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Hawthorn is still in development with no announced release date. Pages state which build they describe · Fact base last reviewed September 13, 2026.
Platform
A plain reading of the store page: what it confirms, what it withholds, and how to use it to get into the game as early as possible.
Last reviewed September 13, 2026
Short answer
Is Hawthorn on Steam?
Yes — the store page is live under app ID 3078150, but the game is not yet purchasable. Steam shows “This game is not yet available on Steam” with a planned release date of To be announced. What you can do today is wishlist it and download the separate Proof-of-Concept Demo.
The store page’s own feature list is the most reliable summary of what the game is promising, because it is written by the developer rather than by press coverage:
Two of these do the heavy lifting for anyone deciding whether to follow the game: small-scale co-op and peaceable or combat conflict resolution. The first tells you the multiplayer is intimate rather than an MMO; the second tells you combat is a choice rather than the spine of the game.
Gameplay overview maps these onto the systems that have actually been shown.
Steam hosts a Hawthorn Proof-of-Concept Demo with its own download button on the store page. The studio is blunt about what it is: “a prototype made at the start of our development journey” that “focuses on the village-building aspect of Hawthorn”. It simulates roughly what the game feels like 15–20 hours into the full experience — which also means it is not the beginning of the game you will eventually play.
The visuals in the demo are explicitly not representative of the final game, and a large amount of content has been added since. The demo was updated with bug fixes and improvements on 29 May 2026.
Full access guide: Hawthorn Demo. Step-by-step: Demo walkthrough.
| Component | Minimum |
|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 64-bit version or newer |
| Processor | Intel Core i5 6400 or AMD Ryzen 5 1400 |
| Memory | 8 GB RAM |
| Graphics | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB or equivalent AMD |
| DirectX | Version 11 |
| Storage | 50 GB available space |
The store page lists English for interface, full audio and subtitles. No other language is supported today. For a game built around dialogue, journal tracking and villager banter, localisation is the most likely place for the studio to expand before launch, but nothing has been announced.
Popular user-defined tags on the store page give a quick read of how players categorise it: RPG, Multiplayer, Life Sim, Sandbox, Building, Fantasy, Exploration, Immersive Sim, Crafting, Choices Matter, PvE, Character Customization, Lore-Rich, Open World, Atmospheric, Action, Realistic, Farming Sim, Adventure and Family Friendly.
The studio also added an AI generated content disclosure to the store page: the game build contains no generative AI content, some early marketing materials used a mix of generative AI and human art, and NEARstudios is actively replacing those. Hawthorn will not ship with generative AI content.
Wishlisting is the single highest-value action if you want to play at launch, because Steam emails you when a date is set. Open the Hawthorn Steam page.
If you want into current builds rather than the demo, that runs through the Village Council supporter tiers, and only tiers that include a Steam key grant playtest access. Demo & playtest access explains the difference.