Bellwright brings its medieval town-building rebellion to consoles

Donkey Crew and Snail Games have released Bellwright for Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. The medieval open-world survival RPG is available today. It makes the jump to consoles after spending the last two years in Steam Early Access.

The premise puts you in the shoes of an exile framed for a prince's murder. After surviving an assassination attempt, you find a contract that suggests the framing was part of a larger conspiracy. You return to the kingdom of Karvenia to uncover the truth, build a resistance, and lead a revolt against the tyrannical Mad Queen.

Middle management with swords

Most medieval RPGs focus on a single protagonist swinging a sword at bandits. Bellwright scales things up into a full settlement simulator. You start by gathering basic resources, hunting for food, and chopping wood to survive. That small camp eventually grows into a fortified village with specialized buildings, supply chains, and defenses.

The mechanics lean heavily into community management. You liberate villages from the Crown's control and recruit locals to your cause. Each follower has unique knowledge and skills. You assign them specific jobs, and these NPCs automate tasks like farming, crafting, and resource gathering to keep the settlement running.

As your rebellion grows, the game shifts from small survival skirmishes to large-scale tactical warfare. You equip your recruits with weapons and armor, organize them into formations, and command them on the battlefield. Combat relies on a directional skill-based system. Players choose from historical weapons like swords, axes, heavy mauls, polearms, and bows. You have to actively manage your own swings and blocks while simultaneously directing your troops to outmaneuver the Royal Army.

Catching up to PC

The console launch includes all the major content updates Donkey Crew released during the PC Early Access period. That includes the Halmare Isles map expansion, which adds over 10 square kilometers of new territory to explore. The console version also launches with the game's loyalty and faction systems, new story-based quests with multiple progression lines, and expanded equipment tiers.

Donkey Crew optimized the controls for gamepads to handle the complex menus required for town management. Strategy games with heavy UI elements often struggle on a television screen, so the developers reworked the interface specifically for controller inputs to make the base building accessible from a couch.

You can play the entire campaign alone or in co-op with friends. The Xbox version supports Play Anywhere. A digital purchase through the Microsoft Store includes both the console and PC versions with cross-save compatibility. This lets players jump between platforms without losing their settlement progress.

Games that try to combine survival crafting, city-building, and tactical army command usually collapse under their own weight. The fact that Bellwright managed to sell a million copies during its Early Access run suggests Donkey Crew found a way to make the transition from chopping wood to commanding armies actually work.