Publishing giant Take-Two Interactive has purchased Kerbal Space Program, meaning it will own the franchise moving forward and will be responsible for keeping the existing game functional and up to date on various platforms. It will, however, continue to work with the original developer Squad on any future updates.
For such a grandiose subject matter as rocket and jet powered flight, it is perhaps poetic that the history of Kerbal Space Program has been a little shaky. While it’s maintained a cult following for more than half a decade, Squad has sustained rumors of poor working conditions and a number of the original developers left in 2016.
Part of that could be to do with the fact that Squad’s main function is not as a game developer, but it is in multimedia digital design. The announcement post suggests everyone at Squad is excited by the news. While the current developmental team will continue working on the game and its future updates, they will now do so with the help of Take-Two. The immediate plan is to finish the development of the Making History expansion which will be a paid-for DLC, though free to anyone who purchased the game before April 2013.
Console gamers can also expect it to be released for free as and when it is ready, but that will largely depend on the work of Blitworks, which handles the ports of the game.
The buyout by Take-Two comes just a week after news that a number of Squad’s employees had been picked up by Valve. In what capacity they were hired on at Valve is anyone’s guess, but the timing seems a little coincidental considering the buyout by Take-Two.
Kerbal Space Program will join several big-name game series as part of Take Two’s library, including: Grand Theft Auto, Bioshock, Borderlands, Civilization, and many sporting titles.
