A relatively quiet week lies behind us, but the team is still moving at full speed ahead! The team made some tweaks to the economy last week, but the next patch should be coming very soon! In other news, we are expecting the next issue of CORE on marketplaces soon, and we are gearing up for Solana’s Breakpoint conference and meetups, of course!
Last week was relatively quiet, though there for sure were some exciting developments. Not only did SAGE Labs break the 15% daily Solana transactions barrier, but the team also released their SAGE Labs Development tools! On top of that, the latest issue of CORE is finally available on Magic Eden. We also got a few sneak peeks from the team, and the team published an infographic showing all the loot you can win/craft in SAGE Labs. Lastly, this issue you are reading is our 100th Star Atlas newsletter!
Since its release, people have been heads-down playing SAGE Labs. In parallel, the team was heads-down, fixing bugs and making small improvements. But, fortunately for this issue, more happened last week! A highlight was the team publishing their latest Economic Report, covering the 3rd quarter of 2023. However, most newsworthy tidbits you’ll find in this newsletter came from Chip (Director of Game Systems Design) and, to a lesser extent, our very own data runners.
We had a big week last week, with the launch of the new StarPath V2 referral system and the release of the very first SAGE iteration: SAGE Labs! Meanwhile, a lot of players have jumped into Labs, and though there are some show-stopping bugs (at least for some), it looks like most people react favorably to it. Besides this, the 2nd Photography concluded, ATLAS Prime went live as well (as part of Labs), and we’ve got the latest on the first Golden Ticket raffle.
We had a few quiet weeks now, and last week was no different. However, it looks like the quiet period is coming to an end! The team is planning to launch SAGE Labs this week. This will mark the launch of the very first iterations of Star Atlas’ on-chain gameplay! On top of that, StarPath V2 will be made available this week as well! Exciting times are ahead, and the content creators in the community will work overtime to produce video tutorials, strategy guides, and other material for you all to benefit from! Finally, we also received some new info on the CORE Act 2 issues and their availability.
Another week went by, and SAGE Labs is closer to release than ever before. However, it does look like we’ll need to wait a little longer. Meanwhile, limited community playtesting has begun, which ruffled some feathers in the community. Beyond that, not much happened last week. We did get a bit more insight into the roadmap going forward, and the team shared some shots of a new ground race track environment that you’ll be able to explore in Showroom R2.2.
We’ve seen the flow of news slowly dry up these past two weeks, while anticipation for the release of SAGE Labs continues building. This past week, the main spotlight undoubtedly shone on the SAGE Labs ship specs that were shared by Chip (Director of Game Systems Design). Besides that, surprising news came in the form of Dan Park announcing his departure from ATMTA. Lastly, it looks like StarPath V2 could be right around the corner!
After the information-packed last weeks, the past week was again a more quiet one. The Atlas Brew was filled with lore from José (aka ZeSKK – Star Atlas official Penguin) on the various systems we’ll get to explore in SAGE Labs, and how this lore ties into the other lore that is already out there. In other words, a lot of lore-alpha was dropped, but nothing regarding gameplay or timelines. Fortunately, Chip (Director of Game Systems Design) was feeling generous, answering many SAGE Labs-related questions on Discord. This led to some interesting insights into how different ships behave in that game, which you can read about below.
Once again, the Atlas Brew from last week did not disappoint! Chris (Head of Game Economy) and Michael (CEO) were back for round two on SAGE Labs, while Chip (Director of Game Systems Design) was in the chat answering questions as well. We did not just get more details (which we promptly added to our guide); we also got some screenshots this time around! On top of that, we got a sneak peek video of the Starbased UI, MoonPay integration, a DRiP-ing collaboration, and the first winner of the Photography Career Competition. Finally, Michael also shared the target release window for SAGE Labs.
Last week was very much a copy of the week before. The week was relatively low on news, and then the Atlas Brew happened. This time the topic was the Economy in SAGE Labs, for which they brought on a special guest: Chris, the Head of Game Economy. He shared a good deal of new information on SAGE Labs! Also in attendance was Michael (CEO), who piled some more alpha on top, making the last week a treasure trove of new information! Though, in all honesty, there were a few other interesting bits shared last week, including an update on CORE (collectible) hardcovers and an update of the Ship Configurations!
Last week saw a surprise visit from Michael (CEO) at the Atlas Brew, which turned it into an alpha-leek bonanza! We’ll get into everything discussed there below! Other than that, a few clarifications were given on Discord in response to questions, but nothing major was announced through any of the official channels. Not a problem; the Atlas Brew was enough to fill this newsletter with!
This past week has been a true rollercoaster! We reported on the bombshell announcement in last week’s newsletter, which was followed by mild panic among the community. But then, this past Wednesday, the team hosted a special “Townhall” meeting where Michael (CEO) shed some more positive light on the new reality going forward, including the team’s runway and their product lineup. Danny (CPO) then elaborated on some of the upcoming features for Showroom R2.2 that they previously kept under wraps.
As expected, last week was one for the history books! It was a blockbuster of a week, despite the only actual product release being the first issue of CORE Act 2. However, we did get a lot of information on SAGE: REC (henceforth known as SAGE: Starbased) and the team’s partnership with Meta Gravity. And to top it all off, the team announced the purpose and function of their upcoming Mobile Companion App! And then, right before sending out this newsletter, the team dropped a bombshell of an announcement…
Compared to the past few weeks, last week was pretty quiet. But it’s the tempest before the storm, as we expect a torrent of news coming this week! So, we’ll use this opportunity to look ahead at what we can expect over the next few days!
Last week saw the much-anticipated launch of the Governance Application and the very first Polis Improvement Proposal, PIP-1! On the other end of the spectrum, we experienced the team sunsetting Escape Velocity, and Michael sharing a good deal of information on its successor: REC. Most of this information was released by Michael during an impromptu AMA this past Friday on the Star Atlas Discord server. This was the second time in a row, so you may want to keep an eye out this Friday!
The last week was action-packed! Destination Starbase was kicked off, with the release of three new dedicated mining ships! The end of Escape Velocity was announced in conjunction with a crack-down on bots. The new Governance App page was almost released. On top of that, we received a new quarterly Economic Report and Atlas Star newsletter!
We almost had another week that was going to be low on newsworthy topics, but then the team suddenly threw in an impromptu Townhall last Friday! With the Lore Wiki announced during the Atlas Brew, there is suddenly a lot to cover!
After a few intense weeks, the team seems to have taken a short break from launching (sometimes surprising) new releases. With everything out there, the community is buzzing, and has been heavily engaged in Escape Velocity, the Never Alone campaign, trying to optimize their R4 supply lines, and, -let’s not forget- having a good deal of fun with Showroom R2.1! With the imminent launch of the Star Atlas DAO formalization process on the horizon, and a good amount of releases planned for Q3, there is also plenty more to look forward to!
The Economy is here! The team just moved the needle in a significant way, overnight kickstarting the player-driven economy! This is clearly the biggest headline from last week, but there is more! ATLAS offerings from the team are back on the Marketplace as well!
The team is on fire! We received our 3rd big release of 2023 last week, and it sure is garnering a good deal of attention outside of the dedicated Star Atlas community. It’s also good to see Michael (CEO) show up in interviews like he used to back in the early days of this project, in 2021. The media are writing articles, Twitter is buzzing, and most of you will no doubt agree: It was a good week in Star Atlas!