Kerbal Space Program 2 is grounded until after April 2020
Slow and steady wins the space race
Luckily for Kerbal Space Program 2, there’s no equivalent of a Cold War enemy in games to force it to take dangerous risks with its development process. As such, they can take their time with the space-race sequel, keeping the Kerbals safe for at least another year. The launch of KSP2 has received a “no go” order, leaving it grounded until after April 2020.
The original plan for the launch was to get into orbit by Spring 2020, but that's been proven to be a tad ambitious. The new features of interstellar travel, space colonies, and multiplayer are probably causing a wicked shimmy in the development process, leaving them with no other option but to give the sequel some breathing space.
During their second quarter earnings call, Take-Two Interactive's flight commander Ed Harris president Karl Slatoff stated: “Kerbal Space Program 2, the sequel to the beloved original space sim, is now planned for launch on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in fiscal 2021, in order to allow more time to make the experience as terrific as possible.”
So it could be within one year of April 2020, which leaves us with 12 months of scanning the skies in the hope of spotting a test flight.
Now here's a wee thing you might not have seen. Star Theory's Creative Director, Nate Simpson, wanted to show how they put the announcement trailer together and released an animatic of the original concept. I do love that something as silly as Kerbal can take elements of both 2001: A Space Odyssey and Wanderers and make it work. Here's how they envisioned it.
And here's how it ended up.
If any of the results familiar, it's perhaps because it was inspired by a fan made trailer for the original game made by Shaun Esau. When the trailer was first released, Graham spoke to Esau about his involvement. Esau wrote that his involvement began and ended with Private Division asking permission to credit him, but that he "felt honored" by the experience.
"I didn't realize their trailer would be such a direct homage to my video, nor that I would be credited so prominently in the launch trailer for something as noteworthy as KSP2, and regardless I think the end result is beautiful!" he wrote. "KSP fans as a whole are such a positive community that getting a direct 'thanks' like that in something this visible means you hear that sentiment echoed over and over many times--having people reach out to say that I touched their lives in some way is a profoundly gratifying. I'm grateful that I had a small part in something that gets so many people so excited about space & the explosive joys of rocketry."