steers us ever closer to completing our mission and eventually what will be one of Holdfast’s biggest releases to date.

More on that in future posts, for now take a look at everything coming with this update down below.


Quality of life was a key focus of this release. Keeping the game fresh and up to par with modern standards is a key element required to bring Holdfast into the new era.

Capturing the last point on the Army Siege game mode will now immediately end the match. This has been introduced to combat 'backcaping' on certain maps where it was prevalent.

Extended capture zones have been tentatively introduced firstly for Frontlines Invasion maps that feature beach landings. These extended zones allow for more unique capture zone layouts and will eventually make their way into the Napoleonic side of the game should they be required.


A slew of new indicators to better distinguish your characters states have also been introduced. You’ll primarily notice these when reloading, attaching and detaching your bayonet and when performing other actions.



One of the more obvious of these changes is the new addition of showing the playercard of the enemy you have just killed. This will allow you to see the accolades and titles immediate of the player you’ve just bested in combat.



Another part of this update was refreshing the public server experience, this included multiple reinforcement changes to maps along with improved map voting functionality in order to provide a more varied experience on Army Siege, Army Battlefield and Army Conquest maps.


Are you an enjoyer of all the regimented chaos that Holdfast Linebattles offer? We’re looking for the next generation of Event Hosts to join our team of dedicated volunteers who host the weekly Official Public Linebattle events.

You’ll also be able to take advantage of our Event Host rewards programme featuring unique in-game rewards and free DLC as a show of thanks for your efforts.



So… Think you have what it takes to run these 200+ player events with your fellow hosts? Then enlist today via the form below to get involved.

Event Host Application


The team has been very hard at work and making good progress with our optimisation efforts. The last release saw some impressive performance increases and we’ve since been taking good care in addressing any regressions that may have occurred - Check out the massive changelog for all the intricate details.

Multiple RAM-oriented optimisations have been done to improve performance on lower end hardware along with yet another large reduction in the overall file size of the game. Taking it down from 19 Gigabytes to just 17 Gigabytes.

The game engine has also been upgraded to expose even more potential optimisation techniques and methods for future releases.

Do let us know on Discord if you face any issues folks. We’ll be sure to look into it. As always, we thank you for your generous support, and until next time, may good health be yours. :oheart:

https://discord.gg/holdfastgame




Changelog 107 - Game Version 2.31.9279.18617

Count
● 14 features and improvements.
● 30 gameplay additions.
● 3 optimisation additions.
● 94 bug fixes.


Click here for the full change log.





- Anvil Game Studios

Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Walki, Jackson, Harper, Storey, UberJuice, Stan, Gest, Matt, Grandayy, Charles:Cute_Rat:, Winston (The Cat) & Nelson (The Other Cat).

Greetings, good fellows of the Holdfast community. Following up on last week’s release, we’re hitting the decks with another update addressing bugs and introducing more optimisations to reduce memory utilisation.

Expect more to follow on this front soon! While it may not be the most exciting of releases, it's a necessity to ensure we can continue supporting and updating Holdfast for the years to come. Our commitment to bring Holdfast into a new age remains ever steadfast.

Do let us know on Discord if you face any issues folks. We’ll be sure to look into it. As always, we thank you for your generous support, and until next time, may good health be yours. :oheart:

https://discord.gg/holdfastgame





Changelog 106 - Game Version 2.30.9230.24295

Count
● 3 optimisation additions.
● 24 bug fixes.


Click here for the full change log.





- Anvil Game Studios

Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Walki, Jackson, Harper, Storey, UberJuice, Stan, Gest, Matt, Grandayy, Charles:Cute_Rat: & Winston (The Cat).

Holdfast updated! After some months of dedicated and hard work we’re pleased to announce the release of this performance and optimisation update.

It introduces community rewards and brings forth a whole slew of optimisation that will cater to more consistent and stable framerates and hopefully provide an overall smoother Holdfast experience across the board.

Find out more by taking a read all about it in greater detail below.


Staying true with our commitment to continue bringing Holdfast into the new age, this rather large optimisation pass we’ve undertaken will be a key instrument into making the game more accessible and playable for generations new and old.



It is a major step forward in our ongoing efforts to support Holdfast and its beloved community for years to come. It certainly wasn’t an easy task but a necessary one and involved looking back at almost 8 years worth of game's art, systems and processes then bringing them up to our current standard.

The art team dedicated time optimising old meshes and where missing introduced new lower detailed meshes that will get rendered at a distance. A good portion of the textures were also optimised to further improve ram usage along with much stricter animation culling. Lastly, the ever-dedicated fellows in the programming team continued doing their magic to reduce RAM and improve CPU utilisation.

All this and more had the added benefit of the games install now being even smaller by a few gigabytes.

This truly only grazes the surface of the work undertaken by the team these past few months. It’s almost impossible to count the many changes made. Expect more to follow on this front in future releases.

Despite the many testing passes this release has undergone, there's of course a chance some bugs may have slipped through the net. Should you encounter any of these then please do report them via the #bug-reports channel in our official Discord server linked at the end of this post.


A portion of this update brings entirely new rewards for players who go above and beyond the call of duty.

From event hosts to workshop modders and everything in between, those who lend a helpful hand or create something truly special will be granted (by our discretion) a whole slew of new medals and rewards to showcase their brilliance.



We’ll begin awarding theses out in the coming months retroactively and look forward to awarding them to many more of you in the future. If you are wanting to take that next step in helping to grow the great Holdfast community, then head over to our Discord server and get involved.


Have the inner desire to stand in the rank and file or sail the seven with a more regimented experiences? Earn your 40 shillings and enlist for a regiment today to participate in 200 player organised events.



It’s easy to apply, there’s plenty of regiments, crews and communities available via the main menu’s Regiment Registry tab. Regiments offer access to private events, unique ranking structures and have that great Holdfast community spirit.

Alternatively you can check out the Regiment Registry in the official Discord server. Our welcoming community would be more than willing to show you the ropes.

https://discord.gg/holdfastgame


Hop on Holdfast and let us know what your reckon. Until next time, may good health be yours. :oheart:





Changelog 105 - Game Version 2.29.0000.00000

Count
● 3 optimisation additions.
● 7 new features and improvements.
● 2 graphical additions.
● 7 bug fixes.

Know Issues
● Using the in-game report a player function disconnects you from the server.


Click here for the full change log.





- Anvil Game Studios

Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Walki, Jackson, Harper, Storey, UberJuice, Stan, Gest, Matt, Grandayy, Charles:Cute_Rat: & Winston (The Cat).