Kerbal Space Program 2 is officially happening, as was revealed yesterday during Gamescom 2019’s Opening Night Live event. While we don’t yet have a concrete release date, a good amount of initial details have made it out there.
The sequel brings plenty of new things for space enthusiasts to lose themselves in and we’ve gathered them all in one place. Here’s everything we know about Kerbal Space Program 2, including details about release date, gameplay, microtransactions and multiplayer
Kerbal Space Program 2 Release Date
At the time of its Gamescom 2019 announcement, Kerbal Space Program 2 release date wasn’t revealed, leaving eager players wondering.
Publisher Private Division’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive, initially revealed that Kerbal Space Program 2 was intended to arrive on PC, Xbox One, and PS4 during its fiscal year 2021, which started on April 1, 2020, and ends on March 31, 2021.
That, however, was no longer the case due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The development team issued an update on Twitter revealing that Kerbal Space Program 2’s release date was then slated for sometime in fall 2021, before it was postponed even further.
As of May 2022, Kerbal Space Program 2’s release date is slated for early 2023 on PC, its console version following later.
Kerbal Space Program 2 Story
Just like its predecessor, Kerbal Space Program 2 won’t focus on a pre-built story with fixed protagonists and a set path towards any given goal.
Instead, players create their own stories from the adventures (and misadventures) that are bound to come with exploring and settling new planets. A poor calculation here, a badly placed engine there, and many dead astronauts eventually make for a compelling tale.
Kerbal Space Program 2 Gameplay
Kerbal Space Program 2 significantly ups the ante when it comes to gameplay. Not only has it been fully redesigned from the ground up, it will include a hefty number of new features and additions.
New players will be met with improved onboarding that should better ease them into what Kerbal Space Program 2 has to offer. This includes animated tutorials, an improved UI, and fully revamped assembly and flight instructions.
The sequel will feature next-generation technology, including engines, fuel, and parts that can be, more or less haphazardly, attached to each other. These not only refresh its gameplay but make brand new feats, like colonizing planets, possible.
Indeed, one of the biggest features of Kerbal Space Program 2 is the ability to set up your own colonies on the worlds you’ve successfully reached. You’ll deal with various physics challenges on these new worlds as you attempt to build the structures required for your colony to survive, while also managing fuel and resources. The more you build and advance your technology, the closer you get to turning colonies into vehicle production and deep space exploration hubs.
As you’d expect, colonizing planets can’t be done without having access to interstellar travel. Kerbal Space Program 2 will allow players to go outside of the original Kerbolar System and uncover new planets, each with its own challenges to overcome.
Kerbal Space Program 2 Multiplayer
Another new addition to Kerbal Space Program 2 is that of a multiplayer component. Although there’s no specific details on how exactly multiplayer will be implemented, we know that “players will be able to share the challenges of deep space exploration”.
Modding support is also coming to the game. More details about both mods and multiplayer will be shared at a later time. We’ll update this article with every bit of relevant news.
Kerbal Space Program 2 Microtransactions
While talking about microtransactions in a game like Kerbal Space Program 2 might be strange, developer Star Theory Games has actually addressed the matter, likely in the wake of it being a burning issue among gamers nowadays.
At the time, the title was more or less confirmed to not feature any form of in-game currency or loot boxes, its post-launch support following a similar structure to that of the original.
In February 2020, publisher Private Division announced that the development of Kerbal Space Program 2 would be handed over to a newly-founded Seattle-based studio. No further details about the new developer’s stance on microtransactions were shared.
Kerbal Space Program 2 System Requirements
With Kerbal Space Program 2 being just announced, no system requirements have been released at the moment. Its Steam page states that they are “coming soon” and we’ll update this section when we learn more.
Where can you buy Kerbal Space Program 2 and how much does it cost?
At the moment, Kerbal Space Program 2 only has a Steam page live on PC, and even there it can only be followed an wishlisted.
Given how it’s also headed to consoles, you’ll likely be able to buy it on the PlayStation and Microsoft stores closer to launch. Right now, no details regarding its price were revealed.
Kerbal Space Program 2 Cinematic Trailer
Kerbal Space Program 2 was revealed through a surprisingly epic cinematic trailer. While it’s not actual gameplay, the trailer itself does a good job of outlining the new features coming to the game, such as interplanetary travel and colonization.
The music track accompanying the footage is M83’s Outro, which gives an otherwise dorky trailer a sense of grandeur. You can check it out below.
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