diff --git a/RELNOTES.md b/RELNOTES.md
index 9e91e8a..05d97f5 100644
--- a/RELNOTES.md
+++ b/RELNOTES.md
@@ -1,3 +1,31 @@
+# PyLink 1.3-beta1 (2018-04-07)
+The 1.3 update focuses on backporting some commonly requested and useful features from the WIP 2.0 branch. This beta release includes all changes from 1.2.1, plus the following:
+
+#### New features
+- **Backported the launcher from 2.0-alpha2**:
+    - Added support for daemonization via the `--daemon/-d` option. [issue#187](https://github.com/GLolol/PyLink/issues/187)
+    - Added support for shutdown/restart/rehash via the command line. [issue#244](https://github.com/GLolol/PyLink/issues/244)
+    - The launcher now detects and removes stale PID files when `psutil` (an optional dependency) is installed, making restarting from crashes a more streamlined process. [issue#512](https://github.com/GLolol/PyLink/issues/512)
+    - PID file checking is now enabled by default, with the `--check-pid/-c` option retained as a no-op option for compatibility with PyLink <= 1.2
+    - Following 2.0 changes, sending SIGUSR1 to the PyLink daemon now triggers a rehash (along with SIGHUP).
+- Service bot idents, hosts, and realnames can now be configured globally and on a per-network basis. [issue#281](https://github.com/GLolol/PyLink/issues/281)
+- Relay server suffix is now configurable by network (`servers::<netname>::relay_server_suffix` option). [issue#462](https://github.com/GLolol/PyLink/issues/462)
+- Login blocks can now be restricted to specific networks, opered users, and hostmasks. [issue#502](https://github.com/GLolol/PyLink/issues/502)
+- Relay now supports relaying more channel modes, including inspircd blockhighlight +V and exemptchanops +X (the whitelist was synced with 2.0-alpha3)
+
+#### Bug fixes
+- automode: fix errors when managing channels with multiple #'s in its name
+- protocols/p10: fix the `use_hashed_cloaks` option not working correctly (it mistakenly read the value of `use_account_cloaks` instead)
+- relay_clientbot: fix `@#channel` messages being relayed to channels other than the target
+- Fixed sporadic disconnect issues on `BlockingIOError`, `ssl.SSLWantReadError`, and `ssl.SSLWantWriteError`
+- protocols/unreal: fix the wrong hook name being sent when receiving legacy (Unreal 3.2) user introductions
+- global: ignore empty `global:` configuration blocks
+
+#### Misc changes
+- Config loading now uses `yaml.safe_load()` instead of `yaml.load()` so that arbitrary code cannot be executed. [issue#589](https://github.com/GLolol/PyLink/issues/589)
+- Significantly revised example-conf for wording and consistency.
+- protocols/unreal: bumped protocol version to 4017 (no changes needed)
+
 # PyLink 1.2.1
 The "Dancer" release. Changes from 1.2.0:
 
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index cd438c9..2258f21 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.3-dev
+1.3-beta1