The developers of The Legend of Khiimori have shared new details about the game’s upcoming Early Access launch and horse riding systems currently in development. This looks like an interesting premise for a game, so let’s take a look at what’s in store for us.

According to the update, current development priorities focus on performance and optimization, improvements to camera, character, and control systems, and further work on world design to add and refine content. These efforts are aimed at ensuring the game’s core pillars are functional and accessible at the start of Early Access. Those pillars are authentic horse behavior, a believable setting, a vivid open world, and enjoyable gameplay mechanics.

A major focus of the update is a complete rework of horse movement. Horses are described as central to the game’s design, and earlier versions of the custom movement system began to show limitations as development progressed. Playtester feedback highlighted issues with turning, jumping, braking, restrictive movement boundaries, and animation glitches. As a result, the team decided to rebuild large parts of the system from scratch.

The new approach relies more heavily on Unreal Engine’s physics simulation. Both movement controls and animations are being rebuilt, with an emphasis on responsiveness and maintainability. The developers noted that large-scale motion matching systems used in other games were not feasible due to scope and budget constraints, requiring selective compromises.

Once the migration is complete, the new system is expected to deliver smoother riding, more responsive controls, more natural obstacle handling, greater freedom of movement, increased horse variety, and improved performance. The updated system is also intended to support more movement-based challenges for level design, with stronger consequences for player mistakes.

The update also clarifies that the Early Access version of the game will be system-driven rather than story-driven. Instead of a guided narrative, the game will focus on emergent gameplay shaped by player decisions, traversal, survival mechanics, and interactions with the world. Story elements are planned to take a secondary role.

The developers stated that the new systems are still being polished and that player feedback during Early Access will be important for further refinement.

The Legend of Khiimori is scheduled to enter Early Access on Steam on March 3, 2026.