It Took Almost 3 Years, But Starbound Is Leaving Early Access

After roughly five years of development, almost three of which were spent in Early Access on Steam, Starbound is ready to be officially released.

Developer Chucklefish has announced Starbound will launch on July 22. It's been available for purchase through Steam Early Access since December 2013. Even in the wake of its initial release, it was an impressive game, as our 2014 Early Access review notes. It's only gotten better with time as new features have been added, and more are coming with the 1.0 release like an expanded questing system and the ability to recruit NPCs as crew members for your ship.

Chucklefish doesn't intend to stop expanding and improving the game once it's out of Early Access, either. "While Starbound will be finished in two weeks, this isn't the end," a message from the developer reads. "We will continue to update and support Starbound for as long as we can. We've got loads of cool ideas we couldn't fit into 1.0 but hope to put into future updates."

There's no word yet on what those ideas are, but we'll report back with any interesting new developments to the game.

Starbound, which plays a bit like a 2D Minecraft where you have a spaceship that lets you explore different planets, is still available for purchase now on Steam for $15. There's also a four-pack for $45 if you want to try to lure in friends for some co-op action.