With Where Winds Meet finally launching in the West, many players are now discovering a world that Chinese players have already been exploring for nearly a year. What we’re getting today is only the beginning. The Chinese version has been receiving massive free updates almost every month, and these additions give us a clear picture of what the global version may look like in the near future.
As someone who enjoys digging into long-term content roadmaps, I took some time to look through gameplay recordings and patch notes from the Chinese release. What I found is a surprisingly ambitious schedule of new regions, weapons, mounts, events, and system updates—many of which could easily pass for full expansions in other open-world RPGs. Below is a breakdown of the most important content already available overseas and what it might mean for our version moving forward.
The Opening of the Kaifeng Region and Story Progression
In the global version, many players have noticed that the final fireplace in the Kaifeng map cannot yet be accessed. You also get a level countdown when crossing the bridge, blocking further exploration. In the original release, Kaifeng opened about two weeks after launch, letting players dive into a huge new region filled with side stories, new bosses, and expanded main quests.
The footage from the Chinese community shows that Kaifeng wasn’t treated as a minor patch; it added real story progression and multiple new points of interest. If the global schedule follows a similar pattern—but potentially accelerated—we may not have to wait long before the area becomes available.
For players trying to stay ahead of progression, certain services have already become popular in the broader community, such as Where Winds Meet boosting, which some players use to speed up leveling or unlock later content more quickly. Even so, with the pace of updates expected to ramp up for global servers, many players may find themselves reaching new areas faster than anticipated.
Festival Events and the Arrival of Seasonal Content
Early in the Chinese release cycle, players received their first major holiday event with the Lunar New Year update. This patch introduced a lively firework festival, complete with platforming mini-games, shrinking mechanics, and event-exclusive bosses that have not yet appeared in the West.
Seasonal events like this help keep the game world feeling active and give players something fun to return to between story updates. Based on the Chinese timeline, there’s a high chance the global servers will receive their own version of this event around January, potentially slightly earlier to sync with the worldwide holiday season.
Mount Variety Continues to Grow
Where Winds Meet already features some pretty unusual mounts, but the Chinese version takes it several steps further. Players can ride a donkey, a giant cat, a camel caravan, and even a mount where you’re literally being chased by a leopard.
These aren’t simple cosmetic additions. Several mounts come with upgraded forms or movement abilities, and many are tied directly to the new regions introduced throughout the year. It’s clear that the developers want traversal to be part of the game’s personality rather than just a means of getting from point A to point B.
Players watching upcoming updates closely might also notice that some overseas communities discuss deals or services related to rare mounts at a Where Winds Meet boosting cheap price, though this depends heavily on server culture and shouldn’t be necessary for regular players who prefer to unlock everything themselves.
Hexi: A Massive Desert Expansion Packed With Activities
Three months after launch, Chinese players gained access to Hexi, a large desert region that completely changes the game’s atmosphere. It features sand-filled landscapes, new enemy types, camel mounts, board mini-games, and multiple boss encounters tied into the region’s lore.
Exploration tools also expand here. A purple sandfish mount helps players glide through the dunes, making traversal feel fresh and more dynamic than in the original two launch regions. Based on the scale of Hexi, it functions almost like a full DLC, except it’s entirely free.
This is also the stage at which many players began relying on community marketplaces such as U4GM to share resource tips, trading strategies, or general progression advice in preparation for the new region’s challenges.
Langshou: A Snowy Realm Connected Directly to the Desert
Following the desert update, players were surprised when the next region—Langshou—arrived just one and a half months later. Instead of teleporting to a new biome, the world transitions seamlessly from hot dunes into icy cliffs and floating lunar platforms. A new bird-like Wayfarer NPC helps reveal the map, and the region includes a massive new boss battle that had been promoted ahead of release.
This update marked a turning point in the game’s tone. The environments became more magical and stylized, showing how the world might evolve as future regions push more heavily into fantasy themes.
Grasslands and Beyond: A Calmer but Still Expansive Area
As Hexi’s content cycle wrapped up in August, players entered another new region—vast, gentle grasslands filled with serene views and puzzle-style cat challenges. This area seems designed to give players a break from the intense boss fights and environmental hazards of previous zones, though it still includes its own mysteries and rewards.
New Weapons: Gauntlets, Horizontal Swords, and More
Weapon variety in Where Winds Meet is already strong, but the Chinese version goes even further with completely new weapon types. Two major additions stand out:
Horizontal Sword – fast, combo-based, and stylish, introduced around July
Gauntlets – powerful close-range weapons reminiscent of certain punch-based heroes from other games
The gauntlets in particular have made a strong impression, offering punch-heavy animations, cinematic finishers, and surprisingly effective AoE attacks, especially when combined with the new rope dart variant.
These additions open up new ways to approach combat, and if they follow the same release pattern globally, players may see the horizontal sword early in the new year and the gauntlets shortly after.
Mechanical Regions and the Big 2.0 Update
The September update introduced a more technologically advanced region with mechanical enemies, new traversal mechanics, barrel-throwing abilities, fresh talents, and even rideable rocking horses. This update shows that the developers aren’t afraid to experiment with genre boundaries, blending martial arts fantasy with a bit of steampunk flair.
It’s also worth noting that the enemy design becomes notably more complex at this stage. Anyone preparing for this content will want to stay updated on combat builds and late-game strategies.
Will Global Servers Stay One Year Behind?
This is the question everyone is asking. Based on developer interviews and update pacing, it seems unlikely that the global version will always be a full year behind. Since all the content already exists and only needs localization, the release schedule might accelerate to catch up partway through 2025.
If we follow the Chinese roadmap—but shortened—we can reasonably expect:
Lunar New Year event in January
Desert region soon after
Snow region mid-year
Mechanical region later in 2025
The global launch has already attracted a huge international audience, so speeding up patches would help maintain momentum and avoid spoiler-heavy gaps between regions.
Where Winds Meet has an incredibly ambitious content pipeline, and what we see now in the West is only a small part of what the game will eventually offer. With multiple massive regions, new weapons, seasonal events, and creative new mechanics already tested in China, the global version is set to grow rapidly over the coming months. Whether you’re focused on exploration, combat, or collectibles, there’s plenty to look forward to as the game expands.
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