Don't Starve devs announce spaceship survival game Dread Pilots

The studio behind Don't Starve and Oxygen Not Included today announced their next survival game, a sandbox spaceship game named Dread Pilots. Klei Entertainment this time will send us into a hostile pocket dimension known as the Dread, aimed with only our wits and our wee ship. It's on you to explore, trade, steal, upgrade, avoid, befriend, ally, and murder your way to survival. The game is due to enter early access next year so for now, content yourself with the announcement trailer below.

"The Dread is a pocket dimension somewhere between deep space and a nightmare," Klei explain. "You face mutated, carnivorous plant life, mind-bending anomalies, living computers, fanatical cults, space vampires and more as you traverse its many regions in a desperate search for resources and allies. Explore dark infected caverns, soar past glistening technological landscapes, and navigate chaotic mineral fields, all animated in Klei Entertainment's signature hand-drawn 2D style."

It sounds a bit like a more futuristic, less literary sort of Sunless Sea? Or a bit like Klei's own Griftlands but as a spaceship sandbox in hell? Whatever combination of things it is, I'm always interested in a new game from Klei. They've earned my curiosity as they deftly danced across so many genres, from survival to stealth and parkour and beyond.

Dread Pilots is due to launch into early access on Steam in 2024. Klei have taken so many games through early access that I'm not worried about that getting derailed, though I might wait for the full and finished release.

NotE3 and Summer Game Fest 2023 is over for another year. You can find out all the latest news by visiting our E3 2023 hub, or you can catch up with our round-up posts of everything that was announced at Summer Game Fest, the Xbox Games Showcase, the PC Gaming Show, Day Of The Devs, and our top highlights from the Wholesome Direct.