Digital Sun (the indie developer behind the cult-favorite Moonlighter series) and 11 Bit Studios (the publisher of several hit indie titles like The Thaumaturge, Indika, Frostpunk 2, and Creatures of Ava) have announced that Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault is finally leaving early access.

Version 1.0 of Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault will be launching on September 2, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.

To celebrate the occasion, Digital Sun and 11 Bit Studios are giving away the first Moonlighter game for free to keep forever via Steam between August 5, 2026, and August 9, 2026.

For those unaware, the Moonlighter series is a top-down, action-RPG with roguelite elements where you live the life of an adventurer-shopkeeper named Will.

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The gameplay loop of this series revolves around exploring dangerous dungeons filled to the brim with ancient treasure guarded by deadly monsters.

You then sell whatever loot you find to help maintain your shop's profits while investing in other businesses to help the struggling town of Tresna thrive again and give you access to better equipment to help you survive more challenging dungeons.

We actually covered the Moonlighter series a couple of times at Windows Central. One of my colleagues, Brendan Lowry, reviewed the first Moonlighter, and while he praised it for having a unique premise, excellent presentation, and decent action-RPG gameplay, he felt there was much room for improvement in the story and combat department.

One of my other colleagues, Michael Hoglund, previewed Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault's early access build and mentioned that it was already a massive upgrade from its predecessor.

Dungeon crawling was more rewarding, combat was more varied and intense, and its merchant simulation gameplay has somehow made inventory management, which is usually a tedious task in most games, a fun activity in its own right.

I never played the Moonlighter series before, but with the first game now being free on Steam for a short time, I may give it a shot because the art style looks cute, and the gameplay looks fun while giving me nostalgic memories of classic top-down action-RPGs like The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.

It would certainly be a good time to kill before the sequel leaves early access, while giving me much better appreciation for all the improvements it's made from the first game.

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Alexander Cope is a gaming veteran with over 35 years of experience who primarily covers Xbox and PC gaming news and spotlights discounts on the best laptops, peripherals, and other electronics. He's also a diehard fan of JRPGs, action games, beat em’ ups, and Capcom’s Monster Hunter series