Stellar Tactics finally has a full release date. Developer Don Wilkins has confirmed that the sci-fi RPG will leave Early Access on March 30, 2026, closing out a very long development stretch that began with its Steam debut on September 22, 2016.
In the announcement, Wilkins thanked players for their feedback, bug reports, suggestions, and patience over the years, while saying the next few weeks will be spent on minor adjustments, fixing remaining issues, and getting the game ready for version 1.0.
Stellar Tactics has been one of those sprawling indie projects that kept growing while staying a little hard to pin down. It mixes two distinct loops. One is squad-based, turn-based ground combat in the style of classic CRPGs.
The other is open-ended space travel built around ship management, exploration, trading, mining, boarding actions, and faction-driven travel across a huge procedural galaxy with over 160,000 star systems to explore, classless progression, and 240 perks that let players shape specialists or build more flexible all-rounders.
Stellar Tactics leans into tactical encounters against mutants, raiders, pirates, scavengers, and other hostile forces, with weapon choice, positioning, and squad growth doing most of the heavy lifting. Away from those fights, the space layer opens up into a sandbox full of jobs and systems.
Players can customize from a roster of 40 ships, specialize vessels for combat, cargo, mining, or exploration, disable enemy craft and board them with an away team, scan planets for materials and hidden opportunities, and work the commodity economy through mining, refining, and Trade Net routes.
The current state of the Early Access build features the prologue, all story chapters, and all core systems. The stated goal for the remaining Early Access period is not to add another layer of big headline features, but to focus on polish, tuning, bug fixing, and quality of life work.
Stellar Tactics is trying to cover a lot of ground in one package. It has a story built around a genetically engineered mercenary, a galaxy dealing with a disease called Phage, and enough systemic space sim elements to make crew building, equipment loadouts, ship upgrades, and resource management feel like more than side activities. You can find the game on Steam and GOG.
