- Brand New DevLog Out Now - 20 February 2026
Brand new DevLog available right now! 🎥
- Ex Bethesda devs' ambitious Elder Scrolls Daggerfall successor ditches UE5 for its own engine to make "a far better game" - 2 December 2025
Some games carry a certain Unreal Engine 5 look, just like some games looked like UE3 games (Gears, Arkham Asylum - I'm looking at you). The dramatic Lumen lighting, water that sparkles, dirt that looks like it'd part beneath your boot. While Epic's engine helps bring countless visions to life, some of us do love to rag on UE5 for its perceived performance issues . But, love it or hate it, Unreal Engine 5 is a staple of both triple-A development and often ambitious indies. Enter The Wayward Realms , an upcoming open-world adventure pitched as a spiritual successor to The Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall, hailing from developer OnceLost Games and headed up by Bethesda veterans Ted Peterson and, until his passing in July of this year, the late Julian LeFay. Now, the studio has decided to drop UE5 for its own proprietary engine. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Ex Elder Scrolls devs s…
- Transitioning Away From Unreal - 1 December 2025
We want to extend a sincere thank you for the overwhelmingly positive reception to our last Devlog. Your feedback made one thing absolutely clear, this community is here because you care about deep systems, meaningful choices, and solid, uncompromised gameplay. That clarity has guided our next big step.-------------------------------After reviewing the many thoughtful comments we received, we’ve made a major but exciting decision, we are fully transitioning away from Unreal Engine and building our own proprietary engine. This move gives us the control and flexibility needed to deliver the experience you’ve told us you want. Over the past few weeks, our entire focus has been on developing this new engine, and we’re thrilled to say that we’ll have something to show you soon, with a new Devlog showcase planned for early in the new year. Shifting to our own engine is a major step, and while…
- Join us LIVE Dec. 3rd at 8pm EST for an Ask Me Anything - 26 November 2025
Join us LIVE Dec. 3rd at 8pm EST for an Ask Me Anything event with our OnceLost Games team, developers on The Wayward Realms. Answering your questions is our CEO Ted, Creative Director Victor, Technical Director Kai, and Gameplay Director Michael. Bring your questions, join us on Twitch and if you miss us LIVE- don’t worry- this event is coming to you as our next Wayward Radio episode Dec. 30th We look forward to chatting with you. Talk soon!
- An Honest Update: Setbacks, Solutions & What’s Coming - 17 October 2025
This isn’t the DevLog you were expecting, but you won’t want to miss it… watch now @
- A Message To Our Community - 18 August 2025
We want to extend our heartfelt thanks for the outpouring of love and support for Julian and his family in his final days. We know many of you have questions.
- Former Bethesda developer Julian LeFay, known as the 'Father of The Elder Scrolls', has died - 23 July 2025
Developer Julian LeFay, a key cog in the early days of Bethesda and the development of classic Elder Scrolls RPGs Arena and Daggerfall , has died. His passing was announced by OnceLost Games, the studio he co-founded in 2019, and follows a years-long battle with cancer. LeFay stepped away from his most recent development post as technical director at OnceLost, where he'd been working on Daggerfall-inspired RPG The Wayward Realms alongside fellow Bethesda veteran Ted Peterson, last week. OnceLost revealed at the time that this was due to his cancer worsening, writing that LeFay's doctors had informed them "his time with us is limited". Read more
- Production Progress Update - 30 April 2025
The team has been continuing to work hard on bringing Early Access of The Wayward Realms! We know you’re ready to see more; thanks for your patience as we continue our work. Here’s a mini progress check-in so you can see what we’ve been up to! ✅ Thanks for your continued support and love!
- Production Progress - 19 December 2024
⚔️ Greetings, Adventurers! We’re thrilled to bring you the latest news from the world of "The Wayward Realms"! Your unwavering support fuels our journey, and we’re eager to share the magic we’ve been crafting behind the scenes. Over the past few months, our team has been diving deep into the realms, bringing to life the epic landscapes and thrilling adventures that await you. While there’s still much to explore and create, we’re excited to give you a peek into our progress! As we march towards an incredible New Year, we’re more committed than ever to delivering an unforgettable experience. Thank you for being a part of this grand adventure. Stay tuned for more updates Keep your swords sharp and your spells ready ✨
- 🎉 You Crushed The Goal! 🚀 - 28 June 2024
🎉 You Crushed The Goal! 🚀 Traps going wrong...or right? 🌟 We've soared past our Kickstarter goal, thanks to your amazing contributions. With less than 24 hours left, be sure to make your pledge or upgrade now so you don’t miss out! 👉 Pledge Now: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/oncelostgames/the-wayward-realms/ 🔮 So what’s next? The real journey begins now! Once Lost is revving up to dive deeper and work harder than ever before. Stay tuned for an exclusive roadmap outlining our upcoming year of development—it's a chapter we're eager to share with you all! 🛤️ As we navigate through this creative odyssey, expect changes and updates along the way. We'll keep you in the loop across our social channels and Kickstarter platform (in the updates section). 📜 Keep an eye out for upcoming messages/surveys tailored for your rewards—discord role, portraits, statues, NPCs, Malus ect.! (We…
- 🌟 IT’S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN! DA NA NUN NA! 🎶 - 27 June 2024
🌟 As we approach the final hours of our Kickstarter campaign, we're filled with immense gratitude for your unwavering support. Your belief in us not only forms a community around a shared passion but also instills in us a profound sense of trust and responsibility. 🙏 Your support touches us deeply, and we express our sincerest thanks from the core of our hearts. ⏳ With approximately 47 hours left in our campaign, let's unite for one last powerful surge together. Tag your friends, share our journey far and wide—your actions speak volumes and mean the world to us! Pledge now @ https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/oncelostgames/the-wayward-realms/ This journey is just the dawn of something extraordinary. We are bursting with excitement to craft a game that resonates with each of you, a creation you can proudly say you were a part of from its inception. 🌌 Let your adventures unfold, let…
- Week 3 Results of Kickstarter! - 20 June 2024
🚀 Week 3 Triumphs Unveiled! 🎉 🌟 Pledge now @ https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/oncelostgames/the-wayward-realms/ After an exhilarating 3 weeks on Kickstarter, we've soared to an astounding 114% funded—simply INCREDIBLE! 🌠A heartfelt THANK YOU to our incredible supporters! Special shoutout to Jordan McLeod, Morus the Sorcerer, & our anonymous supporter who shared their heartfelt thoughts on The Wayward Realms & what it means for them/why they chose to support the project! ⏳ Time's ticking! Only 8 days left! Don't let this opportunity slip by—join us in shaping a legendary journey, securing Early Access, and unlocking a treasure trove of exclusive rewards! 💎 🔮 Pledge now @ https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/oncelostgames/the-wayward-realms/
- 🎉 WE DID IT! 🚀 $500K FUNDED - 11 June 2024
🎉 WE DID IT! 🚀 We’ve reached our goal of $500,000 in only 12 days!!! 💰 Incredible! THANK YOU SO MUCH! 🙌 Here’s a letter from Ted Peterson, our CEO & Creative Director of Once Lost Games, to thank all of you! ✉️ AND it doesn’t stop here either! We still have 17 days left to raise funds and plenty of interesting stretch goals for the project. 💫 Check it out @ https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/oncelostgames/the-wayward-realms/
- Ex Elder Scrolls devs show new gameplay of Daggerfall inspired RPG - 2 June 2024
The Wayward Realms is quite the concept for an RPG. Pages of pre-written lore underpin a procedurally generated world with no main quest, where a blend of handcrafted experiences and random encounters morph into one experience. It even comes from Elder Scrolls royalty that worked on Daggerfall. If that sounds like it's right up your street, our first proper extended look at gameplay is here, alongside the launch of a Kickstarter campaign. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Ex Elder Scrolls devs are making a huge spiritual sequel to Daggerfall Former Elder Scrolls devs drop update on their huge new RPG game How Elder Scrolls-like The Wayward Realms will change RPG games
- Ex Elder Scrolls devs are making a huge spiritual sequel to Daggerfall - 23 April 2024
It's been 13 years since Skyrim . Likewise, The Elder Scrolls 6 likely won't be here for a while, as our next tour of Tamriel waits in line behind Starfield Shattered Space and who knows what else that Bethesda has up its metaphorical sleeve. The land of jarls, Spriggans, and Septims may feel far away right now, but some legends never die. Led by two developers from the original Elder Scrolls Arena, a sprawling new RPG serves as a spiritual successor to the widely beloved Daggerfall. Coming soon to Kickstarter, PCGamesN gets an exclusive look behind the scenes. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Former Elder Scrolls devs drop update on their huge new RPG game How Elder Scrolls-like The Wayward Realms will change RPG games Elder Scrolls devs' RPG The Wayward Realms is seeking funding
- Former Elder Scrolls devs drop update on their huge new RPG game - 4 March 2024
Multiple Elder Scrolls veterans are making their own procedurally-generated RPG game in the style of Daggerfall, and the project has just had a big update with the promise of a Kickstarter. Called The Wayward Realms, over 100 islands will be procedurally generated in the game, with a virtual DnD-like Game Master guiding the world and characters as they respond to your actions. The team at OnceLost Games is shooting for an entirely new kind of experience: the Grand RPG. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: How Elder Scrolls-like The Wayward Realms will change RPG games Elder Scrolls devs' RPG The Wayward Realms is seeking funding Elder Scrolls-like The Wayward Realms is a 'seamless' open-world RPG
- Elder Scrolls devs' RPG The Wayward Realms is seeking funding - 14 May 2022
When we first heard about The Wayward Realms last year , we reckoned that investors and publishers would be clambering over each other to get a piece of that action. Surely even the suits in their glass-and-steel towers can see that a spiritual successor to The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall with a huge systems-based world is a wonderful idea? Apparently, however, it's not quite so easy to find funding for an RPG game , as The Wayward Realms is still seeking investors to truly get the project off the ground. In our chat with the fantasy game 's technical director, Julian Le Fay, he told us that "the big issue with the game is the fact that it still lacks funding, it certainly doesn't lack volunteers and people enthusiastic about it... but with volunteers, you can't just be like 'OK, I need you to do this and finish that by Wednesday' or whatever so it becomes a little more complicated to…
- Elder Scrolls-like The Wayward Realms is a 'seamless' open-world RPG - 12 May 2022
If you've had your ear to the hallowed ground of RPGs , you've probably heard distant rumblings of a game called The Wayward Realms . Developed by a bunch of former Bethesda developers at OnceLost Games, it's shaping up to be something of a spiritual successor to The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, taking place on a vast archipelago with hundreds of islands and thousands of cities thanks to an algorithm capable of generating unique locations based on myriad social, political, and geographical factors. Thanks to our chat with the game's Technical Director Julian Le Fay, we now also know that, all going well, the unfathomably huge world will be seamless - no zoning or that strange disconnect between indoors and outdoors we know so well from the Elder Scrolls series. "The goal is seamlessness throughout," Le Fay tells us. "The immersion is important. We have to have things like fast travel,…
- Former Elder Scrolls devs' RPG The Wayward Realms gets a spooky, Skyrim-like trailer - 23 January 2022
Open-world fantasy game The Wayward Realms is an upcoming "grand RPG" from several of the developers behind The Elder Scrolls series. Now, OnceLost Games has released a creepy new trailer that conjures at atmosphere somewhat reminiscent of fantasy greats like Skyrim - or perhaps even The Lord of the Rings. It's been over ten years since Skyrim and there's still no real sign that The Elder Scrolls VI will be out anytime soon - so now's the perfect time for The Wayward Realms, a more Daggerfall-like fantasy RPG with a massive procedurally-generated world, from several of the original developers behind the first two The Elder Scrolls games. It's been over five months since the first teaser trailer and now developer OnceLost has a new, creepier glimpse at the RPG with the "Lullaby" trailer below. It's a little bit like a spookier version of the Skyrim teaser , or even Amazon's recent Lord o…
- The Wayward Realms, the RPG from former Elder Scrolls devs, is 'several more years' away - 3 August 2021
OnceLost Games, the studio formed by former lead developers of the original Elder Scrolls games, has announced its new RPG: The Wayward Realms . The singleplayer RPG is set in an open world consisting of over 100 islands called The Archipelago "where scores of factions vie for influence and power." Players won't be bound to specific character classes but can make their own with "customized skills and abilities" and the world will react differently to "a socializing aristocrat, a thief entrenched in underworld conspiracies, a scholar collecting ancient artifacts, or whatever role you craft for yourself.".. Read more.
