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Starbound

Game overview

Starbound

You’ve fled your home, only to find yourself lost in space with a damaged ship. Your only option is to beam down to the planet below, repair your ship and set off to explore the universe...

Open World Survival Craft Sandbox Survival Space Adventure
Last tracked players
815
All-time peak
995
24-hour change
Unavailable
Steam reviews
92.3% positive
164,906 reviews · via SteamSpy

Delayed observation · last tracked . Values marked unavailable are not estimated.

About this game Read the full description

In Starbound, you create your own story - there’s no wrong way to play! You may choose to save the universe from the forces that destroyed your home, uncovering greater galactic mysteries in the process, or you may wish to forego a heroic journey entirely in favor of colonizing uncharted planets.

Settle down and farm the land, become an intergalactic landlord, hop from planet to planet collecting rare creatures, or delve into dangerous dungeons and lay claim to extraordinary treasures.

Discover ancient temples and modern metropolises, trees with eyes, and mischievous penguins. Make use of hundreds of materials and over two thousand objects to build a sleepy secluded cabin in the woods, a medieval castle, underwater arcade, or even a space station.

Starbound has been built from the ground up to be multiplayer and easily moddable. You have the tools to make the universe your own and modify the game to suit your play style - add new items, races, planet types, dungeons, and quests - the possibilities are limitless.

  • Choose from one of 7 playable races and customize your character

  • Save the universe in an epic story campaign featuring colorful characters, bosses, dungeons, and quests!

  • You're the captain of your very own starship! Decorate it, expand it, and use it to explore a procedurally generated universe

  • Colonize uncharted planets and collect gifts from your tenants - if they like you, they may even ask to join your ship crew!

  • Three game modes - Casual (no need to eat), Survival (eat to survive/drop items on death) and Hardcore (permadeath)

  • Craft thousands of objects - building materials, armor, weapons, furniture and more

  • Capture unique monsters to fight alongside you

  • All content is available in online drop-in/drop-out co-op

  • Built from the ground up to be easily moddable. You have the tools to make the universe however you'd like it

Player activity

Concurrent players over the last 48 hours.

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Price history

Last 30 days ? prices in the selected region?s currency.

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10th Anniversary Vinyl Announcement 1.4.4 Hotfix Patch Notes Get one of 2023's best roguelikes dirt cheap in new Steam sale
System requirements Windows · macOS · Linux

Windows

Minimum

Minimum:
  • OS *: Windows XP or later
  • Processor: Core 2 Duo
  • Memory: 2 GB RAM
  • Graphics: 256 MB graphics memory and directx 9.0c compatible gpu
  • DirectX: Version 9.0c
  • Network: Broadband Internet connection
  • Storage: 3 GB available space

Recommended

Recommended:
  • OS *: Windows XP or later
  • Processor: Core i3
  • Memory: 4 GB RAM
  • Graphics: Discrete GPU capable of directx 9.0c
  • DirectX: Version 9.0c
  • Network: Broadband Internet connection
  • Storage: 4 GB available space

macOS

Minimum

Minimum:
  • OS: OS 10.9 or later
  • Processor: 64 bit Intel CPU
  • Memory: 2 GB RAM
  • Network: Broadband Internet connection
  • Storage: 3 GB available space

Recommended

Recommended:
  • OS: OS 10.9 or later
  • Processor: 64 bit Intel CPU
  • Memory: 4 GB RAM
  • Network: Broadband Internet connection
  • Storage: 4 GB available space

Linux

Minimum

Minimum:
  • OS: Debian Stable or Ubuntu 12.04 LTS or later
  • Processor: Core 2 Duo
  • Memory: 2 GB RAM
  • Graphics: 256 MB graphics memory and opengl 2.1 compatible gpu
  • Network: Broadband Internet connection
  • Storage: 3 GB available space

Recommended

Recommended:
  • OS: Debian Stable or Ubuntu 12.04 LTS or later
  • Processor: Core i3
  • Memory: 4 GB RAM
  • Graphics: 256 MB graphics memory and opengl 2.1 compatible discrete gpu
  • Network: Broadband Internet connection
  • Storage: 4 GB available space
Game details Languages, features & support
Publisher
Chucklefish
USK rating
6
Brazilian rating
10
Steam Germany rating
12
Achievements
51
Metacritic
81
Features
Single-player, Multi-player, PvP, Online PvP, Co-op, Online Co-op, Cross-Platform Multiplayer, Steam Achievements, Steam Trading Cards, Steam Workshop, Family Sharing
Languages
English*
*languages with full audio support
Compatibility & accessibility Steam Deck, controllers & access features

Can I Play This?

Steam declarations and Valve's Steam Deck compatibility result. Missing data is shown as unknown, never unsupported.

Sources fresh
Native Steam builds
Windows: unknown
macOS: unknown
Linux: unknown
Steam Deck
playable
Valve compatibility test
The on-screen keyboard may need to be opened manually.
Input
Controller support: unknown
Structured language support (1)
LanguageInterfaceFull audioSubtitles
EnglishYesYesNo

Third-party requirements shown by Steam

Requires agreement to a 3rd-party EULA Starbound EULA
Steam store page fresh · checked 2026-11-02 PCGamingWiki technical notes External link only; SteamIQHQ does not ingest PCGamingWiki content.
More analysis Activity patterns, updates & developer tools

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Game Insights

Buy Verdict

Wait — $14.99.

Wait for upcoming sale in ~13 days for potentially better pricing.

▬ ~13 days until next sale

Value Score

Great Value — 94th percentile.

Price-to-player ratio ranks in the 94th percentile. Priced as Budget at $5.99.

▲ Budget pricing tier

Genre Benchmarks

Player Count Top 6%
Value Ratio Top 6%

Activity Heatmap

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Update Timeline

Steam News observations with inferred categories. CCU and review comparisons are associations, not proof of causation.

Source: Steam News
Freshness: stale
Observed Nov 10, 2026 05:49 UTC
Meaningful updates
0
Last 365 days
Last meaningful update
Insufficient data
Median cadence
Insufficient data
At least four meaningful updates in the 365-day window are required.

[p]Today marks 10 years since Starbound launched into 1.0, and to celebrate we've teamed up with composer Curtis Schweitzer, illustrator Kkcit, and the team at Lost in Cult on a brand new [url="https://www.lostincult.co.uk/starbound"]Starbound: 10th Anniversary soundtrack 2xLP vi…

Jul 22, 2026 at 15:17 UTC Community Announcements By Superconsole medium update proxy (inferred) External source

Hi everyone! Tiny changelist to resolve a launch issue: [list] [*] Fixed issue preventing launch on new MacOS since Sequoia 15.1 update [/list]

Nov 19, 2024 at 14:05 UTC Community Announcements By Superconsole medium update proxy (inferred) External source
CCU association: Insufficient data Samples: 0 before, 0 after
Review association: Insufficient data Samples: 0 before, 0 after

Well-known indie game developer and publisher Chucklefish is celebrating its anniversary this year with a commemorative Steam sale. There are heavy discounts on many of their most beloved titles, ranging from the older Starbound to the newer roguelike hit Wildfrost. With everythi…

May 31, 2023 at 13:34 UTC PCGamesN By [email protected] small update proxy (inferred) External source

Starbound isn't the same game it was a week and a half ago. Five updates have come and gone since the Terraria-alike entered open beta on December 4, and left Change with a capital 'Chuh' in their wake. They've variously eased entry into the game's systems, rewritten its levellin…

Aug 03, 2021 at 15:34 UTC PCGamesN By [email protected] medium update proxy (inferred) External source
CCU association: Insufficient data Samples: 0 before, 0 after
Review association: Insufficient data Samples: 0 before, 0 after

Chucklefish has issued a statement in response to multiple allegations that it exploited around a dozen volunteer contributors on the 2016 outer-space exploration game Starbound. The complaints came to light earlier this week when Damon Reece, who is credited as a writer on the g…

Aug 31, 2019 at 23:29 UTC PC Gamer medium update proxy (inferred) External source
CCU association: Insufficient data Samples: 0 before, 0 after
Review association: Insufficient data Samples: 0 before, 0 after

Sci-fi survival game Starbound, still one of the best space games on PC, has finally added bounty hunting. First announced way back in September 2017, the 1.4 Bounty Hunter update adds a new Peacekeeper faction aimed at corralling criminals and restoring law and order to the univ…

Jun 16, 2019 at 15:47 UTC PC Gamer medium update proxy (inferred) External source
CCU association: Insufficient data Samples: 0 before, 0 after
Review association: Insufficient data Samples: 0 before, 0 after

[img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/4471358/961f031e792b8323e4f00cfa1890fed1817aa4f2.gif[/img] We're excited to announce the release of [b]Starbound 1.4[/b] - the 'Bounty Hunter' update! In this update players can become bounty hunters, seeking…

Jun 13, 2019 at 14:52 UTC Community Announcements By Katzeus large update proxy (inferred) External source
CCU association: Insufficient data Samples: 0 before, 0 after
Review association: Insufficient data Samples: 0 before, 0 after

The contents of this article are not safe for work.I totally get why people jerk off to Skyrim. I'm not trying to be facetious here. From an objective, ontological perspective, I get it. If you're going to spend half a decade playing the same game—furnishing living spaces, brewin…

Jun 23, 2018 at 21:39 UTC PC Gamer large update proxy (inferred) External source
CCU association: Insufficient data Samples: 0 before, 0 after
Review association: Insufficient data Samples: 0 before, 0 after

Today's Deal: Save 40% on Starbound!*Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are!*Offer ends Tuesday at 10AM Pacific Time

Jun 03, 2018 at 17:00 UTC Announcement By Valve small update proxy (inferred)

[url=https://playstarbound.com/133-patchnotes/]Original Post[/url] Hey, everyone! Things are busy here as we’re still hard at work on the 1.4 update. A number of players have been encountering a crash bug when switching between weapons of the same type, so we decided to address t…

Oct 18, 2017 at 16:18 UTC Community Announcements By mollygos medium update proxy (inferred) External source
CCU association: Insufficient data Samples: 0 before, 0 after
Review association: Insufficient data Samples: 0 before, 0 after

Developer Analytics

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Starbound worth buying right now?
Wait — $14.99. Wait for upcoming sale in ~13 days for potentially better pricing.
When does Starbound go on sale?
Wait for upcoming sale in ~13 days for potentially better pricing.
Is Starbound free to play?
Starbound costs $14.99 on Steam.
What genre is Starbound?
Starbound is a Action, Adventure, Casual, Indie, RPG game.
Who developed Starbound?
Starbound was developed by Chucklefish and published by Chucklefish.
What platforms does Starbound support?
Available on Steam for Windows, macOS, Linux.

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