It's time to go to one place that hasn't
been corrupted... SPACE!
Hello my name's GamerZakh and welcome
to my list of 20 upcoming PC space games
in 2020 and 2021. It's important to note
that these aren't games that just have a
space setting, as a strategy game set in
space would be in the Strategy list.
This is more about the experience of living
in that final frontier.
Now, this tends to be a genre of
rough-looking indie gems to never before
seen massive endeavours and we should
have something for everyone today.
There's also a whole bunch of bonus
games after the main list, so watch all the way through.
If you appreciate what you see here please do like, subscribe,
and share the video with other space
enthusiasts,as it really does keep this
channel flying and these videos being
made. Alright, now let's get started!
First up we've got "SpaceBourne" by Burak
Dabak. This is an open space
exploration game with RPG elements in a
world that consists of warring factions.
You choose a side and get ready for
combat, and we can expect the genre
staples of mining, trading, bounty hunting,
pirating, salvaging, and customisation of
ships as you go through the story. Your
character can develop their active and
passive traits, and besides the main
story, space is procedurally generated.
It looks pretty decent, although a little
unrefined at first glance, and being in
early access on Steam since late-2018
it's gotten few but mostly positive reviews.
It had the ambitious goal of fully
releasing by early 2019 but obviously it
missed that, so if we're lucky, the delay
is going to make a much more solid
spacefaring experience for SpaceBourne.
Then we have "Underspace" by Pastaspace
Interactive. Bbattle storms, chase monsters,
trade, mine, and explore the galaxy in a
handcrafted open-world. You'll be able to
customise your ship and shoot your way
to world eating serpents, ancient star cities,
possessed battleships, and various
other adventures, puzzles, and dangers.
This is a smaller project, raising just
over 12,000 dollars on Kickstarter, with
plans of single-player and multiplayer game modes, both with their own unique
campaigns and content, plus modding tools are going to be released. It all sounds
pretty exciting but whether they can
pull it off with that budget remains to
be seen. Now, the original release window is set
for the very end of 2019 but this video
was made a little before that and
there's already some talk of it being
delayed, so I wouldn't be surprised if it
got pushed into 2020, but either way we
can hope the timing is managed well
enough for "Underspace" to actually be
finished when it's released, since
there's no plan for early access.
And then for probably one of the prettiest
games on this list, it's "Everspace 2" by
ROCKFISH Games.
The original game was a beautiful looking single-player
roguelike action space shooter that was
difficult but very satisfying to play.
The sequel seems to be shifting towards
an open-world RPG with a story and
universe to explore and plenty of
thrills, loot, secrets, and perils along
your way to amass wealth and progress
through the narrative. From the trailer,
we can see scenes flying down on planets,
so it's not totally in the void of
space, which is cool. This looks even more
gorgeous than the first game and if it
can just be the same but a little bit
better in every way it should satisfy
fans of space shooters and those looking
for a bit more of an RPG experience.
Though hopefully it's not too samey with
the last one either. Blasting its way
towards a 2021 release, it'll be a bit
longer before we see "Everspace 2" in
action.
And then for a game that we've
been looking at for a couple years now,
it's "Infinity: Battlescape" by I-Novae Studios.
Multiplayer space combat
with up to hundreds of players on a
single server, join a corporate faction
and battle it out in a true-to-scale
procedural solar system including
planets you can fly down to. There's no
single-player content besides sandbox, so if you're looking for an epic campaign or
storyline to follow, you won't really
find that here, but if you're into space
combat and dogfighting then this should
be right up your alley. It looks pretty
good and combat plus graphics are
continuing to be updated, so this should
end up delivering on its promises. Having
launched into early access in 2019 with
very positive receptions on Steam, it's
looking like "Infinity: Battlescape" is off to a
good start with a target for full
release in 2020.
What used to be called "Starfighter Inc.", it's now called "In The Black" by Impeller Studios.
Nuclear-powered space combat inspired by
X-wing and TIE fighter, this one calls
itself a hardcore PvP team-based
multiplayer space shooter. Realism is a
focus here, so if they do it right you
can expect accurate simulations on how
space combat should actually function, so
no fantasy based propulsion, colourful lasers,
inaccurate gravity, or magical
shields. That could be what some people
appreciate but it's also a risk in terms
of keeping the game engaging and not
making it frustrating to play. The
sophisticated interface, plausible world building,
and player progression are
supposed to make sure things still play
smoothly and keep things interesting.
Meanwhile, game modes include arena,
career, simulator for challenges, and
co-op, all while trying to keep things
skill-based. For monetisation, it says
free-to-play but not pay-to-win, so we
can hope things are managed properly
here as "In The Black" goes into beta in
late-2019 for a later on release.
And then for a space game that likes to mix
some genres, its "Interstellar Prime" by
Dreamcatcher Studio. Trying to merge RPG.
RTS. and space simulation elements
together. this is a game set 150 years
in the future where you'll command a starship, navigate and
travel through the solar system, jump
into smaller craft for space dogfights,
and also walk around, build a base on
Mars, and have real-time strategy like
top-down warfare. That sounds like a
lot of things put together and this
doesn't have a huge budget either, so
it's a concern whether all the elements
can be good or whether it's just too
much on one plate. After raising just a
hair over its Kickstarter goal of
$30,000, it's kicking off with an early
access release on Steam at the end of
2019 and we can expect up to two years
of development before "Interstellar Prime"
gets a full release.
Next up we've got "Between The Stars" by
Isolated Games. Captain an interstellar
cruiser and cross the galaxy to save
The Republic. Develop your captain along
your adventures as you make important
decisions, upgrade and customise your ships,
manage your crew, and engage in
intense space combat. The sectors you
traverse are procedurally generated, so
no two playthroughs will be the same and
overall gameplay looks solid. Events and
questing can be heavy on the text though,
so if you're not into that it might be a
bit much, plus there's still some bugs
right now. After entering early access
early-2019. it's been fixing things up
with mostly positive reviews on Steam.
with release roughly scheduled for maybe
after over a year, so 2020 is when "Between The Stars" should be bridging all the gaps.
And then we have some 2D space
games, starting with "Ostronauts" by Blue
Bottle Games. Said to be a noir space
lifestyle sim set in the NEO Scavenger
universe, this one is all about living on
a spaceship in a chaotic universe. Create
your captain, build and customise, your
ship, and keep the resources coming to
stay alive as lots of things are trying
to kill you - sometimes environment;
sometimes debt collectors. The physical
and emotional needs of your crew might
also pose a problem amongst all this.
The aesthetic of the game seems pretty
well thought-out and the gameplay looks
to have depth to it,
plus modding support is planned too, so
the game could have a ton of content if
the community actually enjoys it enough
to stick around. Looking at an early
access release at the end of 2019, we can
hope it gets a good enough start and
build on top of that through 2020,
otherwise "Ostronauts" risks floating away
into the darkness.
And then we have a game that's a little hard to Google, it's
"Delta-V: Rings of Saturn" by Kodera Software.
Resources were discovered in the rings
of Saturn causing a space-age gold rush
in this hard sci-fi top-down mining and
excavation space simulator. Science and
physics are important to this one, trying
to be realistic with how your ship and
the things around it will behave, and
you'll also be upgrading you ship, hiring
crew, and turning a profit. If you're
unsure, there's a demo,
so go ahead and check it out
yourself. This one entered early access
on Steam towards the end of 2019 with an
ambitious goal of full release within
the same year but my intuition says it
won't be fully released until 2020.
If we're lucky, I'm wrong and it'll
actually release soon after this video
but better to be late and good for
"Delta-V".
Next, we have "Cosmoteer" by
Walternate Reality. Design and build small
fighters to giant battleships based on
individual modules, weapons, shields,
engines, and passages for your crew to
efficiently move between stations. The
physics and combat simulations are
pretty epic even in 2D since all the
parts of a ship are destructible, even
breaking apart into multiple pieces in
your quest as a bounty hunter exploring
the galaxy and making riches. Multiplayer
is also available, allowing you to pit
your ship against your friends with up
to 8 players. Mod support is also a
consideration. It's free-to-play now as a
demo since it's going through an alpha
of sorts, getting about one or two
updates a month, but will eventually come
to steam early access. There's no fixed
release window yet though, so it could be
some time longer before we see "Cosmoteer" reach its destination.
For one more 2D game, it's "Nimbatus" by Stray Fawn Studio. The space drone constructor,
an interesting, almost puzzle game of trying to mine through things while facing
unique challenges. The design of your
drone will need to adapt along with your
play style to counter each obstacle you
come across as there won't be a
one-size-fits-all solution. A full story
mode campaign is planned for the full
release but there's also a demo you can
play on the official site if you're
looking for a taste. After an early
access release towards the end of 2018,
it's been a while and development has
been continuing with regular updates and
improvements, earning it mostly positive
reviews on Steam. It's supposed to be in
early access for, quote, "a year or longer",
so it would be reasonable to expect a
2020 completion date for "Nimbatus",
though nothing's confirmed.
Returning to the third dimension, we now
have a "Avorion" by Boxelware.
A procedural sandbox where you build your
own ship out of scalable blocks, fight
epic space battles, explore, mine, trade,
and build your own empire with fleets of
ships in an attempt to save the galaxy
from a mysterious threat. There's also a
dynamic trade system including smuggling
along with mod support and co-op
multiplayer. Now, this has been on Steam
early access since 2017 with very
positive reviews,
so people are liking it but working its
way to being feature complete has been a
bit of a struggle despite the frequent
updates. Hopefully this is the last time
I'll be listing "Avorion" because
release was scheduled for 2019 but they
changed it and it's now set for 2020.
Next we've got "Skywanderers" by Francois
Duret. Building of spaceships and
wandering amongst the procedural stars,
build anything from small star fighters
to massive capital ships. Inspirations
for this game is a bit of "Elite" mixed
with "Minecraft", so the blocky style might
appeal to you or put you off. Besides the
building, there's mining, trading, and
factions where you'll be able to be a
pirate warlord or bounty hunter with
your NPC crew or friends in multiplayer.
However, there was a massive delay in
production of the game, basically pushing
its early access launch on Steam to an
unknown timeframe. Constant updates on
its development give a bit of confidence
that "Skywanderers" might be able to get
back on track and reach a more playable
state soon.
And now for a few games that
focus on base construction, starting with
"Starbase" by Frozen Byte. A hybrid voxel
vertex-based building game where you
design and construct starships and space
stations while exploring an infinitely
expanding universe. You can expect the
usual resource collection, crafting,
trading, and combat but the fully
destructible environment is something
that looks pretty impressive at first
glance and sets it apart. It's also kind
of an MMO, so you're not going to be
alone on this one. It's all a very lofty
and grand goal for a game which can be
very exciting when looking forward to it
but I'd still be cautiously optimistic
with this one. Early access is meant to
start in 2019 with a further one to two
years development time but we're all too
familiar with delays, especially on
ambitious projects. Once it's in early
access, we'll know for sure the state of
"Starbase" and see if it's something we
want to get building in immediately or
if it needs a little room to grow first.
And then we have "Stationeers" by RocketWerkz.
Said to be designed for hardcore
players that want a game that's system-
oriented and lots of complexity, you can
expect detailed construction, atmospheric
systems, dynamic physics, dangerous
environments, deformable voxel terrain,
livestock and farming, factory production
chains, and programmable circuitry, which
you can all do by yourself or in
multiplayer. That's a lot of stuff really.
It's been an early access since the end
of 2017 and people are still enjoying it
with very positive reviews on Steam,
however this is going to be the last
time I list this game even if it's still
in early access next year because
they're already releasing DLC for it... An
unfinished game and they're selling DLC...
so I'm gonna have to start treating it
as released. There's no telling when
"Stationeers" will get an official
completion date but you can get a good
look at it right now anyway if you like
what you see.
Next up we've got "Hellion"
by Zero Gravity. After a century in cryosleep, you find yourself stranded in
humanity's first interstellar colony.
Survive by scavenging derelict ships for
resources, explore the galaxy, and pillage
what you need from other survivors in
this first-person multiplayer space game.
Having been in early access since 2017,
it's been a few years now and
development is noticeably slow, causing
mixed reviews, but a few things have been
completed now. For example, points on the
realistic physics system, salvaging, and
resource gathering, but some key features
are still not implemented.
What's completed or not is listed on the
Steam page, so you can have a look there.
This could eventually become a finished
product but I tend to not hold my breath
when it comes to developments like "Hellion".
Back into some space adventuring,
we've got "Starpoint Gemini 3" by Little Green Men.
Stepping into the shoes of a laid-back
captain, explore an open-world of unique
characters, trading, mining, crafting,
questing, and dogfighting, all while
customising your ship, making money, and
getting famous.
It's got RPG elements like skills,
factions, and separate quest lines to go
down but right now the game has had a
bit of a rocky start.
It entered early access in 2019 to
middling reviews on Steam, mainly to do
with poor writing, acting, and generally
the uninspired story, which is a little
disappointing but it does say that it's
far from finished. Of course there is a
road map, so you can have a closer
inspection on what the upcoming features
are meant to be and if there are things
that would entice you. Planning at
minimum a year in early access, we could
see "Starpoint Gemini 3" complete by 2020
but I would expect it to go into 2021
because it might need a bit more time to
be properly done.
Alright I know this
next entry is gonna cause some mixed
feelings but it's "Squadron 42" by
Cloud Imperium Games. Now I know just a mention of this is going to upset a lot of
people. I read your comments every year
hating on this game and anything to do
with it on the other hand people think I
hate RSI because of me trying to be
neutral, so let me be clear about it in a
purely informational way. It's a space
adventure where you go on missions and
do spacey things like you would expect
to do in a spacey game. It's reportedly
still on track for a 2020 alpha and beta
according to the developers, which means
a 2021 release is feasible. This is not
"Star Citizen" as a reminder, which is
probably even further down the road but
is currently playable in alpha. Will
squadron 42 actually become publicly
playable in 2020?
Maybe, but we'll find out together and
then we can call it what it actually is
or if it gets delayed again I won't list
it again until it's actually playable
for reals. It might be great.
It might not. Either way, you're probably
going to leave a hate comment down below
just because this entry is here, so while
you're at it let me know what you think
I should do to reduce the number of
comments complaining. If I
don't mention it, the other half will
complain, so that's not a solution either.
Quickly moving on, it's "Dual Universe" by
Novaquark.
The civilisation building MMO in a
universe sandbox where you can explore,
build, trade, and conquer. The big selling
point of this life in space is that
everything is running on a single shard,
meaning every player that joins will be
on the same server and everyone can meet
each other and build together.
Customisation in building is also meant
to be super flexible using voxels,
allowing you to construct anything from
single-seater jets to giant space
stations and the intention is that
pretty much anything human is going to
be built by the players including things
like politics, warfare, and maybe even
entire cities. There's a lot of pressure
on the players to make this game work
and that's always a huge risk, though
they have been showing off player
creations recently and it does look
pretty impressive and they have been
making some developments over the last
couple years, so it could turn out to be
something amazing. Personally, I would
expect that there would be a long way to
go before this game is actually
completed as it kind of looks like the
next massive technological endeavor for
space games but they're planning for
beta and a completed release date in
2020, though I wouldn't be surprised if
there were delays into 2021.
And for the final main entry (not including bonus games),
it's "Beyond Good and Evil 2" by
Ubisoft Montpellier. The sequel to the
2003 game, it's been a long time coming.
There's a lot to unpack here but
generally this game has a huge open world that includes locations on planets,
stations, and just in space where you'll
be able to customise your equipment, gear,
and ships throughout your journey and
story. Gameplay looks pretty diverse,
anything from exploring locales to
getting into shootouts to space
dogfights. You can play the game solo and
just recruit people from in-game but
there's also multiplayer if you choose
where you can have others join you on
your space adventures and missions. I
know many have been looking forward to
it for a while now and the hype is huge.
I can only caution that things can
always go wrong and there's no fixed
release window at the time of making
this video, but it's reasonable to expect Beyond Good and Evil 2
by 2021.
Alright, now for the
bonus mentions but if you've made it
this far you probably enjoyed your time
here and it would be greatly appreciated
if you could like, subscribe, share this
video, and ring that bell as it really
does help keep this channel running. Also,
if you really like me, you can support
more directly by using the Humble Bundle
referral link, perusing my gaming merch
store where I design my own products, or
checking out the Patreon, all linked
below along with the Discord community,
Twitch livestreams, and social media accounts
where I create even more content like
drawings, photos, and written articles. But
now here are 15 bonus games in case you
think something was missing from the
list, starting with a reminder that a
space setting alone doesn't mean a game
will be listed here, so for example
"Kerbal Space Program 2" is in the
Simulation list and "Homeworld 3" you'll
find in the Strategy list. And then we
have three games which I listed last
year and they still say they're meant to
release in 2019, so I'm gonna take their
word for it, it's "Astrox Imperium",
"Executive Assault 2", and "Redout: Space Assault".
And then for some longer
developments, we've got "Interstellar Rift"
that's been an early access since 2015.
"Starmade", early access since 2014.
"Starsector", it's been in development for many,
many years.
"Wayward Terran Frontier: Zero Falls", early
access since 2016. Pulsar Lost Colony,
early access 2015. "Empyrion: Galactic
Survival", early access 2015 and still in alpha.
"Osiris: New Dawn", it's been in early
access since 2016 and slow development
has led to mostly negative reviews.
"Angels Fall First", it's been a standalone
development since 2009. And then one on
the horizon, "Stars End", it's in early
access now with a goal for a 2022
release. And do you really need me to
mention "Star Citizen"? It was kick-started
in 2012 and now playable in alpha.
And that's it, 20-plus upcoming space games
that should be releasing through 2020
and some into 2021 depending on their
development. Which ones are you most
excited about? Also, here's something I'd
like to know: What do you think is the
greatest space game of all time? Many of
these are inspired by old classics or
still-running legends,
but if you had to choose one, which would
it be and why? I'd love to know so I can
look for more games like those in the
future for you. Now, if you'd like to see
more upcoming games, check out the other
list on the channel sorted by genre
shown at the top of the video for many
more upcoming PC games or my Gamer
Encounters series where I take a much
more extensive gameplay look at specific
games. Alright, that's all for now, thank
you so much for watching, hope you
enjoyed it and found it useful, and I'll
see you in the next video.
