KSP2 is dead: Long Live KSP2

For the past months there have been a lot of rumors around KSP2, and a shock went through the community with a public posting that K2 closes Intercept Games office in Seatle and terminates 70 jobs.

But we have little information to go on, there have been komplete radio silence from K2, and what I have to go on is basically what I have gathered from a few Youtubers.

The gist of it all is that there have been impossible requirements and constraints on the development all since back when a sequal game to KSP was decided. Very short timelines, financial constraints, requirement of full secrecy on the project, and constantly shifting priorities have made this an impossible task for the developers.

Roadmap

When the first announcements came out, I was thrilled about the promises of Space Colonies, Interstellar Travel, and Multiplayer. A roadmap was published around time of release (which in fact was an Early Access release), that promised all of these as milestones.

Science

But how far did we get on the roadmap before disaster struck? Science. We got science, which makes KSP2 barely a polished version of KSP. Though the Science module in KSP2 works differently from the one in KSP, the Tech Tree have been completely redesigned, there are other types of science to collect, there are new easter eggs making part of science discoveries, etc. But Science still feel a little half baked. Some basic science experiments (and in my opinion necessary instruments) that are missing include thermometer, barometer, gravity, and magnetograph. Ok, I havn’t completed the science tree, and there are more science modules coming. But I feel the ones I mentioned are so basic, that they should be available in the first tier.

Road ahead?

According to the roadmap, Colonies would be the next milestone, and everybody was hoping for an announcement related to this. But if cutback on staff is everybody, can we hope for anything more than simple code maintenance? I hoped Colonies would enable me to set up an orbital VAB around Kerbin, and a science/communication base on Mun. This would allow me to build more intricate space stations, and as a stepping stone to explore more. But currently this seems to be just a dream.

I also was hoping that one day I could see something like kOS, either integrated directly into the game, or as a mod. But if K2 decisions have killed the game, why would any modders want to spend time making mods?

Wether this was the Death of KSP2 or not, really depends on K2. They can reassign KSP2 to any other studio in their organization, or contract an external studio. Or they can sell the IP to a different publisher/studio. It is really important that developers get back on the quest to complete the roadmap if ever KSP2 is to survive. Crossing my fingers that corporate greed doesn’t kill this game for good.