RimWorld: How to Try the 1.7 Unstable Steam Branch

Understand the optional 1.7 test branch

The October 12 announcement offers RimWorld 1.7 on Steam’s unstable branch. It moves the game to Ludeon’s Waylith engine; at that announcement, the main branch remains 1.6. Treat this as an optional test build, and do not assume the developer’s performance measurements will match your PC or mod collection. [1]

Select unstable in Steam

Steps

1. In the Steam library, right-click RimWorld, choose Properties and open Betas. [1]
2. Choose the unstable branch. Restart Steam if the game does not update automatically; if Steam offers a launch choice, choose Play 1.7 Unstable. [1]

Check saves and mod behavior

The developer says 1.6 and 1.7 saves are mutually compatible for this update. Some yellow mod warnings reflect only the new version number, but Ludeon still asks authors to test their mods. If you encounter a bug, the announcement directs reports to the official development Discord. [1]