Despite releasing several sim and sandbox games, Independent developer Keen Software House is mostly known for Space Engineers, its voxel-based sandbox game. The title is known for offering a large amount of freedom for building complicated space vessels and stations, with realistic physics-based interactions being a major part of it. Now, a sequel is officially on the way.
Announced today, Space Engineers 2 by Keen Software is slated to upgrade the game to the latest version of the studio"s in-house VRAGE engine. As the teaser trailer above shows off, the new creation and editing tools are said to be "both intuitive enough for anyone to use and sophisticated enough to construct incredible wonders."
The trailer also shows shots of the destruction physics, which allows modular parts to break off from larger sections realistically. A 25 cm grid system, blueprint snapping, partial copying, and action undo have been confirmed as features, too.
"Space Engineers 2 is being developed with VRAGE3, the next-generation proprietary engine from Keen Software House," says the company in a press release. "With its focus on volumetric environments, VRAGE3 supports vast, fully dynamic, and destructible worlds, delivering a truly groundbreaking sandbox experience in Space Engineers 2."
Space Engineers 2 will go through a similar early access venture that the original game utilized. The first Space Engineers first entered Steam Early Access in 2013, and it took six years for Keen Software to reach 1.0 status. Soon after, an Xbox version landed, followed by a PlayStation platform launch in 2023. The title touts a massive modding community, too, featuring over half a million creations from users via Steam Workshop. It"s unclear if any of these can be carried over to the sequel when it lands.
A special livestream will unveil more information about Space Engineers 2 alongside fresh gameplay and an early access release date on December 19 at 6 pm UTC. It will be broadcast across the studio"s Twitch and YouTube channels.