PlaySide Studios, alongside Zugalu Entertainment, are proud to announce today that Thrive: Heavy Lies The Crown, the decision-driven medieval fantasy city-builder has launched out of Steam Early Access. Thrive: Heavy Lies The Crown offers players the chance to rule their land however they please, thanks to its impactful decision-making and real-time combat. The 1.0 release date was revealed at this years' Summer Game Fest - Future Game Show Live event on Saturday 7 June 2025. The full 1.0 release incorporates a variety of features and quality-of-life upgrades developed during the game’s Early Access period, including full Steam Achievement support, a new mode to play without narrative and much more.
“From the beginning, we wanted Thrive: Heavy Lies The Crown to be more than just a city-builder—we wanted players to truly feel the weight of their decisions,” said Branden Sloane, Founder of Zugalu Entertainment. “Every choice shapes not just their kingdom, but how their people see them—whether as a benevolent ruler or a tyrant. Seeing the community embrace that and forge their own legacies has been incredible. With 1.0, we can’t wait to see how players rise—or fall—under the weight of the crown.”
Watch the Official Launch Trailer here.
Thrive: Heavy Lies The Crown blends the depth of city-building with high-stakes, real-time combat and decision-making. Player choices dictate how the Kingdom grows, the alliances that are forged, and the enemies that are made. The game offers a single-player experience for solo play or the ability to play in up to four-player multiplayer. But choose wisely – in Nysamor, every choice has consequences, and these consequences can dictate the very fate of the Kingdom.
Major improvements made during Early Access include:
- Visual Facelift: The revamped vegetation system has overhauled the entire visual look and fidelity of the game, with improved lighting, 4K rendering, and texture detail, creating a stunning visual experience. Players can enjoy lush and enhanced visuals without sacrificing performance.
- Your Kingdom, Your Style: New buildings bring further depth of customization with decorative buildings that will make other rulers envious and your loyal subjects happy to live under your rule.
- Expanded Strategic Depth: The introduction of militia units, citizen revolts and smarter AI-driven Wyrmaxa raids improves RTS combat and city defense. You’ll need to adapt and plan for constant enemy attempts for your Throne and add greatly-improved RTS combat and options for defending your city.
- Refined City-Building: New resource management options, road-building improvements, and smarter citizens give players much more control over their Kingdoms.
- New Difficulty Settings: Adding difficulty settings now allows players to tailor their experience to suit their playstyle. Choose Normal for higher starting happiness levels of your citizens, fewer fires, and adjustments to the thresholds of villager needs. For those wanting a challenge, set the difficulty to Hard and be ready to take on all that comes for your crown.
- Stability & Optimization: Numerous bug fixes and performance improvements ensure a smoother experience in 1.0. A full list of the various fixes and stability improvements can be found here on the Steam blogs.
Supporting assets can be found in the press kit here. Wishlist or grab a copy today!