Release 139
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RELEASE 139, June 30, 2025
Release 139 went live on June 30, 2025, at 10:30 a.m. CDT. It was the first release under a new Monday deployment schedule and paired that operational change with fire-elemental crafting, decoration fixes, expanded planting options, and another pass over stuck spots across New Britannia. The release was compact, but its change of calendar affected how every later monthly release would reach players.[1]
The official launch notes contain 23 entries across crafting, decoration, world, and quest work. That figure counts published entries rather than individual fixes; it also includes one future-dated seasonal encounter change scheduled for July 16.[1]
At a glance
| Area | What changed |
|---|---|
| Release operations | Monthly releases moved from Thursdays to the last Monday of each release month, with Monday maintenance and minor patches proposed alongside them. |
| Crafting | Fire Elemental essences, discoverable totem recipes, and totems arrived; South Paladis merchants gained a utility-tub recipe. |
| Agriculture and decoration | Red and white grape vines became compatible with all planting beds and pots, while several lights, umbrellas, houses, and decorative objects were corrected. |
| World and quests | Castle Atos binding returned, swamp fog appeared near Spindelskog, and stuck spots were repaired across eight scenes. |
| Community programs | Streaming Bundle inventory limits began receiving stricter enforcement. |
Releases move to Monday
R139 formally moved the monthly release deployment from Thursday to the last Monday of the scheduled release month. The announcement explained that Thursday launches had suited the game's earlier testing years, but Monday deployments left more of the workweek available to respond to production problems.[1]
The accompanying proposed schedule called for weekly Monday server maintenance, minor Monday patches when required, and developer livestreams on the Friday after a release unless a holiday or conflict intervened. The team also described a longer-term goal of quarterly major builds while retaining smaller or critical updates between them.[1]
The quarterly cadence was a plan, not a feature delivered by R139. On launch day, the concrete change was the move to Monday. Hardware modernization and server virtualization were likewise presented as ongoing infrastructure work.
Fire in the crafting tables
Fire Elemental essences, discoverable totem recipes, and finished totems were added. Creature essences were also changed so that their white crafting highlight appeared only at the appropriate crafting table, making it clearer where each material could be used.[1]
South Paladis merchants gained a recipe for a utility tub. Immature and mature red and white grape vines could be crafted into every planting bed and pot, removing restrictions on where vintners could grow them.[1]
Humanoids gained a chance to drop an open grain sack decoration. Spyglasses, umbrellas, bug sprayers, balloons, and flambeaux lost durability and repairability, which better matched their noncombat uses.[1]
Less shine, fewer ghosts, sturdier houses
Metal garden chairs lost nonfunctional dye slots, and beach umbrellas shed their excessive shine. A one-color dyeable umbrella no longer turned into its ornate counterpart when held by a male avatar.[1]
The Geometric Table Lamp received the most spirited repair. Previously it could emit light without a visible flame and continue glowing after being switched off. R139 placed a flame beneath the geometric dome and made the light extinguish properly.[1] The lamp was, in the announcement's words, no longer possessed.
Two-, three-, and four-story Wood and Plaster row houses stopped looking like empty shells at a distance when their front doors were open. This was an early part of the housing and LOD work that continued in Release 140.[1]
World repairs and useful fog
Mistrendur gained swamp fog near Spindelskog. On Novia, a shoreline location south of Jaanaford was corrected so players logging out there would not sometimes return outside the playable area.[1]
Stuck spots were repaired in Blood River and Blood River Massacre, Elysium Mines, the Isle of Storms, the Necropolis, Nightshade Pass, Obsidian Panopticon, and Xenos. Coffins, boards, rocks, and even a chain had all made unexpectedly effective prisons; the pass made them less so.[1]
Castle Atos restored the ability to bind through its town crier. Some local merchants also stopped displaying both a generic profession and a specific name at the same time.[1]
The launch notes announced that the Luminous Atavist would retreat and Pumpkin Head would return to Drachvald on July 16.[1] Because that handoff was scheduled after launch day, it is recorded as an announced seasonal change rather than something already active on June 30.
Streamer bundle limits
R139 tightened enforcement around Streaming Bundles. Participating streamers were expected to hold no more than 50 staff-provided giveaway bundles and were not permitted to open those bundles themselves. Accounts above the limit would not receive more until their inventories were reduced.[1]
The announcement distinguished those staff-provided bundles from bundles a streamer might win from another participant: won bundles were to be opened when delivered. Some accounts reportedly held more than 400 bundles, which prompted the renewed inventory rules.[1]
Principles, Chaos, and release rewards
Lord British's birthday promotion offered standing banners and wall flags themed around the Principles and Chaos with qualifying COTO packs claimed from June 30 through July 11. The announcement described them as time-limited promotional rewards; those historical terms do not imply current availability.[1]
Subscribers logging in during R139 received an Early Summer Apple Tree, a Lord British Wall Flag, and a Black Fireplace Tool Set. Every account logging in during July received six each of Green, Yellow, and Rainbow Sparklers, plus six slices of Lord British Birthday Cake.[1]
The post-release community livestream was scheduled for July 11. The same June 30–July 11 period included announced Crown Store, COTO, deed-upgrade, and POT-upgrade discounts.[1] These event and promotion dates are preserved as release history.
What returning players should know
- Monthly release deployments moved to the last Monday of the month beginning with R139.
- Quarterly major builds were a longer-term proposal, not a completed R139 change.
- Fire Elemental essences and totem crafting entered the game.
- All planting beds and pots can accept immature and mature red and white grape vines.
- Castle Atos's town crier can bind players again.
- The Pumpkin Head seasonal handoff was scheduled for July 16, after launch day.
R139 by the numbers
| Number | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 23 | Entries in the two official patch-note sections |
| 11 | Crafting, decoration, gear, and inventory entries |
| 12 | World and quest entries, including one change scheduled for July 16 |
| 50 | Maximum staff-provided Streaming Bundles expected in a participating streamer's inventory |
Research boundary
The official launch announcement is the completeness baseline for R139. The July 16 seasonal change is labeled as future-dated, and builds released on June 30 after launch and July 12 are not folded into this article.[2]