MMORPG expert Raph Koster made a name for himself with Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies. His team has been working on the new Stars Reach project since 2019. Now there was an exciting update on the development.
What kind of update is this? During a campfire chat on the official Discord channel, those responsible for the Playable Worlds studio announced that they wanted to start a Kickstarter campaign for the MMORPG on February 10, 2025. The main page of the crowdfunding project can already be viewed via kickstarter.com.
Although MeinMMO had already reported on the studio founded by Raph Koster and the new MMORPG project in October 2019, Stars Reach is still in a (at least playable) pre-alpha phase more than five years later.
The project has so far been financed primarily by investors who are said to have put in $38 million. The aim of the new Kickstarter is to secure financing for the next development phase:
Players are invited to help shape the future of the game as it moves to Early Access. In today’s difficult market, private investment in game development has become increasingly rare. To keep the momentum going, Playable Worlds is turning to its passionate community of players to help get Stars Reach over the finish line.
Playable Worlds via massivelyop.com
What do the developers promise? The targeted amount for the financing campaign is just as unclear as the different levels of support that Playable Worlds will certainly offer. However, the advantages earned through the tier levels should in no way affect the in-game economy or the balance of the MMORPG.
In addition, Raph Koster told massivelyop.com that the alpha should be nearing, with early access planned for the end of 2025. A final launch is apparently targeted for 2026.
Who is Raph Koster exactly? The industry veteran was the lead designer of Ultima Online (released in 1997) and the creative director of Star Wars Galaxies (2003). The veteran is also known for his expertise in development: In an interview with MeinMMO, Koster spoke about the development of MMOs and explained that WoW killers almost killed MMOs.
Here is one of the trailers for Stars Reach:
First trailer shows the new Stars Reach
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What do I need to know about Stars Reach? The ambitions for the Galaxy Sandbox MMORPG are great. There should be hundreds of worlds that feel alive and can be changed. The game should rely on an action-packed but also tactically demanding combat system.
But there should also be peaceful ways in which you can have fun with Stars Reach. You should be able to create planetary maps that can then be turned into profit. Or you can become an ore miner, an elected governor, or pursue a completely different profession within the player-driven economy.
The ultimate challenge is to make an entire planet your own and be able to build an infrastructure on it. The following message from July 2024 shows how big the team’s ambitions are: Stars Reach should do for science fiction what World of Warcraft did for fantasy.