Stars Reach Early Access: What You Need to Know Before Jumping In

The pitch is big. The reality is smaller (for now).

Stars Reach comes from Raph Koster, the designer behind Ultima Online and the creative director of Star Wars Galaxies. That pedigree alone has sandbox MMO fans paying attention. The game launched into Steam Early Access on August 18 with three pricing tiers: $29.99 for the base Firstlight Pack, $49.99 for the Voyager Pack, and $79.99 for the Cosmonaut Pack.

The promise is a sci-fantasy sandbox where planets are procedurally generated, fully terraformable, and shaped by what players do. Reroute rivers. Burn forests. Mine a planet dry and move on to the next one. It sounds like the sandbox MMO people have been asking for since SWG shut down.

But early access is early access. Here's what you're actually getting right now.

What's in the game

The core loop is exploration, gathering, and crafting. You start on Haven, a tutorial moon where an NPC mayor walks you through the basics across about a dozen short missions. After that, you move through The Crucible to TPL Starbase, which acts as your launch point into the wider galaxy.

From there, you pick your professions. Stars Reach has over 40 of them, and your character can run four at a time. No fixed classes. You want to be a botanist who also crafts weapons and maps planets on the side? Go ahead. Progression works by doing. Fight things, get combat XP. Craft things, get crafting XP. Items you make even earn you more XP when other players use them.

Mining is more involved than most MMOs. You scan the ground with an assay tool, fire your Terraformer beam to tunnel in, and sort through what you find. A separate tool called the Chronophaser lets you manipulate geological time on materials, melting limestone into marble or eroding rock into sand. Resources have variable stats depending on the planet and biome, so the same iron from two different worlds can produce different results in crafting.

The player-driven economy is live. No NPC auction house. You gather, craft, and sell to other players. Crafters can even brand their items for recognition.

What's not in yet

PvP is completely absent. Koster has confirmed it's a post-launch feature, along with factions, political structures, and a planet-eating hive mind event that sounds like the kind of thing that will either be incredible or a disaster.

That means right now, Stars Reach is a PvE sandbox. If you're coming for competitive play, you'll need to wait.

Who should jump in now

If you played Star Wars Galaxies and have been chasing that feeling ever since, Stars Reach is the closest thing anyone has built. The classless profession system, the crafting depth, the player economy. It's all there in embryonic form.

If you need structured endgame content, PvP, or a polished experience, wait for 1.0.

Trying it with your group

Stars Reach is PC-only for now. If your gaming group is considering picking it up together, the crafting and economy systems actually reward coordinating. One person mines, another crafts, another explores and maps new planets. It plays better as a team than solo.

Looking for MMOs your whole group can get into? You can browse and vote on options at PickThe.Games. Set up a board, add your group, and swipe through games together. It's a quick way to find something everyone agrees on without the usual group chat argument.