Kerbal Space Program, the simulation game that Elon Musk has dubbed “awesome,” will receive its first expansion next month. Kerbal Space Program: Making History Expansion launches March 13.
Earning its title, the expansion will focus on historical moments of space exploration. Inserting the adorable humanoid Kerbals into Apollo missions sounds pretty neat, but the most exciting aspect of the expansion is the Mission Builder. Users will be able to create and edit their own missions.
“You’ll be able to customize your own missions to include launches, landings, rescues, malfunctions, explosions, repairs, and much more. You can set unique victory conditions, add exciting challenges, and place unexpected obstacles to keep other players on their toes as they play through these complex missions,” Kerbal developer Squad said on the game’s official blog.
Theoretically, the Mission Builder will give the excellent space sim an endless amount of content, so long as players take on the role of creators. Users can share their missions with other space program directors online.
Along with the Mission Builder, the expansion will include a package of developer-made missions based off of iconic moments in space history. It’s probably too late timing-wise, but imagine Elon Musk’s reaction if SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy mission is referenced in the expansion. However, new astronaut suits and parts “inspired by the Space Race” will be available for use in both the expansion and base game.
Squad has been working on Kerbal Space Program since 2010 after operating solely as a multimedia designer with no game development experience. The space simulation garnered immediate critical praise and found substantial commercial success upon its early access release in 2013. The game exited early access in 2015 and was later ported to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2016. Take-Two Interactive took over the rights to the game last year, with Squad remaining on for the expansion and future updates.
As of now, the expansion will only be available for PC. The expansion is expected to come to consoles down the line, but porting duties are handled by a separate developer, Blitworks. PS4 and Xbox One owners can bide their time by picking up the recently released Kerbal Space Program Enhanced Edition, which adds content previously unavailable to console players.
Kerbal Space Program: Making History Expansion lifts off March 13 on PC for $15. Those who purchased the game prior to April 2013 — in its early access infancy — will receive the DLC for free.
