Stellaris is getting a VR roguelite that lets you explore the galaxy face-first

Fantasies about being a space captain often seem to revolve around the idea of ​​being sat in a nice comfy chair on the bridge of a starship that’s suspiciously like a living room. Developers Fast Travel Games aren’t the first to figure out that this eminently nerdy dream fits VR really well, but they’re the ones making it happen for the Stellaris universe, with new roguelite game Ghost Signal. Stick on your space helmet and watch the trailer below.

Fast Travel seem to be going for a No Man’s Sky vibe, if that was entirely set in space in VR with no planetside action. You’ll be able to zip about in your star-going TV license enforcement van in search for the elusive ghost signal, chatting with aliens, dodging massive floating beasties, and fighting other ships. There’ll also be plenty of research to conduct and scan alien things, because it’s science fiction. They love scanning things in sci-fi. I note that the devs say there are both atomic missiles other dragon companions, so I’m just going to pretend it’s Stargate.

Ghost Signal is definitely a Stellaris joint. You can tell because there’s aliens that look like snails, and some sort of tortoise-cabbage, who appear on your viewscreen at the special Stellaris angle that all extraterrestrials insist on standing at all the time. I’ve always dreamed of being a starship captain, so games such as Star Trek: Bridge Crew and this are right up my interstellar avenue. VR makes me a bit queasy though, but I can probably manage to explore at least a bit of the galaxy before clumsily reaching for a bag.

Proper Stellaris just received a free update earlier this week to coincide with the release of its new DLC, the Toxoids species pack. The 3.5 Fornax update pops a new beginner difficulty setting into the space strategy game, along with adjustments Paradox hope will challenge players who’ve been with Stellaris for a while. The devs have also rebalanced relics, and tweaked the AI ​​to make it competitive but believable within the Stellaris universe.

Ghost Signal: A Stellaris Game releases in early 2023 for Meta Quest 2. There’s more about the game on its official site here.