STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions ‘Gameplay Reveal’ Video Details a Co-op, Time-Limited Adventure

System Era Softworks and publisher Devolver Digital have dropped an extensive 17-minute ‘Gameplay Reveal’ video for STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions, providing a detailed look at the new co-op adventure game set in the Astroneer universe. The game is slated for release in 2026 for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2.

The developers emphasize that this is not Astroneer 2, but a new genre focusing on collaborative, session-based missions.

The Core Gameplay Loop: Prepare, Deploy, Return

The showcase detailed a three-step cycle for your life as a recruit in the Fronteer Force aboard the Experimental Space Station (ESS) Starseeker:

1. Gear Up (The ESS Starseeker):
   • The Starseeker is your persistent home base, a massive, ever-evolving space station where you and other players hang out.
   • Here, you shop, craft, and trade to prepare your loadout for the next mission. Players can bring essential tools, but also goofy items like beach balls, encouraging the series’ signature chaotic fun.
2. Deploy (Expeditions):
   • Players set out solo or in squads of up to four on timed missions to alien worlds.
   • The “clock is ticking” from the moment you land, with a limited oxygen supply forcing you to complete objectives and extract before time runs out.
   • Objectives showcased included repairing critical equipment gooped up by alien fauna and carrying a relay to the highest peak on the planet.
3. Return (Survival & Rewards):
   • If you successfully extract, you return to the ESS Starseeker to claim rewards and rep gains from the Fronteer Force.
   • The focus is on improvisation, co-operation, and “delightful shenanigans,” with the developer noting that players are not always expected to succeed in every mission.

Key Features and Differences from Astroneer

• Focus on Expeditions, Not Survival/Base Building: Unlike Astroneer’s open-world, survival, and automation focus, STARSEEKER is a mission-based “expedition game.”
• Handcrafted Planets: The first planet revealed, Tephra (a lush world with vast oceans and jungles), is entirely handcrafted, allowing players to revisit specific points of interest. As squads progress, new Landing Zones unlock with tougher challenges.
• Terraforming Tools Reimagined: The familiar Terrain Tool returns, but is used more for utility and traversal than for industrial mining. It can be modified with nozzles to remove terrain, build land bridges, shoot water to clear alien “goop,” and even launch players or alien life into the air.
• The ESS Starseeker is a Shared Space: The Starseeker acts like a persistent, communal hub, where players work together on planet-wide objectives across star systems that contribute to a larger, shared narrative goal.
• New Fauna and Flora: The planets are full of alien life, from small “carrotlings” (cannibalistic carrot-like creatures) to larger, more dangerous beasts, but the game maintains Astroneer’s optimistic sci-fi tone—you are there to study, not just to fight.

Astroneer Megatech DLC Tease

The STARSEEKER reveal video also included a sneak peek at the new Megatech DLC coming to the original Astroneer in November 2025. This content will focus on new large-scale automation and building features, ensuring the original game continues to receive support.