NetEase and Everstone Studio's sprawling Wuxia open-world RPG is slowing down to smell the tea leaves. Where Winds Meet Version 1.8, titled "Companions Make Home," goes live today, June 25, 2026, across all platforms - iOS, Android, PC and PS5 - and it is free for every player. After months of combat-heavy patches, this is the game's biggest lifestyle update since launch, trading sword duels for homesteading, pet-raising and a little quiet world-building.
Rebuild Blissful Retreat
The centerpiece is the new Homestead system. Players are called back to the serene lands of Qinghe to restore "Blissful Retreat," the ruined village where their character grew up. It is a full management layer: recruit local villagers as estate workers, then build inns, rebuild porcelain kilns, brew wine, farm crops and trade goods to gradually bring the settlement back to life. For a game that has leaned hard on martial-arts spectacle, it is a deliberate change of pace - a place to log in and tinker rather than fight.
Dynamic pets join the journey
Version 1.8 also introduces interactive pet companions. Three cats - Maverick, Scar and Pudding - debut on day one, with Goldie the goose arriving in week two. These aren't static cosmetics: the animals react to weather changes and world events, can be dressed up, and follow players around the world, adding a layer of warmth to the open world that the game hasn't really had before.
Two new modes for the fighters
Lifestyle content is the headline, but combat players aren't left out. The Martial Path Domain opens to players Level 60 and above - a 20-floor gauntlet of escalating difficulty that pays out valuable materials and currency for those who can climb it. Launching the same day is Tomb Raiders, a casual PvPvE mode where players earn event points redeemable for high-value rewards, including a rare purple mount.
It is a smart, well-rounded drop. Where Winds Meet has built its reputation on flashy martial-arts combat and a gorgeous tenth-century-China setting, but live-service longevity tends to come from the cozy stuff - the home you decorate, the pets you fuss over, the daily routines that keep you coming back. Version 1.8 leans into exactly that, and the fact that it all lands free, cross-platform and on the same day for phones and PC alike makes it one of the more generous mid-cycle updates the genre has seen this summer.
