It’s time to buckle your seatbelt and take to the skies – are you ready, sky pirates?

Explore the game's vibrant world and embark on an epic adventure blending classic JRPG charm with modern gameplay mechanics. Soar through the open skies, assemble your crew of sky pirates, and engage in epic boss battles!

Check out our launch trailer below:
Have you got what it takes to be a captain? Start your journey with Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire – OUT NOW!

Octecto & PQube Teams

Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire is swooping onto Steam, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X|S on October 10th - that's just one week away!

Get ready to assemble a crew of sky pirates and fight your way to victory in strategic turn-based dog fights to prove you have what it takes to be captain.

Eager to take to the open skies? Why not download our Steam demo to shorten the to wait until next week's release!

Until then, make sure to wishlist the game or pre-order the physical edition.

We look forward to flying with you 🛩️

Octecto & PQube Teams

We hope you're enjoying the demo! For those who have already played it, we've added fixes based on your feedback and there's a full list of updates below:

• Fixed an issue that caused text to advance during cutscenes too slow, and also occasionally cut off too quickly. Players can now control the text advance speed
  
• Balanced the combat difficult, especially in earlier stages early on. The combat difficulty has been addressed.
  
• Addressed several issues with character and airjet movement. Airjets now show a small thruster animation when hovering and secondary controls are also an option (Simulation Controls).
  
• Fixed recovery Items being way too low. The basic recovery item is now worth 100 hp.
  
• Adressed the movement inside Glenn's house being too slow. The player now moves quicker in the house and can run outside as default.
  
• Fixed an issue where players were unable to use arts on the final turn against Mira or Leonard. The player is now able to use arts in all battles.
  
• Fixed an issue where the camera is too close and too fast on default. The camera position has now been address to make it further away from the player.

Thank you to all of the players providing feedback as we continue to work on the game.


Octecto & PQube Teams

☁️🏴‍☠️ CALLING ALL SKY PIRATES 🏴‍☠️☁️

Get ready to embark on an exhilarating adventure as Sky Oceans: Wings For Hire swoops onto gaming platforms. In this turn-based odyssey, you’ll captain a crew of sky pirates, engage in thrilling dogfights, and explore the boundless skies.

Demo Available Now! Don’t wait for the full release—try out the demo today! Upgrade your airship, battle rival crews, and uncover hidden secrets.

Mark Your Calendar: 10th October 2024 Set your compass for the official release date. Whether you’re on Steam, PS5, Nintendo Switch, or Xbox Series X|S, prepare for high-flying action!

Fair winds, fellow aviators! 🛩️🌠

In today's update we've taken to the skies to explore some of the regions you'll be visiting in Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire.

Sky Oceans' geography is complex.... The Southern Regions of Sky Oceans consists of four large areas separated by Wind Walls: strong winds that flow like currents, creating a literal wall that goes from the lowest altitude to the highest. Each region has three different layers or floors:

The Basement is the lowest level, touching the surface of the planet. Always engulfed in storms of superheated wind, with lakes of magma flowing through it, the Basement is an inhospitable place to live and has been almost abandoned by the tribes.

The Respite is the middle floor, with mild weather and many habitable islands. Most of Sky Oceans' population is located on this floor.

The Frozen Layer is a land of wind, snow and ice. Located on top of the Respite, the Frozen Layer has been used as a "safe area" where important infrastructure has been protected by the harsh weather conditions and difficulty of access.

Each region has a capital city, usually a port serving as a trade node for all the tribes inhabiting the region. While the population of the Southern Regions is not as high as the Central ones, trade routes going to the north are very important for the rest of Sky Oceans, forcing the Alliance to protect them from Trash Pirates, sending task forces to patrol the most important routes, ensuring that goods, materials and food reaches the most populated areas of the Central Regions.

Glenn's hometown is located in a region called the Green Archipelago, a group of floating island systems formerly famous for their crop and grain production. Changes in the seasons forced tribes to focus more on mining and Aerius extraction, exporting these commodities to other regions. The most important town in the Green Archipelago is the port of Grained'or.

This town was built during the apogee of the Respite's crop production. With large warehouses and a well equipped port, Grained'or used to receive dozens of cargo airships per day, becoming one of the busiest ports in the Southern Regions. Its importance attracted many enemies, thus the Old Order Guild decided to build and maintain their headquarters inside the town. From there, the Order would patrol the trading routes, helping merchants in reaching their destination while maintaining a tense truce with the Alliance forces sent to attack the Trash Pirates.

To the east of the Green Archipelago, beyond the Wind Wall, a new region and capital awaits for the traveler.

Located in the Haven Region, Wiyanya City (or the Cauldron) is very old. It's said that many survivors from the Big Scattering reunited in the Cauldron's main island and from there, once they had recovered and grew in numbers, started colonizing the nearby systems in the Southern Region. Wiyanya is also well known for holding a large festival called the Respite, celebrating a brief period of time during summer when the Wind Walls become less powerful, allowing smaller airships to cross them with less risk.

Protected from the wind by its thick natural walls, the Cauldron is a rock bay in the shape of a large U, with buildings and houses lodged into its inner walls. With the pier area on the frontal inner access, the deep "center" area is dedicated to trade and housing, with a large common area to accommodate large numbers of people that used to arrive during the Respite.All people living in Sky Oceans consider the Cauldron as an important part of their history, even Trash Pirates. Thus, the Cauldron is considered a Neutral City: no battles or fights are allowed inside, or near its island system, a rule followed by even the most unruly pirate.

As we continue our breakdowns of the core mechanics of Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire, it's time to take a look at Combat and how you'll become an unmatched Sky Pirate. Last week we looked at some of the crewmates you'll have at your side, now it is the time we take them into battle!

During your exploration, you'll encounter numerous threats as you zip around in your airjet. With your squad by your side, you can easily switch between up to four members of your party, each equipped with a unique jet.

Take the initiative and fire on hostiles first to gain a surprise attack to engage in Squad Battles. Once the combat begins you'll be able to choose from various actions such as Attack, Special, Evade, Arsenal, and Retreat for each of your squad mates.

Synergise your moves and play to your party's strengths to achieve a decisive victory!

As a true captain of the skies, the most lethal at your disposal is your Airship. In Glenn's case, this is the trusty Nimbus. Acting as a mobile home for you and your crew, the Nimbus isn't just a weapon to be utilised by a haven that needs protection.

Airship combat works using the same basic structure of Squad Battles, but instead of controlling and attacking individual airjets, Pilots are replaced with BATTLE STATIONS of a single Airship. In Airship Battles, players control the Nimbus, and the actions are split by different Battle Stations, each one in charge of one section of the ship including the Bridge, Deck, Gunnery, and Engine.

Once you've mastered the combat systems of both your Airjet and the Nimbus it's time to take on the various enemies that litter the skies.

Take down rival Airjet pilots, entire fleets of Airships, and even hordes of beasts. Plan your squad and arsenal accordingly to ensure you have the right tools for the job.

Master the skies in Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire and stay tuned for next week when we discuss the new lands you'll be exploring.

Welcome to our third deep dive into Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire,

Today we'll be taking a look at some of the characters at the heart of the story. Previously, we explored the various factions and the rich lore leading up to the events of the game.

To kick things off, allow us to introduce the protagonist of Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire...

Glenn comes from a renowned family of explorers who travelled through the Green Archipelago and beyond in search of adventure and fame. Glenn was the new successor in the Windwalker line, and he was trained in the arts and knowledge needed to become an excellent explorer, just as his parents.

However, during their last expedition to an uncharted area of the Basement, the whole Windwalker crew, ship and Glenn’s father were lost in mysterious circumstances. Only his mother, Agnes, was able to return Blossom, but she explained little about what happened. With the pain and sadness for losing his father hidden to most, Glenn has accepted his new future, and strengthened his bond with his friends at Blossom, especially with Fio, who is like a sister to him.

Focused and capable, Fio has only had one goal in her life: to become a pilot. Her adventurous nature and indomitable personality have earned her more than one problem with the Council of Elders, who value her energy but are appalled by her constant adventures.

A childhood friend of Glenn, she maintains a friendly rivalry with Mica. Her ultimate goal is to become the Leader of Blossom's defense squad, training future generations of pilots to help protect Blossom’s people.

Daughter of miners, Mica lost her mother at an early age in an explosion at the Aerius mines. Because of this, Mica came to hate mountains and decided to become a pilot, away from the darkness and dangers of the mines. Her father, Tobar, was relieved to learn this and supported Mica’s decision from the start.

Cheerful and bold, Mica is completely unaware of Ren’s feelings for her, but she usually ends up arguing with him over the most simple things.

Ren comes from a family of farmers. For generations, the Hoss have chosen the quiet and peaceful life of growing crops, vegetables and trees, for the benefit of the whole tribe.

Ren wanted to follow the same path as his mother Amelia and ancestors, until he met Mica. His admiration for her gave way to a secret loving interest, so he decided to pursue a career as a pilot, much to the despair of his family. Without the fighting spirit common to pilots, Ren must struggle with his own insecurities and the feeling of betrayal of his own destiny. Hoping that the Hoss legacy will not be lost, Ren is trying to show his own family (and Mica) that he can become a legendary pilot.

That concludes our look at some of the core characters in Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire, next week we'll be delving into the game's combat mechanics!

We're back with another update, previously we talked about world of the game in our Lore Overview. This time we're diving into the various factions that currently inhabit the skies.

The Alliance wants to take control of all Sky Oceans. This faction is aware of part of the ancient story but lacks deep knowledge from the Age of Splendor. The leaders of the Alliance are basically aristocrats who want to secure their lifestyle and family heritage for eternity. This makes them easily manipulable, since they don’t really care about history, they only care about getting power and perpetuating themselves with it.

The Galaxians have convinced them that with the Trials, they will easily conquer all Sky Oceans, ruling forever. However, the Galaxian's plans are quite different.

This group is the faction that still holds information from the times before the Big Scattering and the Lost History. It is said that Galaxians are direct descendants of artificially engineered humans, optimized to survive in the Void (space). Even though most people don't believe in this, the fact that Galaxians are incredibly talented pilots helps in surrounding them with a mysterious aura, being feared by pirates and allies alike.

Tempted by the prospect of ruling Sky Oceans with ease, the Alliance has granted the Galaxians with enough resources to look for ancient technology that can help them in dominating all Sky Oceans.

Tempted by the prospect of ruling Sky Oceans with ease, the Alliance has granted the Galaxians with enough resources to find the location of the Nexuses.

The scum of the world. Trash Pirates are bandits who attack, kill and enslave weaker tribes, surviving at the expense of others.

They will be recurrent enemies for the Player and used as tools by the Alliance to control and dominate certain areas of the world. Its leader is Lady Dirthfeather.

That concludes the Factions of Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire, join us next week when we look at some of the crewmates you'll meet during your adventure!

As we approach the launch of Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire we're starting a six-week series of updates for you, breaking down some of the lore, characters, and core mechanics at the heart of the game.

In this first update, learn about the events that lead up to your adventure in Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire.

The world of Sky Oceans is fragmented. That is the easy way to describe how its surface looks. Looming all over its atmosphere, at lower or higher altitudes, large patches of land - the flying islands, roam the skies. No one knows the full story of what happened to it. That knowledge has been lost for generations. What the habitants of this place know is that many, many years ago, there was a disaster: the Big Scattering. This violent event shattered the planet's surface, throwing large portions of land toward the skies and forcing mankind to adapt or perish.

Centuries have passed since then. Few humans survived the Scattering, and those who did formed tribes, claiming for them what little usable land they could find.

Life was resumed; focused on surviving and rebuilding, humans soon stopped looking behind. The past was soon, forgotten. The Scattering was now part legend, a starting point for the new generations that came after it. What happened before that was named the lost history.

As the tribes became stronger and larger, there were some who started searching for that lost history. They soon found out that the floating islands were full of ruins from the past, ruins that many times contained a lot of strange and advanced technology.

That was the start of the Scavenging Guilds and the age of the adventurers.

For the inhabitants of Sky Oceans, flying has become almost natural. Generation after generation, people have learned how to build, operate and care for flying machines of different complexity. But resources are very scarce and energy sources hard to obtain. It wasn't until humans learned to refine a rare crystal that air travel was possible: the Aerius.

The Aerius has strange properties. All floating islands and rocks have Aerius veins inside their structure. This is what allows them to float. However, when Aerius is exposed to air is of no use for humans. Once a crystal is separated from the main Aerius vein, it decomposes, losing all anti-gravity properties. Virgin Aerius veins are a scarce but valuable resource, making it a powerful trade commodity.

Mining Aerius is one of the most complex and dangerous tasks tribes must undertake. Exposed to air, Aerius reacts violently, so miners must use inert gasses to saturate the chaffs and avoid catastrophic explosions. Once mined, Aerius is stored in special containers or “batteries”, which then can be used in several ways, such as engines, machinery, mining and propulsion. The bigger the battery, the larger the machine it can power. As refining processes improved, humans could build larger aircrafts until creating the large cargo and battle airships that now cross the Windwalls and make trade between tribes possible.

Without Aerius, life in Sky Oceans would be impossible.

And the rest is history! Uncover more about the the world of Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire when the game releases and in the demo. Stay tuned for next week as we delve into the various factions that occupy the skies.