Blackbird Interactive has confirmed their spaceship-dismantling game Hardspace: Shipbreaker will get its full release on 24 May this year. This game has been in Early Access since June 2020 and attracted considerable acclaim since then.
The game is played from a first-person perspective and sees the player take on the role of a shipbreaker working for Lynx Corporation. The player must salvage useful materials from derelict and decommissioned spacecraft to pay back the massive corporate debt they owe Lynx at the start of the game. They have various tools to break open the derelict ships, but also must be wary of hazards such as oxygen and fuel tanks, which can explode if the shipbreaking is not done carefully, as well as explosive decompression. However, players must also balance the needs to do their jobs carefully with a need for speed to keep their debt ticking down at a steady rate. Players must also manage their own resources, such as oxygen and thruster pack fuel.
The full release will include a story mode where the player discovers new information about the corporation and the ships they are dismantling as they progress, and become embroiled in a conflict between the company and a union which is trying to get better conditions for their workers.
Blackbird Interactive derived the game from their original plans for Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak (2016). Earlier in development, before reacquiring the Homeworld IP (many of the team worked on Homeworld and Homeworld 2 at Relic Entertainment), the game was called Hardware: Shipbreakers and was set in a different universe with a much stronger focus on dismantling wrecked ships on a desert planet. After the sale of the Homeworld IP to Gearbox, Blackbird worked with them to pivot the game into the Homeworld universe, initially called Homeworld: Shipbreakers before switching the title to Deserts of Kharak.
Blackbird always liked the name and idea, and realised they could still use it in a different fashion after the idea of a "ship dismantling game" game up during an internal game jam at the studio.
The game has been warmly received during its Early Access period and its full release is certainly something to look forwards to. The game will release initially on PC via Focus Entertainment, to be followed by Xbox and PlayStation versions at a later date.
In addition to Hardspace, Blackbird are also working on Homeworld 3 for Gearbox for release later this year and Crossfire: Legion for Prime Matter.
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