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Songs of Glimmerwick opens its magical university on September 30
Seven years after Eastshade, the small independent studio that already preferred painting to swords is back with another distinctly nonviolent idea. Songs of Glimmerwick launches for PC via Steam on September 30, 2026, turning music into the primary magical tool of its world.
By Maëlle Songs of Glimmerwick 
A magic school where the wand is optional
Songs of Glimmerwick takes place on a wooded island home to a renowned university of magic. Players become a new student attending classes, meeting fellow students and townsfolk, taking part in activities and gradually investigating the mysteries surrounding the island.
Glimmerwick's defining idea is musical magic. The protagonist carries a flute and songbook, with different songs producing effects in the world. Music can be used to communicate with trees, enchant tools or alter terrain to overcome natural obstacles and reach new areas.
Eastshade Studios describes the game as a peaceful, story-driven RPG rather than an adventure built around combat. That continues a philosophy already visible in Eastshade: creating a place worth spending time in without turning every encounter into an excuse to draw a weapon.
Classes, gardening and island life
University life extends well beyond lessons. The school's garden is a significant activity, allowing players to grow ordinary and magical plants while using songs to make certain jobs easier, including summoning rain for the crops.
Character progression offers skills that can improve gardening and trading or unlock stranger abilities. Eastshade Studios specifically mentions learning to speak with frogs, a skill whose academic value may be debatable but whose diplomatic potential seems difficult to dispute.
The protagonist's appearance is customizable as well. Outside class, the island offers activities including exploration, seashell diving, forest expeditions and moth racing. Seasons, festivals and local events are designed to give the school year its rhythm.
A world that keeps moving without the player
Eastshade Studios has devoted part of development to NPC schedules. Students, university staff and townsfolk follow routines that move them through the world according to the time of day and their activities.
The approach continues one of the previous game's central ideas: treating the environment as an inhabited place rather than a collection of points of interest waiting for the player. Songs of Glimmerwick combines that structure with narrative quests, rumors, relationships and a main story involving the island's fading source of magic.
Dialogue is fully voiced in English. Steam also confirms interface and subtitle support for multiple languages, including French, German, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish and Russian.
The PC release is set for September 30
Eastshade Studios announced the date on August 13, and the Steam page continues to list September 30, 2026. At the time of verification, Steam still marks the game as upcoming, so its release is scheduled for today rather than being described as already available before the store unlock.
Eastshade Studios is both developing and publishing Songs of Glimmerwick. PC is the only confirmed platform for this launch. The studio has said it plans to pursue console versions, but it has not confirmed which systems will receive them or when.
A PC demo has been available since April. Anyone wanting to find out whether a musical school of witchcraft belongs on their timetable can therefore already sample it. The full Glimmerwick school year begins on September 30.