Where Winds Meet is a free-to-play wuxia open-world action RPG from Everstone Studio, published by NetEase Games. It launched on PC and PS5 in November 2025, reached iOS and Android a month later, and shadow-dropped on Xbox Series X|S in June 2026. All five platforms share one save.
Four things decide whether you start it: what it runs on, what it weighs, how the weapons work, and what the cosmetic shop can sell you. This page answers each in a paragraph, then hands you to the article that goes deep on it. You will not need all four.
Five platforms take Where Winds Meet, and the download is the only real gate
Where Winds Meet is free on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, iOS and Android. Crossplay and cross-progression cover all five, so the platform you pick first is not a commitment.
Storage decides more than your graphics card here. The PC lite client sits around 68 GB, the standard install near 100 GB, and Steam asks you to keep more free than that while a patch unpacks.
Mobile is the exception. The first download is a few gigabytes, then the game pulls regions in the background as you reach them.
The minimum card is older than you expect
A GTX 1060 6 GB or an RX 480 8 GB clears the minimum, next to 16 GB of RAM and an i7-7700K or Ryzen 5 1600. An SSD is strongly advised, and the game is always online.
I took the lite client rather than the full install, and I have not yet hit a region it refused to stream in. What I did hit was a patch day with 40 GB free, which was not enough.
Settings, measured frame rates and the lite-versus-full question go to the PC requirements article. If space is your constraint across several games, our sizes-and-settings roundup is the wider view.
Eight weapon families, and Where Winds Meet lets you carry two
Eight weapon families exist, and you equip two at a time, swapping mid-fight. This is not a class lock, which is the thing most newcomers get wrong on day one.
- Sword — fast, accurate, the default
- Spear — reach and spacing
- Dual Blades — speed and close-range risk
- Mo Blade — heavy, slow, punishing
- Fan — ranged control, the healing and support kit
- Umbrella — aerial attacks and repositioning
- Rope Dart — long-range harassment
- Gauntlets — added with the Hidden Mountain expansion
The Martial Art is what actually changes
The weapon picks your skill buttons, your combo flow and your team role. Each family carries its own Weapon Martial Arts, and that is the real decision, not the model in your hand.
I spent my first evenings on sword and spear before I touched the fan. Nothing punished me for switching, and I lost no progress doing it.
Which one to level first, and which pair holds up in group content, belongs to the weapon guide.
The Where Winds Meet shop sells clothes, and nothing else
The shop sells cosmetics only — outfits, mounts and visual effects. There is no paid stat boost, no paywalled region and no purchasable progression.
The cosmetic gacha is where the money sits. Pity lands at 150 pulls, premium and free banners are counted separately, and the published base rate on an outfit or mount is around 0.04%.
Passes sit beside it: a monthly pass, and a Battle Pass in free, Elite and Premium tiers at $9.99 and $19.99 at the time of writing.
You can finish the game without paying
Every story beat and every region is reachable free. That is the question most people arrive with, and it is the one thing this game is unusually clear about.
I have not bought a single outfit and have never been stopped by that. What I lost was cosmetic, and I noticed it in other players' screenshots rather than in my own runs.
Rates, pity mechanics and whether the pass earns its price go to the gacha breakdown. For how free games pay for themselves in general, read how they actually make money.
Try Where Winds Meet — free on PC, PS5, Xbox and mobile
Free-to-play, one save across all five platforms. The official site lists current client sizes, so check yours before you commit the space.
Try Where Winds Meet →The map is still growing, region by region
Updates arrive expansion-sized rather than patch-sized. Version 2.0, Hidden Mountain, landed on 23 July 2026, and it was not a small drop.
- Four main areas and fourteen subregions
- More than ten new bosses
- Mohist Hill, a joinable sect built around engineering
- Gauntlets, an entirely new weapon category
- Over 2,000 metres of vertical depth on the map
Hexi came earlier: a desert region with a rewind mechanic used for puzzles. Hutuo River is announced and still undated.
Population is not the worry here
NetEase cited 80 million players at the Xbox launch, and Steam concurrents still run in the tens of thousands. Treat any exact figure as a snapshot; the direction is what matters to you.
What is confirmed, what is dated and what is still rumour goes to the upcoming regions article.
Start on the platform you already own, then pick a weapon second
Start where you already have hardware. Cross-progression makes the choice reversible, so beginning on the wrong platform costs you nothing but a download.
1. Choose your platform. All five carry the same save. 2. On PC, take the lite client. Check free space before the patch, not after. 3. Play the prologue on the default sword. Build nothing yet. 4. Add a second weapon once the swap opens. Pick for role, not for looks. 5. Decide about the shop last, once you know you are staying.
Step two is where an evening disappears. A 100 GB install that stalls overnight is an avoidable first impression, and free space is the only thing standing between you and it.
The rest of this silo answers the four questions that come next: what runs it, what to level, what the shop costs, and what is coming.
Client sizes as published at the time of writing. They move with every major patch — check your platform's store page before clearing space.
| Platform | Download size | Shares your save | |
|---|---|---|---|
| PC — lite client | ~68 GB | Yes | |
| PC — standard client | ~100 GB | Yes | |
| PS5 | ~108 GB | Yes | |
| Xbox Series X | S | Not separately published | Yes |
| iOS / Android | A few GB, then streamed | Yes |