A Space Program Simulation Game on Steam Unexpectedly Makes a Comeback After a Decade

The Artemis II lunar exploration mission, which took place in early April, seems to have inadvertently helped a space exploration simulation game on Steam regain popularity after 10 years of quiet existence.

Space exploration simulation games on Steam are experiencing a surge in players.

In 2015, the Steam space exploration simulation game, , launched its official version 1.0 and attracted over 19,000 players. In the game, players attempt to send their race into space and complete a series of different missions, with the goal of exploring the far reaches of the solar system.

Players can use the realistic aerodynamic and orbital physics principles of Kerbal Space Program to experiment with building spacecraft and launching their Kerbals into space. Besides the  Career  and  Science modes, Kerbal Space Program  also features a Sandbox  mode  , which has contributed to the game's popularity thanks to the countless bizarre inventions created by players.

From around the end of March until now, the game has seen a significant increase in the number of players on Steam, peaking at 21,037 concurrent players on April 12th, according to  SteamDB.  This number even surpassed the initial milestone when version 1.0 was released 11 years ago.

And the cause of this outburst stems from a real-life space mission:  NASA's Artemis II  mission . This was a manned rocket mission that flew past the moon for about 10 days, departing on April 1st and landing safely on April 11th.

The Kerbal Space Program community wants to recreate the Apollo 2 mission.

Astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen, and Reid Wiseman completed the first low Earth orbit flight since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. The crew landed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, California.

After witnessing the journey of  Artemis 2,  Kerbal Space Program  has inadvertently become the ideal choice for those who want to recreate it using the game's orbital simulator. For those who truly want to "role-play" NASA, the game will allow them to control every aspect of this mission.

From building a rocket to launching it, and finally performing a series of complex maneuvers to fly into space, the game even allows players to create space stations and land on alien planets. Despite a sequel released in 2023,  Kerbal Space Program 2  is currently receiving "Overall Negative"  reviews  on Steam. Part of the reason is that the game was developed by  Intercept Games,  a studio entirely different from  Squad,  the original developer.

Just one year later, Take-Two Interactive shut down Intercept Games and laid off most of the  Kerbal Space Program 2 project staff  . This left the game completely abandoned and received numerous "review bombs," while the original game was enthusiastically supported by the modding community and became a destination for space travel simulation experiences inspired by Mission  Artemis 2.