Interstellar highway sim Star Trucker has set a release date for September 3, 2024, announcing it with a chill new trailer during today's PC Gaming Show. Set to twanging Americana, the trailer shows the life of a big-rig space trucker as the lumbering ship rolls through the retrofuturistic cosmos and deals with the usual issues of star trucking life.
There's stuff like solar flares and micrometeor impacts disabling your equipment and requiring a savvy fix, sure, but also things like sassy radio chatter with other truckers, clogged interstellar highways, and the occasional bit of contraband transporting. There's even a promising little bit where the trucker, disabled by a flare, reaches for their radio to call in some help.
Developer Monster & Monster says it puts an "interstellar twist" on the truck sim genre. One where you get certified for ever-more-hazardous cargos and understanding the dangers of a route, and its demands on your truck's systems, will let you prosper. After all, a flat tire on the interstate isn't the worst thing ever, but a blown-out radiator in space might leave you properly cooked.
Star Trucker sets itself apart from other space sims by having an emphasis on the mood and a more relaxed, arcade-style simulation element than more hardcore, hard sci-fi games about space cargo. It first came to our attention early last year, captured our imagination at Gamescom 2023, and really quite charmed PC Gamer Editor Fraser Brown during the last Steam Next Fest.
"Despite the sci-fi setting, Star Trucker is obsessed with '70s Americana and the romanticisation of life on the road. It's full of accents dripping in southern drawl, the radio spits out country blues and rock, and I can only assume the diners still serve disappointing coffee. It's full of playfully retro artefacts and charm—personality that sets it apart from its grounded predecessors," he said, emphasizing the delight it takes in the technical specs of its sluggish, even frustrating space big-rigs.
You can find Star Trucker on Steam where you can wishlist it ahead of that September 3 release date.
