Space MMO ‘Starbase’ To Enter Early Access In May: What To Know

Finnish games developer Frozenbyte is currently working on an open-world MMO space sim that promises unprecedented scale and freedom across a vast, infinitely expanding universe.

“Starbase” is a game that’s focused on building intricate spaceships, sprawling space stations and everything in between. The game uses a combination of voxel and vertex-based building, but it’s less like “Minecraft” and more like “Space Engineers” with its systems.

There’s a deep layer of complexity in “Starbase” that’s perfect for players who love to tinker, and it covers many of the game’s core aspects.

For example, “Starbase” will have automated mining and refining like in “Factorio” or “Satisfactory” that incentivize creative and efficient factory designs. The game will also have an in-game custom ship designer that allows players to create complicated spaceship designs.

Ships in “Starbase” will require core system pieces like thrusters, engines, fuel tanks and reactors, and it’s up to the players to create their own ship layouts based on their preferences.

Building ships and bases aren’t the only things players can do in “Starbase.” Players can form or join other player-made factions and engage in game-wide business like trading, merchandising, mining and more.

This degree of freedom grants immense roleplay possibilities for players who want to form galactic mining corporations, business empires, private armies or anything else people might come up with.

With that being said, the game will also feature seamless FPS combat with a wide variety of handheld weapons like shotguns and assault rifles. Ship combat scales with the size of individual vessels; players can dogfight in fast interceptors and entire crews can work together to pilot a dreadnought-class battleship armed with gun batteries.

Everything in the game is destructible with realistic damage simulation on blocks and building pieces. Laser cutters will cut lines through materials, and bullets that penetrate walls will leave holes behind.

Frozenbyte is targeting a May release date for “Starbase” and will be announcing a final release window by April. The game will launch in Steam Early Access, and those who want to play the game as it releases are encouraged to temper their expectations.