SpaceCraft is an online, space-exploration-meets-building game set in a galaxy that’s waiting for you to discover its secrets. As it stands, we don’t know a huge amount about what’s in store in SpaceCraft. The reveal trailer shown at the PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted showcase is stunning, though with no in-game footage it’s challenging to grasp what SpaceCraft is all about from the trailer alone. But there’s no denying that its reveal triggers my craving to explore the unknown with its long, panning shots of space.
A lot of the time I find space exploration games to be lacking when it comes to the actual exploration part. Although the thought of pootling along in a little spaceship and being overwhelmed by the vast nothingness of the galaxy is appealing in theory, when you’re spending hours with nothing around you, it can get pretty tedious. Boring, even, once the novelty wears off.
Since SpaceCraft prides itself on the exploration it plans to offer, I have high hopes that its universe will be populated with places for me to land on and spend time properly exploring.
From what we can grasp from SpaceCraft, we’ll need to visit a multitude of planets to harvest resources from and use these to set up bases and design new ships. Between planets, you’ll be able to set up trade routes to keep materials moving and make sure you’ve got whatever you need for the ships you’ll be tasked with designing.
You’ll also be able to trade and sell these resources and parts you craft, which I imagine will be a vital money-making scheme later down the line. It also looks as if you’ll be free to travel around as you please rather than having to follow a structured storyline, which I always think is a plus.
When you are traipsing from planet to planet, you won’t just be left on your lonesome, and unfortunately, the whole thing won’t be as relaxing as it sounds. There are elements of combat in SpaceCraft that you need to be prepared for. Space pirates (ugh, those guys) roam the galaxy too, and if you cross their paths you’ll wish you were well equipped for a scrap. There are three stages to combat: detection, pursuit, and engagement. To trigger a battle, you’ll need to detect enemy ships using a radar, mark them, and then initiate pursuit. SpaceCraft’s developers indicate that these instances can be used as opportunities to leave your mark on the galaxy, but what exactly that means is still unclear.
Despite how little we know, the reveal of SpaceCraft has come with an incredibly broad release. As it stands, it will launch in early access sometime in 2025, but we don’t have a specific date or even a ballpark yet. The fact we haven’t seen any gameplay leads me to believe that we won’t be seeing SpaceCraft come to fruition until at least the middle of next year, but that’s just an assumption.
I’d love to have a gameplay trailer between now and whenever the game does eventually launch so I know what kind of starcruising I’m in for. But I’ll be dreaming up whatever space adventures I can until then, at least.
