It's supposed to be a very relaxing experience, and we actually found a place where people love that.'Īnd soon, Astroneer will be evolving again (although not quite to the same extent as that journey from its original prototype) with the arrival of the long-awaited jetpack, or as developers System Era Softworks endearingly call it, the 'EXO Dynamics Personal Mobility Object'. But as we went further and further, we realised people wanted something that was different from a normal space game, and I think we pushed that all the way to the other side of the spectrum with an extremely whimsical, light-hearted, not very dangerous game. 'If we'd done that, we would have ended up with an extremely dark and lonely game, which was actually the first prototype. 'Early access was good because it allowed us to figure out our identity and not just throw all the money on one idea,' Tirado continues. Originally, however, it was going to be a very different game indeed. It's partly why Astroneer adopted such a bright and bubbly exterior during its run in early access, he adds.

“Throw a dart on Steam,” says Joe Tirado, head communications honcho for Astroneer, “and you could probably hit a bunch of other things '. Space survival craft 'em ups can be pretty grim places, what with the lack of oxygen and constant threat of being eaten alive by the resident fauna and all that, but for some developers there's nowhere more hostile than the mothership from which they all originate.

Can i run astroneer