Prague, December 19th, 2024 — Today, Keen Software House officially revealed Space Engineers 2, the highly anticipated sequel to their popular sandbox game about construction and survival. Along with this announcement, the studio shared the Early Access launch date on Steam, which is set for January 27th, 2025.
Preorders for the game are now available.
Space Engineers 2 takes everything the studio has learned over the past 10 years working with Space Engineers, a beloved sandbox game with over 5 mln copies sold, and reimagines it with more depth, creative freedom and intuitiveness. Powered by the next-gen proprietary VRAGE3 engine, the game’s creation and destruction feel and look better than ever before.
Space Engineers 2 will begin its journey in Early Access with the Alpha stage on January 27th, inviting players to dive into Creative Mode, one of the most loved features with plenty of space to build and experiment. For the first time, engineers can explore the revolutionary 25cm unified grid system, allowing them to build anything with great precision. The game now also offers new blueprint tools like snap-to-grid, partial copy/paste, toolbar assignments, and powerful building tools such as the voxel hand, symmetry tools, line/plane building, a flexible paint tool and grid undo/redo, all providing players with freedom to bring their most intricate ideas to life.
In Space Engineers 2, players travel to the distant Almagest, a newly discovered, mysterious planetary system that awaits the first colonizers. Initially, it serves as a canvas for space engineers, but as players develop it, the system will unveil a captivating narrative with intriguing stories and memorable NPCs, coming later in Early Access.
Space Engineers 2 is set to become one of the best-looking sandbox experiences of this generation. The game received ray-traced global illumination, realistic shadows, a new skybox, tessellated voxel materials, parallax effects for armor, and much more, adding depth and realism to every scene. Powered by VRAGE3, Space Engineers 2 is designed for smoother performance and a more immersive experience. During Early Access, the studio will focus on further optimizations, letting players build bigger ships and fly more of them over time.
While being a notable aspect of the game, the controls in the original Space Engineers were often quite complicated for new players. In Space Engineers 2 the controls and UI have undergone a major overhaul, making the game more accessible and intuitive for both new and experienced players, without losing the depth of the constructing process.
The future of Space Engineers 2
Creative Mode is just the beginning. In the coming months, Space Engineers 2 will receive new exciting features, including a UGC Workshop for sharing creations, advanced modding tools with the VRAGE HUB, and various gameplay improvements. Down the road, players can look forward to planets and survival, volumetric water for new engineering challenges, and more with multiplayer, NPCs, and a story campaign.
Keen Software House introduces a unique approach to future content updates, focusing on individual Vertical Slices — fully playable portions of the game with specific core features. Given the game’s complex mechanics, it is important for the studio to stay in touch with players, learn about their experiences with each slice, and incorporate their feedback before moving on to the next major content update.
Roadmap:
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VS 1.1: UGC Workshop (Mod.io): Players will be able to share their creations with other players.
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VS 1.2: Improved mechanics and interface refinements.
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VS 1.5: Modding: VRAGE HUB, VRAGE Editor.
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VS 2: Planets and Survival: Explorable planets and the new Almagest System. Engineers will get access to new tools like backpack building and projection building, while experiencing improved progression and engaging challenges.
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VS 3: Water: Planetary-scale volumetric water will transform gameplay. Players will be able to engineer across oceans, rivers, and lakes, as well as construct boats and submarines for underwater exploration.
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More to Come: The studio plans for additional Vertical Slices that will expand upon core mechanics, introduce new features, and ultimately build towards a complete Space Engineers 2 experience. On the horizon: Multiplayer, NPCs, Story Campaign and more.
About the game:
Space Engineers 2 is an open world sandbox game where engineering meets exploration, construction, and survival in the vastness of space. Become a pioneer in the distant Almagest system, a new uncharted world with infinite possibilities for creativity and discovery. Build everything from starships to space stations as you craft your own path in this highly anticipated next chapter of the Space Engineers series!
Key Features:
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Creation and destruction never felt this good: Space Engineers 2 builds on 10 years of experience, reimagining the space engineering experience with greater depth and freedom. Powered by the new VRAGE3 engine, it offers improved creation and destruction in a vast sandbox where your creativity can shine.
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Build with great precision: Explore next-level construction with the 25 cm Unified Grid System! Seamlessly combine blocks for complex builds — no more large vs. small grid. Enhanced mounting point visualization and grid lines make building easier and more precise than ever.
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Enhanced controls and mobility: Our new system includes blueprint building, Grid Undo and refined CTRL controls for precise rotation and zoom, ensuring intuitive design at every step. Take your creations to new speeds with an upgraded max velocity: characters up to 310 m/s and grids up to 300 m/s. And you don’t need to worry about falling off platforms or asteroids — magboots and automatic jetpack activation have got your back!
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Smarter UI and smoother play: The redesigned UI/UX making building smoother and more intuitive for both newcomers and pros, giving more freedom to bring your intricate ideas to life. Thanks to VRAGE3, Space Engineers 2 is set to deliver better performance for a smoother play. As Early Access progresses, you’ll be able to build bigger ships, fly more of them, and enjoy epic destruction in a truly immersive ride.
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Next-level visuals: Enjoy the beauty of space, industrial designs and battle encounters, reimagined with next-level realism. In Space Engineers 2 we introduced new ray-traced global illumination, realistic shadows, a new skybox, tessellated voxel materials, parallax effects for armor and much more, to bring depth and realism to every scene.
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Stories of the Almagest: For the first time, Space Engineers 2 will receive a full narrative with an exciting story campaign, featuring human NPCs, AI-driven vessels and factions that bring the Almagest System to life. In the future updates, players will be able to trade with local inhabitants, complete quests, and uncover ancient mysteries, giving new purpose to their engineering skills.
With the release of Space Engineers 2, the team at Keen Software House will continue to support the original Space Engineers game. Players can look forward to a new update for SE1 that adds more PvE content and refreshments for Cargo Ships.
Preorders for Space Engineers 2 are available now, alongside the Pioneer Edition, which includes the game's soundtrack, exclusive wallpapers and behind-the-scenes materials.
For more information about the game, development insights and more, check the official blog post by Marek Rosa.
The press kit is available here.
About Keen Software House:
Started by Marek Rosa in 2010, Keen Software House is an independent game development studio, based in Prague, and known for its best-seller Space Engineers (over 5 million copies sold) with the 4th largest Workshop on Steam offering over 500K mods, ships, stations, worlds, and more. The studio strives to deliver immersive worlds that celebrate science and encourage creativity, all powered by the proprietary VRAGE3 engine with advanced voxel and volumetric technologies, enabling unparalleled physics-based interactions, expansive sandbox environments, and dynamic gameplay. For more information, visit www.keenswh.com.