Kerbal Space Program 2 coming to Early Access in February

Kerbal Space Program 2 key art showing kerbals avoe earth

(Image credit: 2K Interactive)

Kerbal Space Program 2 early access will begin in February.

The long-awaited Kerbal Space Programme 2, which tasks players with donning the brain of a rocket scientist to navigate the vastness of space, will be releasing February 24, 2023 for PC. The game is still slated to come to PS5 and Xbox Series X, but console players will have to remain patient.

The game, like the first, will debut in early access, and Intercept Games will be trying to work with its community to create the best end product. The first Kerbal Space Programme was initially released in an Alpha state in 2011 and didn't reach its full release until 2015. It seems the developers have no plans to rush it this time either.

In a video about the choice to release the game in early access, creative director Nate Simpson talks about the decision, saying: "For us, failure is not only an option, it's absolutely mandatory. It's the way we learn and evolve."

"One of the things I'm most excited about with early access is that it kind of makes everything feel a little more Kerbal, in the sense that we're going to get some things wrong. We're going to make some assumptions that are incorrect. We're going to fail out loud. There's nothing more Kerbal than that."

He's not wrong either. Kerbal Space Programme is a series about failing and retrying your missions over and over until you finally land your rockets on alien celestial bodies. It's an amazing series, that, if you put in the time, you'll accidentally learn some complex ideas about rocket science and the mathematical nature of physics. What's great is that Intercept Games is trying to make it more accessible than ever too.

Kerbal Space Program 2 was announced all the way back in 2020, so it's great to finally see it get a release date. Hopefully, when it launches, it has enough content to keep the avid community hungry for more.

Looking to get a complex reconstruction of real-life activities? Why not check out our list of the best simulator games.

Patrick Dane is the former Guides Editor at TechRadar. He is now a freelance games journalist writing for sites and publications such as GamesRadar, Metro, IGN, Eurogamer, PC Gamer, and the International Business Times, among others. He was also once the Managing Editor for Bleeding Cool.