After a long time in open beta, the team at Squad are finally ready to hit the launch pad next week with Kerbal Space Program, a game all about building rockets, exploring the stars and trying to complete missions without unimaginable catastrophes taking place.
If it feels like you've been hearing about Kerbal Space Program for a while now, it's because the game has been available in early access for quite some time now. Squad has been using that time to keep adding content to the base game, gather player feedback and fine-tune any issues that happened to pop up. In a way, the launch of KSP fits perfectly with the theme of the game itself; working through periods of trial and error in order to complete a successful mission.
The announcement was about as simple as it could be, featuring just two sentences and a super short video announcing the addition of female Kerbals to the game.
“We're proud to announce Kerbal Space Program will be released on the 27th of April,” reads the announcement. “Enjoy the first preview video!”
Here is said video:
Short, sweet and to the point. Really, the launch of KSP 1.0 is kind of like the official launch of Gmail, so it makes sense that Squad would keep things low key. Loads of people are already playing the game and chances are pretty good that 1.0 will be a similar iteration to those that have come before it, adding in a few new features and systems while tightening up what is already there. This just means that, as of April 27, Squad will consider the newest version of KSP a complete game and ready for the open market.
For those unfamiliar with the game, Kerbal is a game all about reaching for the stars. Your job is to build a craft capable of traveling to and landing on distant worlds and, considering all of the fun physics and variables at play here, you're just as likely to explode on the runway as make it into orbit. Eventually, you'll gain enough experience and resources to pull off a successful mission. From there, the game opens up wide, offering up loads of challenges for you to undertake with the help of your Kerbal crew and the power of science. This is the kind of game that does STEM fanatics proud.
As for where you can pick the game up for PC come April 27, you'll be able to add it to your Steam library for $30, or you can visit the Squad website for further details. No word yet on if Kerbal will be coming to other platforms, but I for one would be happy to see something like this crash-land on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
