KSP 2

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Early Access Poster

Kerbal Space Program 2 is a space flight simulation video game developed by Intercept Games and published by Private Division. It is the sequel to 2015's Kerbal Space Program and released in early access on the 24th of February 2023 for Microsoft Windows, with versions for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S coming after the 1.0 version for PC had been released.

Gameplay

This sequel builds on the sandbox features of its predecessor Kerbal Space Program, while at the same time having planned on introducing new propulsion methods (e.g. the Orion drive), habitation modules for building on-surface, orbital and planetary colonies, a multiplayer mode, as well as interstellar travel.

Discoverables

In Kerbal Space Program 2 there are Discoverables which add to the environment and story of the Game. They are KSP 2's version of the Easter Eggs found in Kerbal Space Program 1. All of these discoverables were intentionally placed into the game and are their own unique Biomes with special science points available.

Development

Major features such as Science, Colonies, Interstellar Travel, Resource Gathering and Multiplayer are planned to be added in future updates.

Kerbal Space Program 2 was allegedly developed since 2017, however not much was revealed. KSP 2 was announced at Gamescom 2019 on August 19, with an initial release date set for early 2020. The game was in development by Star Theory Games, formerly Uber Entertainment, which changed its name in order to display a stronger association with the Kerbal Space Program franchise. Development was shifted to Star Theory in part so that Squad or Private Division could focus on developing further updates for the original game. To ensure that the experience felt "grounded", the team consulted a panel of scientists and experts including Dr. Uri Shumlak, the associate chair of the University of Washington's Aeronautics and Astronautics department, Scott Manley, an astrophysicist and prolific Kerbal Space Program YouTuber, and Dr Joel Green, also an astrophysicist. The game also received feedback that the original game was too overwhelming for new players. Therefore, the team aimed to make the game more accessible by introducing more tutorials in order to give more guidance to players to ensure they understand the game's various gameplay systems.

For various reasons, the release date was pushed back to Q3 2021. Take-Two established a new unnamed studio under Private Division to continue development of Kerbal Space Program 2, with some of Star Theory's employees brought into it, leaving it unclear what Star Theory's remaining role on the title was. Later reporting by Bloomberg revealed that Take-Two was in talks to acquire Star Theory but abruptly changed course, set up a new studio to develop the game (Intercept Games), and then poached a third of Star Theory's developers including the creative director and the lead producer. Star Theory closed its doors three months later.

In November 2020, creative director Nate Simpson announced that the release date was delayed again to 2022. In June 2021, it was announced via the game's official Twitter account that the game would also be launching on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2022. In May 2022, Intercept confirmed that KSP 2 had been pushed back to an "early 2023" release date on PC. The console release was delayed even further. KSP 2 Feature Video Episode 6 confirmed the early access release date to be 24th of February 2023.

On launch day, the game was not recieved well, having an overall mixed rating on Steam. Eventually, the situation had improved with the creation of the "For Science!" update on December 19, 2023.

However, this did not last long, as just 6 months after the update, a WARN notice was issued on April 28, 2024, and after 1 tweet, complete radio silence for over a month. This silence had been briefly interrupted by Patch 0.2.2.0 on June 11, 2024, where they removed the Private Division launcher. This made people believe that the KSP IP is being sold to another company, and the layoffs happened on June 28, 2024, where the game is now abandoned.

Reception

KSP 2 had many issues plaguing it at release, including many game-breaking bugs, performance issues, and lack of content compared to KSP 1. These issues caused the game to have a 6/10 rating, and the game had a few patches since then. Eventually, the release of update 0.2 fixed a lot of the complaints and the game shifted to about a 70-80% rating. Currently, Kerbal Space Program 2 has overwhelmingly negative recent reviews and mixed overall reviews on Steam due to the game being review bombed as a warning to future buyers, as the studio behind the game was shutdown.

Updates

Kerbal Space Program 2 received one major update:

• Science Update

It was planned to receive several major updates:

• Colonies Update
• Interstellar Update
• Exploration Update
• Multiplayer Update

Star Systems

KSP 2 would have had interstellar travel, and several star systems to explore, each with numerous planets and moons. These are listed below.

• Kerbol System
• Debdeb System
• Tuun System
• Qeg System

Parts

KSP 2 was planned to have most of the same parts as KSP1, along with a large amount of new parts. Currently implemented new parts include procedural wings and larger members of most part categories. Confirmed planned parts, known from either developer announcements or the game files, include:

• Grid fins
• Procedural radiators
• More science collection parts
• Rotating and inflatable habitat modules
• Numerous colony parts, such as roads, glass domes, power generators, resource factories and vehicle assembly buildings
• Extendable-nozzle engines
• Larger electric and nuclear thermal engines
• Metallic hydrogen engines
• Nuclear pulse engines
• Nuclear saltwater engines
• Fusion engines
• Antimatter engines

Media

Announcement Trailer
Early Access Trailer
Gameplay

Gallery

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