Private Division and Intercept Games have revealed that Kerbal Space Program 2 is now available in PC early access for an introductory price of $49.99 on Steam, Epic Games Store, Private Division Store and other digital storefronts.
With hundreds of new and improved parts, an improved on-boarding experience, modernised visuals, vibrant and realistic environments with unprecedented detail, customisable colour schemes for spacecraft, and more, Kerbal Space Program 2, the sequel to the original rocket simulation game that sold over five million units worldwide, ushers in the next generation of space adventure. The second iteration of Kerbal Space Program was created from the ground up to be improved upon throughout time.
The sequel features various possibilities when it comes to vehicular construction. Ir offers over 350 original and improved parts, including procedural wings, new command pods, engines, wheels, cargo parts, and the first of many advanced fuel types: liquid hydrogen. The game now features a new parts size category, paving the way for upcoming interstellar-class parts as it expands. Players can also use the new part colouring tool to customise their creations and truly make them their own.
“Having built a game of such unprecedented technical complexity, we can’t wait to see what new feats of creativity our community will finally achieve,” said Intercept Games creative director Nate Simpson. “We’re looking forward to hearing their direct feedback as we move into the collaborative phase of the game’s development during early access.”
The sequel welcomes a brand-new generation of space explorers with interactive, animated tutorials that teach the basics of rocketry in an immersive and entertaining way. Players can also expect many other improvements including a completely redesigned UI, more user-friendly vehicle assembly tools and new Map View iconography which presents trajectory data with unprecedented clarity.
Time warp now not only gives the player the ability to accelerate time, including while accelerating, an absolute game-changer for long-burn, interplanetary flights. The time warp controls also allow interaction with vehicle systems while paused, giving players the flexibility to issue commands at their leisure when they stop time; these last-second tweaks will prove invaluable when a landing inevitably goes awry!
In addition, Kerbal Space Program 2 offers an enhanced visual and immersive audio experience. All the beloved celestial bodies from the original game have been remade using an all-new terrain system that allows for unprecedented detail and variety – the Kerbolar System is now rich with new points of interest to discover. Sound completes the player’s immersion with rocket SFX sampled directly from real launches and a musical score that changes dynamically based on the flight conditions at hand.
“Early access is just the start of our journey. We will launch multiple big feature updates ultimately culminating in our 1.0 release,” said Private Division Kerbal Space Program 2 franchise director Michael Cook.
After Kerbal Space Program 2 launches in early access, Intercept Games will release multiple innovative features throughout the proceeding months. Some of the highlights to come include:
- Next-Generation Technology: Players will unlock future technologies, allowing them to build at larger scales and use new fuels and propulsion systems. These capabilities will enable players to venture beyond the limits of the original Kerbolar System and into unexplored star systems.
- Colonies: Players will be able to locate and extract valuable resources, then use those materials to build custom bases on distant celestial bodies or in deep space. Colonies not only present their own physics challenge in construction, but these habitations are a necessary stepping stone to furthering deep space exploration and beyond.
- Interstellar Travel: KSP2 will present players with the challenge of interstellar navigation. They must venture across the gulf of interstellar space inside fusion-powered megaships capable of incredible speeds. Upon arrival at new star systems, they will be able to deploy landers and rovers to explore the planets waiting to be discovered.
- Multiplayer: Players will be able to both cooperate and compete with friends to explore space together and achieve historic milestones in their own space race. Multiplayer unlocks endless potential for adventures, completists and “unexpected” vehicle collisions.
- Modding: Kerbal fans are keen to share the plethora of mods available for the original game and Intercept Games plans to make the sequel even more mod-friendly by releasing additional developments aimed to support the modding community.
- And more: There will be plenty of quality-of-life improvements, bug fixes, features and more as the game develops in Early Access, so stay tuned for updates.
Private Division and Intercept Games also announced an official partnership with Logitech G for Kerbal Space Program 2. Players can experience deeper immersion in space flight and enjoy lighting integrations that reflect the various intense states when blasting off by using Logitech G peripherals.
The PlayStation 5 and Xbox X|S versions of the game are planned to release after the PC Early Access period with further details to be announced. Kerbal Space Program 2 is rated E by the ESRB.