What the developers have to say:

Why Early Access? “We are offering the current full version of the game to play for free in alpha, scroll down!

We are using Early Access to give the players the possibility to play the game, as well as giving them the opportunity to be a contributing factor in the game's development. We are a small independent company, and this will help us to develop the game further, through player feedback and funding. The demo will still be free to try out from our own website, as well as a free version available here.



All existing customers that have an upgraded account can receive the game on Steam through linking their StarMade Citizen’s Registry account with their Steam account” Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access? “StarMade will stay in Early Access until we’ve developed all core features and feel confident in the game’s overall systems. We will also need to go through a rigorous bug testing phase. Our plans are ambitious, as such no definitive date can be made.” How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version? “We have many features planned for development. You can check out what we're working on, or what we will be working on at our Trello Roadmap (https://trello.com/b/9Kg5Jn6g/starmade-roadmap), development direction post (https://starmadedock.net/threads/starmade-development-direction.21615/) and our bug tracking site (http://phab.starma.de/). In essence, the full version will have a more lively universe. Here are a few ways we plan to achieve this, dynamic and procedural quests, NPC factions and empires, soundtracks and sound fx, scripting, modding API, creatures, diplomacy and fleet control. Game performance and scalability is our underlining priority.” What is the current state of the Early Access version? “We have had stable versions of the game and server since 2014. StarMade in its current state is a complex and extensive sandbox, we have created a set of tools for us and the community to create the ultimate space experience. It’s now time for us to bring StarMade’s universes to life.” Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access? “The game's price will slowly rise during the Early Access period as features are progressively added. This system will favour those who have purchased and showed their support in the early stages of the game.” How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process? “We already extensively involve the community in the development of the game. Pre-steam release we were roughly at 300,000 people registered on our account system, requests/bug reports/suggestions are constantly read by our team. Many player contributed suggestions have already been implemented into the game. We host community build contests to create ships, stations and other in-game creations for placement in the game. Additionally, we have a community elected council who seek opinions, suggestions and feedback and relay it back to the development team. We as a team, are heavily involved with our community.”