The MMORPG expert Raph Koster made a name for himself with Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies. His team has been working on the new project Stars Reach since 2019. Now there is an exciting update on the development.
What kind of update is this? During a campfire chat on the official Discord channel, the studio Playable Worlds announced that they plan to launch a Kickstarter campaign for the MMORPG on February 10, 2025. The main page of the crowdfunding project is already viewable via kickstarter.com.
Although MeinMMO reported on the studio founded by Raph Koster and the new MMORPG project back in October 2019, Stars Reach is still in a (at least playable) pre-alpha phase more than five years later.
The project has thus far primarily been funded by investors who are said to have invested 38 million US dollars. With the new Kickstarter, they aim to secure funding for the next phase of development:
Players are invited to help shape the future of the game on the way to early access. In today’s challenging market, private investments in game development have become increasingly rare. To maintain momentum, Playable Worlds is turning to its passionate player community to help get Stars Reach over the finish line.
Playable Worlds via massivelyop.com
What do the developers promise? The target amount for the fundraising campaign is just as little visible as the different supporter tiers that Playable Worlds will certainly offer. However, the benefits earned through the tier levels should not affect the in-game economy or the balance of the MMORPG in any way.
Moreover, Raph Koster stated to massivelyop.com that they are supposed to be close to the alpha, with early access planned for the end of 2025. A final launch is apparently aimed for 2026.
Who exactly is Raph Koster again? 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:
What do I need to know about Stars Reach? The ambitions for the galaxy-sandbox MMORPG are high. There are expected to be hundreds of worlds that feel alive and can be altered. The game is set to feature an action-packed yet tactically challenging combat system.
However, there should also be peaceful ways to have fun with Stars Reach. For example, players should be able to create planetary maps that can then be turned into profit. Or you will become a miner, an elected governor, or pursue a completely different profession within the player-driven economy.
As an ultimate challenge, you should even be able to take ownership of an entire planet and build an infrastructure on it. How ambitious the team’s goals are can be seen from the following announcement from July 2024: Stars Reach is meant to do for science fiction what World of Warcraft did for fantasy.
