News – Jumpdrive Suddenly Launches on Steam
If you’re at all involved with upcoming space sims then you may have heard of an early access title on Steam called Jumpdrive. It offers a sandbox space sim set in an alternative future heavily inspired by classic 80s sci-fi. Fight, trade and explore in a massive procedurally generated galaxy of millions of planets and stars. Amass money and power, and upgrade or purchase new ships.
This all may seem very impressive, and truth be told, the game does look very good and does provide everything above. However, there are a few red flags that I feel our readers should know about its rocky development process and its sudden full game launch. The update history of the title tells a concerning tale of a lack of support with large gaps in between content releases. Gaps as large as a year and three months. Apparently there were some issues with the development team and things needed to be worked out, which happens, and is unfortunate for a development team.
Naturally the updates slowed down, but can always pick back up once things get settled down and work begins again. Unfortunately no such luck for Jumpdrive. The last update the game received was back in September 2017 and here we are with a surprise launch. The folks on Steam that have been following the title are all but pleased with this news and for good reason. Apparently there are still large bugs left in the game and a lot of promises that were never kept. With all that said, below is some information about the game and the features it offers. For what it’s worth (which is only $6.99 on sale) it still may be a title to look into if you’re craving another space sim.
Jumpdrive boasts some impressive gameplay making it seem like it’s offering all the things that No Man’s Sky promised. A few key features of Jumpdrive:
A Vast Universe – An enormous universe built to a realistic scale; a galaxy thousands of light years across filled with millions of planets and stars.
Completely Seamless – Transition through hyperjumps between stars, transit across star systems and land on planets, all with no loading screens to get in your way.
Fully Realized Starfaring Civilization- Across inhabited space freighters run the trade lanes, stations orbit lonely planets, and individual star captains wander the space between.
Individual Player Focus – An emphasis on creating a strong single player focused experience and the sort of universe that players can lose themselves in.
Engaging Gameplay – An intuitive and visceral gameplay experience centered around giving players the freedom to achieve their objectives via whatever means they decide.
Meteoric Games is a small, independent development studio established in 2012 in South-East England by Justin Guest. Together with a team composed of staff from all around the world, they began working on their first game – sandbox space sim Jumpdrive. It entered Steam Early Access in May 2014 and got a full release on January 18th 2018. With Jumpdrive’s development finished, the studio is not losing steam and as of right now, they’re working hard on a new project, an otherworldly exploration and survival game set on an artificial alien world, but with the rocky development that Jumpdrive went through, keep a watchful eye on their next title.