Kerbal Space Program 2: KSP announces sequel with interstellar range of new features

Beloved game sees players launch strange creatures into space – and now they can travel even further

Kerbal Space Program, one of the most beloved games ever, is finally getting a sequel.

The original game – a space flight simulator – allowed players to send strange creatures up into space and explore the solar system.

And now, with the sequel, players will be able to travel even further. As well as completely redesigning the game from the ground up, players will be given a whole range of new features htat will allow them to travel even further through the game's universe.

The launch was announced at Gamescom and came with a dramatic trailer that revealed many of the sequel's most central features, such as the ability to build space colonies.

The new game will arrive in 2020, on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The current version of KSP is available for Mac and Linux, but that was not mentioned in the new announcements.

Kerbal Space Program is now much beloved, but has had a difficult development process that has left fans frustrated with a lack of updates.

Now developers Star Theory and Private Division say they have redesigned the game, while keeping much of the foundations that are so well-known in the original.

Players will still build their own space program and craft to explore the solar system, for instance, and will be able to mod the game in the way that has become so popular with the original version of KSP. And they will do so using the physics engine that allows players to fly around in a way that recreates the real requirements of navigating space.

But players will be able to create even more powerful space craft as well as building colonies on other worlds. The game will add a better way of learning to play it, new kinds of technology for navigating space, and the option to travel between solar systems.

Developers will also add multiplayer to the game for the first time.

"Soon players will be able to share the challenges of deep space exploration," developers wrote in the announcement. "More details on these features will be revealed at a later time."