Don't Starve Together Updates in 2025: Hostile Takeover, Winter's Feast, and More

Klei Entertainment kept Don’t Starve Together players well-fed throughout 2025 with a string of meaningful updates. From a climactic new boss fight to a beloved seasonal event, here is everything that arrived in DST this year and what it means for your dedicated server.

Hostile Takeover: The Lunar Questline Concludes

The headliner of 2025 was the Hostile Takeover update, which launched on June 12 for PC. This free content drop brought the long-running “From Beyond” lunar questline to its dramatic conclusion.

Wagstaff, the Cryptic Founder who has been manipulating events across The Constant, finally takes center stage. Players face a brand-new boss encounter that serves as the climax of the entire lunar arc. The fight is demanding, rewards coordination in multiplayer, and drops unique loot that makes it worth revisiting on your server.

Wandering Trader

Hostile Takeover also made the Wandering Trader a permanent fixture. This NPC randomly appears across the map, offering a rotating inventory of resources and gear. His stock refreshes every couple of in-game days, giving players an incentive to explore rather than stay camped at base. On a busy dedicated server, racing friends to find the Trader first adds a fun competitive twist.

Quality-of-Life Improvements

Several smaller but welcome changes shipped alongside the main content:

• Electrocution state now applies to all enemies, adding a new layer to combat strategy.
• Ocean drowning received quality-of-life polish, making seafaring less frustrating.
• Structure alignment options let builders snap objects more precisely.
• New controller schemes offer different presets for gamepad players.

The console release (Xbox and PlayStation) followed shortly after the PC launch, and the Nintendo Switch version received Hostile Takeover Phase 1 as part of the Version 1.19.0 patch in August 2025.

Earlier 2025 Patches

Before Hostile Takeover, Klei shipped multiple hotfixes and balance patches in the first half of 2025. A notable February update addressed server stability issues and tweaked several character abilities. An April update delivered further bug fixes and seasonal content adjustments, keeping the experience polished between major drops.

Winter’s Feast 2025 with Pearl

The year closed out with the Winter’s Feast 2025 event, which began on December 18. This annual celebration focused on Pearl and introduced a generous batch of new content:

• New craftable structures: Tea Shop, Hot Spring, Large Drying Rack, Light Post, Rocking Chair, and the Combriner.
• Pearl’s Place upgrade: A new tier is available after meeting certain conditions, with customizable Wind Charm decoration slots.
• Salt Crystal crafting: New items can be crafted at the Combriner using Salt Crystals.
• Drying Rack improvements: The Drying Rack now produces Fishy Jerky from fish meat and can dry Petals and leafy materials.
• Bath Bombs no longer spoil and can now be used with the new Hot Springs.

The event also included seasonal Winter Foods, craftable Gifts and Gift Wraps, decorations, new skins, and boosted drop rates on Winter-themed cosmetics.

What This Means for Server Hosts

Every 2025 update was free, which means any Don’t Starve Together dedicated server running the latest version has access to all of this content out of the box. The Hostile Takeover boss and Wandering Trader both reward group play, making a persistent server more valuable than ever.

If you have been waiting for the right time to spin up a DST server, the end-of-year content density makes now an excellent moment. With Reactor, you can have a Don’t Starve Together server online in minutes, with automatic updates so your world is always running the latest patch.

Looking Ahead

Klei has not officially announced plans for 2026, but the conclusion of the From Beyond arc suggests that a new content direction may be on the horizon. Whatever comes next, a dedicated server ensures your group is ready to jump in on day one.