ZeroSpace is a cinematic RTS with an epic sci-fi story where your decisions determine the fate of the galaxy. No two matches play the same thanks to nearly limitless combinations of factions, mercenary units and heroes, introducing unparalleled strategic depth and player expression to the genre.
ZeroSpace is driven by our profound love for Real-Time Strategy. This passion is our everyday fuel and propels us in our mission to reignite and redefine the genre, and key members of our team have roots in pro play and RTS game design.
We're excited to welcome you to a meticulously crafted universe of exploration and immersion; boasting one of the most diverse sets of factions seen in the genre amidst a galaxy-wide crisis in the Milky Way.
We're making an RTS that any gamer can approach and enjoy thanks to clever and intuitive interface design, while still giving hardcore RTS competitors a limitless ladder of skill expression to master in PvP, a campaign mode, and a massively multiplayer co-op mode.
We are crafting expansive lore that harbors deeply engaging stories - You’ll discover these in a campaign where your choices matter, featuring branching narratives and RPG elements similar to games like Mass Effect or Baldur’s Gate.
ZeroSpace is already well under development, and has been funded solely by our team up to this stage. We’re now opening things up to the community to help us refine and polish the experience. We need your help to make ZeroSpace your favorite RTS!
Keep reading to learn more about ZeroSpace, our team, and our goals.
ZeroSpace launches on Steam, and will deliver, including stretch goals:
An open world campaign with 13 main story missions, 14 hero loyalty missions, and 40 side story arcs.
3 hours of cinematic cutscenes and interactive dialogs where your choices dictate the game’s outcome.
4 main factions, with 10 units and 9 buildings each. (base-game)
6 mercenary factions, with 4-5 units each. (base-game)
14 heroes from various factions in campaign mode, or select one to lead your multiplayer games. (base-game)
1v1 and 3v3 ranked versus matches, or play against AI . (base-game)
A truly unique cooperative multiplayer (base-game) mode that includes a shared, persistent galaxy for an entirely new massively multiplayer experience.
Build a base, gather resources, train units, research upgrades.
Meet 14 heroes that have their own skills and play styles that stand out from the normal faction and mercenary units.
Gain experience and level up your faction by capturing Control Towers. Then unlock and unleash powerful support skills including:
Protectorate's Airstrike
The Grell's Tree of Life ultimate ability
Choose mercenary groups to support your army. Their units can be purchased at the Mercenary Compound. The chosen mercenary group also unlocks additional heroes and talents to choose from.
Dread Raider mercenaries
Dive into a world teeming with mystery and danger. Traverse diverse planets aboard your upgradable mothership, guided by a choice-driven RPG system. Face moral quandaries: do you save a once-hostile planet or leave it to perish against formidable forces? As you journey, enhance your vessel, recruit heroes, and navigate complex relationships. Will your allies admire or despise you? Are you ready to lead mankind?
Build deep relationships with your crew and the heroes you enlist during the campaign.
Navigate an expansive galaxy map, brimming with dialogue opportunities and regions to explore or dominate.
Cooperative missions is a mode where 3 players fight against AI in campaign-like missions. This open-ended mode is inspired by the success and replayability found in StarCraft II Co-op.
Galactic Warfare takes your role beyond a traditional commander. Join guilds, form alliances, and partake in a galactic sized tug of war that is set on a persistent galaxy map that hosts thousands of players. Conquer space stations, planets, and more in either co-op or competitive style battles!
Galactic Warfare is a stretch goal. While our team has experience creating large, connected multiplayer worlds, achieving this ambitious goal requires the additional support from passionate backers like you.
Our core multiplayer philosophies revolve around player expression, match up variation, multiple avenues of engagement, streamlined gameplay, and well-paced game volatility. We’re building a game with lots of strategic depth - like mixing primary factions with a second faction and special hero to craft something unique to your play style - to make sure no match ever feels the same or meta-gamed.
We've been testing our versus mode for over 2 years with leaders in the RTS community like PiG, GiantGrantGames, CatZ and more recently, Scarlett. We're excited to bring you a truly deep and thrilling competitive experience.
Versus is set to be our primary competitive mode. Our goal is to release two major game-transforming updates annually, with periodic balance tweaks as needed. Right from the outset, players can expect comprehensive ranking systems and leaderboards. For the hardest of the hardcore RTS veterans, we've ensured fully customizable hotkeys and adaptable in-game menus tailored to meet your preferences.
Best of 3 Show-match between Fatman and Maguro:
Set in the Orion arm of the Milky Way in 4050, ZeroSpace thrusts you into a universe where diverse alien and human factions vie for dominance. The fragile peace, upheld by the inter-species Keeper Council, is on the brink, threatened by enigmatic events. As the human Prefect of the Protectorate, you're summoned to join the Council and unravel a cosmic mystery, encountering unknown aliens and journeying through uncharted space.
Command a diverse crew, each hailing from unique cultures. Engage them as mission companions, converse to uncover their histories, and embark on loyalty quests tailored to their personalities. Every hero crew member brings a distinct play style aligned with their character, enriching your tactical options.
Choose from 4 base building factions and 6 non-base building mercenary factions. Each one having their own unique gameplay style.
Protectorate: A military branch that is in charge of protecting human worlds. They are experts in all manner of combat environments.
Grell: A symbiotic alien bug species that aids in the growth of Koru plants by suppressing competing alien flora. In return, they draw nourishment from the Koru. Noted for their world-terraforming abilities, they exhibit aggression towards other species.
06-Sept-2023 Update: Get to Know The Grell:
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Get to Know the Grell
We’ve got a brand new video — this time, an overview of the Grell, with some basics on their buildings and unique attributes on the faction.
And in case you missed it, check out our Striker unit showcase:
Additionally, check out their Behemoth unit showcase:
Lastly, their Thresher unit showcase:
Plus two soon-to-be-announced factions!
12-Sept-2023 Update: The Xol+ Show Spoiler +
The Xol take to embodiment through polymeric-metals, and this malleability gives them the ability to merge with one another into completely different units to increase their power level and strategically changing their identity and utility.
Lore background:
"The Xol started as an advanced general “AI”, created for the purpose of serving their Masters, who eventually abandoned them. Often misunderstood as villainous beings, they have been on a long quest of self-discovery, starting by embodying their once trapped minds into the physical realm, allowing them to learn through experience and pursue their new found ambitions."
Gameplay overview:
"The Xol take to embodiment through polymeric-metals, and this malleability gives them the ability to merge with one another into completely different units to increase their power level and strategically changing their identity and utility.
This flexibility makes the Xol in ZeroSpace a highly adaptable faction. With just a small pool of base units, they’ll be able to create complex and specialized armies in turn. Tentatively, Xol units will also have the ability to 'split' and assume their former identities when tactically called for."
For more info see their official Team Liquid write-up: https://tl.net/forum/games/616163-zerospace-xol-faction-reveal
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September 15 Update:
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Greetings, Commanders.
As we enter the final days of the ZeroSpace Kickstarter, we’re excited to introduce the fourth playable faction in ZeroSpace: The Legion.
The Legion offers a unique blend of gameplay mechanics focused on three versatile heroes, powerful customizable tanks, and basic units called Thralls. Players must carefully manage how they spend flux, as upgrading heroes and tanks to their maximum potential requires significant flux investment.
Watch Grant’s gameplay video for details on the Legion:
Lore
“The Imperion sat in his iron chair, a remnant of old age molted brown and red, symbolizing the strength of their heritage. It was the Idals who led them through conflict after conflict as the victors of history, and they must be revered. The Imperion closed his eyes and recited the first verse of the Idals, sharpening his mind and allowing him to think more clearly. There were 367 verses in total, and he recited one each day, resting for one day after reciting them all. He did not know why there were 367 verses, but that was how it had always been.
The galaxy had almost been cleansed, with all species that could be uplifted already uplifted. Those that were incompatible with the Idals were redone. Only a few synthetics remained. They needed to be eradicated as they had no essence, only capable of what they were programmed to do.
The Danrubics posed the final threat to the Imperion, as they held ancient knowledge, possibly of the Idals' weakness. They had already committed the worst atrocity a synthetic could achieve by overthrowing their masters and participating in mass genocide.
Those masters were once a proud race with knowledge beyond even the Imperion's understanding, but their ways led to the arrival of the Danrubics, whom the Imperion had warned would be their downfall. Now, it was his responsibility to clean up the mess.”
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There’s only a few days to go to back ZeroSpace on Kickstarter. If you haven’t already, we hope you’ll consider, and if you have, we’d love if you shared the news with your friends. Every dollar that you put into the project helps us achieve our vision of delivering the incredible, next-gen RTS the community deserves.
Marran: A military faction that protects their worlds and hardly ventures beyond. They focus on community and security, but can easily be compared to the Protectorate in values.
Valkaru: A pro-war species that splits its people into two sides and battles to see which side is stronger. They are known for starting wars with other species as well.
Dread Raiders: A scavenger faction dwelling on the galaxy's outskirts. While broadly perceived as villains, they operate with a 'Robin Hood' ethos, redistributing wealth to ensure the prosperity of fringe human colonies.
Plus three soon-to-be-announced factions.
September 16 and 17 Update:
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New Merc Factions: The Koru and The Savage Kingdom.
Greetings, Commanders.
🦾We’ve got just over two more days to go, we’re excited to show off two new mercenary factions! 🦾
📺 Check out the video of the lore and the units of these two factions here:
📚The Koru Lore:
“On each planet inhabited by the Koru, there exists a singular, conscious plant network that flourishes in water-rich environments, extending its roots and vines deep into the surface. Adapting to overcome their vulnerability to environmental changes, the Koru have the ability to manipulate their surroundings, employing animated roots to instigate phenomena like earthquakes and river diversions.
For eons, they have maintained a symbiotic relationship with the Grell, who act as their protectors and assist in uprooting other vegetation and terraforming, while receiving nourishment from the Koru in return. Each Koru presence on a planet is a distinct consciousness, spreading its cognitive functions across the entire world through its network of neural roots. Though the specifics of their interstellar propagation remain a mystery, it is believed that they spread by embedding their seeds in either spacecraft or living hosts, occasionally lying dormant within a host until conditions are suitable for germination. “
📚The Savage Kingdom Lore:
“For millennia, the Savage Kingdom has worshiped a mythic Leviathan whose last sighting dates back a thousand years. Infusing ancient ritualistic practices with cutting-edge biotechnology, they practice what others call “blood magic”. This practice involves the precise extraction, amplification and infusion of bio-energetic substances to enhance their physical and cognitive abilities. This harmonious yet fearsome blend of science and mysticism safeguards their civilization, situated on the precipice between the spiritual and the empirical, ever awaiting the return of their cosmic deity.“
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The Arandhi:
Arandi Lore:
“Beyond the boundaries of familiar space, the Arandi Empire stands as a testament to time and knowledge. Living far beyond mankind's domains, the Arandi are the oldest known empire in the galaxy.
As a civilization, the Arandi have reached self-sustaining levels to where the expansion of their borders is trivial and exceedingly uninteresting to them. Instead, they like to explore the cosmos; meeting new sentient life-forms and learning their ways, with the hope to bond together in celebration of their common origin as children of the stars. The Arandi are unmistakable in appearance, with flowing tendrils used in varied tasks, some as complex as connecting to and operating advanced technological machinery.
The Arandi's mastery over interdimensional energy is a marvel to behold. With it, they reshape the very fabric of existence—warping physical objects or traveling vast distances in the blink of an eye; there are whispers that the Arandi have even found a way to escape death. Yet, this formidable power is shrouded in secrecy, zealously guarded by their leadership trio, the Triarchs. Their relationship with the Endari, kin who share a similar energy mastery, is fraught with tension and distrust, casting a complex web of interstellar politics.
While their pursuits are largely peaceful and introspective, one should not be fooled. The Arandi's military, though rarely venturing beyond their borders, possesses technological might that remains unrivaled, serving as a silent reminder of their dominion in the galaxy."
We've teamed up with another accomplished studio to bring you the best game possible. With top-tier expertise leading versus, campaign, and coop modes, our combined team comprises over 35 seasoned developers deeply passionate about both the RPG and RTS genres.
Our teams come with a proven track record in the gaming industry. Members from Starlance Studios contributed to the creation of 'Guardian Kingdoms', a head-to-head mobile RTS, notably featuring 20 vs 20 real-time guild battles. Ironward successfully developed the renowned 'Red Solstice' franchise, which has been well-received on Steam.
You can find more info on their twitter, Facebook, Discord, YouTube Channel, and Reddit. For their full LinkTree see here.
More Videos and Information:
+ Show Spoiler +
These videos are not on their main campaign page, likely because they want you to subscribe to the channels. Which makes sense! So go subscribe to these channels to help the project.
GiantGrantGames - ZeroSpace Trailer:
GiantGrantGames - Introduction to Zerospace:
WinterStarcraft - Campaign and Multiplayer Gameplay
BeastyQTSC2 - Trying Out ZeroSpace RTS First Look!
PiG - NEW RTS?! First gameplay look - SC2 PROS helped design this INSANE NEW RTS | ZeroSpace
//TheDougler Comment: This is a 1v1 between Grant and Scarlett, casted by PiG. Worth checking out!
GiantGrantGames - ZeroSpace Trailer:
GiantGrantGames - Introduction to Zerospace:
WinterStarcraft - Campaign and Multiplayer Gameplay
BeastyQTSC2 - Trying Out ZeroSpace RTS First Look!
PiG - NEW RTS?! First gameplay look - SC2 PROS helped design this INSANE NEW RTS | ZeroSpace
//TheDougler Comment: This is a 1v1 between Grant and Scarlett, casted by PiG. Worth checking out!
Post Updates:
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//TheDougler Comment: I hadn't expected this post to end up being the official ZeroSpace post! I'll happily take on the role of custodian of this post and have tidied it up and updated it accordingly, and will continue to do so until the end of the campaign.
12-Sept-2023: Removed my comment at the beginning of the post:
I've noticed no-one posted this yet, and I wonder if it's because of the main platform being used to advertise it. So, pursuant to TL's rules I won't link that, but I'll copy-paste the game info here. Scarlett, CatZ, and PiG are all working on this game, and it looks great!
12-Sept-2023: Added The Xol, Get to Know the Grell, and External Videos, added this update section, updated social media links, updated the Team info. Also some minor formatting improvements.
17-Sept-2023 Added The Legion, The Koru, and The Arandhi. Changed the Mercenary Factions image and Main Factions Image.