Chucklefish has proudly announced Starbound's upcoming release on July 22, bringing the game out of Steam Early Access and introducing its upcoming 1.0 stable build.
For the uninitiated (and while we're here, why are you not?), Starbound is a 2D scrolling game that features elements from Minecraft and Terraria, only this time, with more focus on deep space exploration. The game creates procedurally generated worlds for players to explore in a vast universe, offering unlimited amounts of sandbox replayability.
The game features mission objectives and side quests as well, with the much-awaited narrative quest chain unlocking once it formally launches, for players who wish to make sense of what they're doing in-game. Ultimately, Starbound is a combination of both worlds: quests and freeform, where players can take on different gameplay lines depending on how they wish to pursue their character's goals.
"Starbound is an extraterrestrial sandbox adventure game in which you take on the role of a character who's just fled from their home planet, only to find themselves lost in space with a damaged ship," reads the description on its Steam page. "Their only option is to beam down to the planet below and begin gathering the resources they need to repair their ship and set off to explore the vast, infinite universe."
There are seven playable races to choose from, a mothership that players can customize, interactive NPCs, a community hub, multiplayer functionality, PvPs, and much, much more! Starbound aims to combine all game features in one playable game with a dedicated community of developers.
"In case you missed it, Starbound is coming out of Early Access on 22 July, 2016," Chucklefish writes in an announcement. "After ~5 years, the game we set out to make finally exists, and to say that it all feels a bit surreal would be a massive understatement!"
This does not mean that developers will stop supporting the game, though, as it only formally releases the game to the public under a stable brand, with future contents to be added once version 1.0 rolls around. Currently the game is retailed at $15 for early access, but a price increase is to be expected once the game "leaves [its] orbit" on July 22, revealed by its Steam Early Access description: "The price will likely change after Early Access!"
Those who wish to play with friends may also opt to buy four copies of the game on Steam for only $45, saving you $15 on that one extra copy.
The upcoming Starbound 1.0 stable build may be viewed below, offering an hour's worth sneak preview into the game:
