Set in the Orion arm of the Milky Way in 4050, ZeroSpace thrusts you into a universe where diverse alien and human factions vie for dominance. The fragile peace, upheld by the inter-species Keeper Council, is on the brink, threatened by enigmatic events. As the human Prefect of the Protectorate, you're summoned to join the Council and unravel a cosmic mystery, encountering unknown aliens and journeying through uncharted space.

No two games of ZeroSpace play the same, thanks to nearly limitless combinations of Factions, Mercenary units and Heroes, introducing unparalleled strategic depth and player expression to the genre.

The game’s single player campaign puts player choices at the center, with hours of interactive cinematics, and narrative design inspiration from epic sci-fi RPGs like Mass Effect.

The ZeroSpace development team includes several prominent pro players, commentators, and leading voices in the RTS community. Their insight and experience has shaped an RTS that any gamer can approach and enjoy thanks to clever and intuitive interface design, while still giving hardcore RTS competitors a limitless ladder of skill expression to master.

Dive into a world teeming with mystery and danger. Traverse diverse planets aboard your upgradable mothership, guided by a choice-driven RPG system. Face moral quandaries: do you save a once-hostile planet or leave it to perish against formidable forces? As you journey, enhance your vessel, recruit heroes, and navigate complex relationships. Will your allies admire or despise you? Are you ready to lead mankind?

Build deep relationships with your crew and the heroes you enlist during the campaign. Navigate an expansive galaxy map, brimming with dialogue opportunities and regions to explore or dominate.

Cooperative missions is a mode where 3 players fight against AI in campaign-like missions. This open-ended mode is inspired by the success and replayability found in StarCraft II Co-op.

Galactic Warfare (kickstarter stretch goal) takes your role beyond a traditional commander. Join guilds, form alliances, and partake in a galactic sized tug of war that is set on a persistent galaxy map that hosts thousands of players. Conquer space stations, planets, and more in either co-op or competitive style battles!

Starlance Studios launched ZeroSpace in Early Access on Steam, welcoming players to explore the Orion Sector, dive into the start of its story-driven campaign, and contribute critical feedback to the development team on the road to its 1.0 release.

"ZeroSpace is now in Early Access thanks to the support of our backers, our playtesters, and the RTS community," said Marvin "Marv" Gouw, Founder and CEO, Starlance Studios. "We’re grateful to everyone who has supported our vision to create a cinematic sci-fi RTS, and we look forward to rolling out lots of exciting new content, including the full campaign, in the year ahead.”   

What's in Early Access

The ZeroSpace Early Access release includes a wide array of preview content for players to explore. It starts with Act 1 of the campaign, which spans 12 campaign missions, as well as expanded co-op missions, versus mode (ranked, 1v1, and 2v2), and a full skirmish mode (1v1, 2v2, and free-for-all (FFA)) against friends or AI opponents.  

ZeroSpace will feature four main factions for players to master. Humanity is led by The Protectorate, with players taking on the role of Prefect Aster (the primary protagonist of the campaign), making decisions during dialog sequences that shape how he leads his forces and his interactions with other characters. The symbiotic plant-like Grell and the fanatical Legion offer RTS players a variety of units and army compositions to explore, which can be further customized with units from a variety of mercenary factions. Another primary faction, the Xol, a mysterious synthetic civilization of self-evolving machines that merge metal, energy, and consciousness, are also playable for the first time during Early Access. The Xol will be added to ranked matchmaking after they undergo further community balance testing. 

The ZeroSpace: First Contact Invitational

To celebrate the Early Access launch, Starlance is hosting ZeroSpace: First Contact, an invitational tournament stacked with a lineup of RTS luminaries. Competitors include GiantGrantGames and PiG (who both contributed to ZeroSpace’s development), as well as Lowko, TheViper, JimRising, MarineLord, White-Ra, and Harstem. 

The ZeroSpace: First Contact Invitational begins on July 20 and will end in an epic tournament on August 9 to decide the champion.  

Three Alliances Wage War to Control the Galaxy

ZeroSpace is also kicking off a Galactic War with the start of Early Access with Season Zero, a three-way war commanded by Neo (Back2Warcraft), uThermal, and Winter. These creators will lead their alliances in Galactic Warfare, and players are encouraged to pick a side and contribute to their alliance's war effort on the galaxy map to celebrate the game’s launch.

Galactic War: Season Zero begins July 20 and will end August 1, when supremacy of the Orion sector will be decided. 

ZeroSpace is available through Early Access on Steam for $35.99 USD (including a 10% launch discount from the regular price of $39.99, running through August 3). 

The core multiplayer philosophies revolve around player expression, match up variation, multiple avenues of engagement, streamlined gameplay, and well-paced game volatility. The developers are building a game with lots of strategic depth - like mixing primary factions with a second faction and special hero to craft something unique to your play style - to make sure no match ever feels the same or meta-gamed.

Versus is set to be ZeroSpace's primary competitive mode with the aim of releasing two major game-transforming updates annually, with periodic balance tweaks as needed. Right from the outset, players can expect comprehensive ranking systems and leaderboards. For the hardest of the hardcore RTS veterans, we've ensured fully customizable hotkeys and adaptable in-game menus tailored to meet your preferences.

Key Features:

• An open world campaign with 13 main story missions, 14 hero loyalty missions, and 40 side story arcs.
• 3 hours of cinematic cutscenes and interactive dialogs where your choices dictate the game’s outcome.
• 4 main factions, with 10 units and 9 buildings each. (base-game)
• 6 mercenary factions, with 4-5 units each. (base-game)
• 14 heroes from various factions in campaign mode, or select one to lead your multiplayer games. (base-game)
• 1v1 and 3v3 ranked versus matches, or play against AI . (base-game)
• A truly unique cooperative multiplayer (base-game) mode that includes a shared, persistent galaxy for an entirely new massively multiplayer experience. 

ZeroSpace is in development for PC (Steam), scheduled for 2027