What takes a long time finally seems to be good: Kerbal Space Program 2 has already been postponed three times – but now there is finally a specific date for early access.
After the surprise success of Kerbal Space Program, the expectations for the second part were of course high. Accordingly, the anticipation was shaken several times when Private Division and Intercept Games had to announce postponements again and again. But three times should be enough in this regard, because today a concrete release date for the Early Access version was announced.
The successor to the rocket building simulation is scheduled to start on February 24, 2023 on PC via Steam, Epic Games Store and other shops in Early Access; the consoles are initially left out. At the start of this pre-release there should of course be countless new content compared to the predecessor, including hundreds of new and improved parts for the construction of various vehicles and rockets, time-lapse acceleration for improved long-distance flights and greatly improved graphics. A system for planetary atmospheres and terrain should make the title visually particularly impressive.
What else is there? Improved tutorials, a streamlined user interface for new players and more. The entire Kerbal system should already be accessible in early access. Departing from beautiful Kerbin, Kerbals explore the cratered Mun, admire the gigantic green clouds of Jool or discover memorable vistas. The classic locations have been redesigned and now offer more realism and complexity. The latter should represent a special new challenge when choosing the landing site.
By purchasing the early access version, you can also contribute to the further development up to the final full version by giving feedback. After beginning this development phase, Intercept Games will implement several major features over the course of a few months after release. According to official in formation, upcoming features include:
- Next generation technology: Players unlock pioneering technologies that allow them to build larger projects and use new fuels or propulsion systems. These capabilities will allow spacefarers to travel beyond the limits of the original Kerbal system and reach new, uncharted star systems.
- colonies: This function of the successor was often at the top of the wish list of the players. These are thus able to find and mine valuable resources in order to use these materials to set up their own bases on distant celestial bodies or directly in space. Players need power sources, living areas, and vehicle construction sites for their colonies to turn them into low-gravity launch sites that allow for even more ambitious journeys!
- Interstellar Travel: KSP2 offers players new challenges in the form of interstellar travel. Cross the bottomless abyss of interstellar space aboard gigantic fusion-powered ships that can reach incredible speeds. Upon arrival in new star systems, players can then launch landers and rovers to discover and explore planets.
- Multiplayer: Players can work together with friends or compete against each other to explore space together and achieve historical milestones in a space race of their own. The multiplayer mode offers endless possibilities for adventurers, collectors and “unexpected” collisions!
- Modding: Kerbal fans are happy to share the massive amount of mods available for the original game, and Intercept Games plans to make the sequel even more mod-friendly with additional features that support the modding community.
- And more: There will be plenty of general improvements, bug fixes, features and more throughout the Early Access period, so players can look forward to plenty of updates!