The Starside – OCT.24.2026

Lead Your Next Expedition!

Greetings, Wayfarers!

Lead the Way Update 8.8.0 is here! Our biggest update yet brings new professions for exploring together and more ways to shape the places you call home. We’re gathering on Sunday for a Fireside with Raph and a Boss Battle Buffet, and there’s a Harvestwake Festival to start building for, too!

New Ways to Explore Together

Your next expedition has a few more possibilities:

• Support your crew with Leadership. Ready your Leader Staff to reduce nearby players’ Focus costs, restore your allies’ Focus, and coordinate with group signals and rally points.
• Choose your opening with Stealth. Mask your scent, hide, or sneak into position for a powerful opening attack. Concealment affects creature detection; other players can still see you.
• Share the route with Cartography. Nearby group members share survey credit, and tradeable waypoint items let you pass useful locations along. Surveyed squares expire after seven real-world days, including time offline. Complete tradeable maps and a HUD minimap remain in development.
• Make more room at home. All characters on your account can access your homesteads. Larger storage and a ten-crate limit give your supplies more space, while the new building interface adds finer placement controls.

Rangers also gain fire and ice abilities, while Medics and Pistoleers receive expanded combat options. Creature groups have new tactics to watch for, and planetary governments gain more tools for their communities.

Existing governments: Votes and candidacies have been reset. Current mayors remain in office as a fresh 14-day election period begins. Register your candidacy and vote again!

Read the full Lead the Way Update 8.8.0 notes.

Gather Around the Fireside with Raph

Sunday, October 25, at 10 AM PT

Join Raph Koster on Twitch for a conversation about Lead the Way Update 8.8.0 and upcoming content. Spend some time with us as we talk through the update and what’s coming next.

Save Room for the Boss Battle Buffet

Sunday, October 25, at noon PT

After the Fireside, meet us in Stars Reach and Discord voice chat for a Boss Battle Buffet. Bring your crew and try out those new abilities together. With creatures learning to support one another, we’ll have good reason to do the same!

See Sunday’s event details.

Kickstarter Backers: Rewards Are on the Way

We’re preparing another delivery of the rewards included with your pledges, including the wallpaper and an In-Game Signed ‘Thank You’ Poster building item for eligible backers (Reacher tier and above). The digital art book will also be arriving, emailed separately to backers who purchased that add-on.

If your pledge includes the Signed Poster, its entitlement is already attached to your backer tier key. You simply need to log in and check your character’s inventory.

Thank you for helping bring Stars Reach to life. We look forward to seeing those posters find a place in your homes!

Come Home for Something Haunted

Harvestwake quests are now available aboard the space stations. Pumpkins can drop from all missions during the season, and the people preparing for the celebration could use your help.

There’s also a place for your own creations in the festivities. Build a haunted homestead or a welcoming hall for unexpected guests, and enter our Harvestwake building contest!

On Saturday, October 31, at 2 PM PT, we’ll tour and judge player builds live on Twitch.

To enter: Post your build’s location in the contest channel on Discord by noon PT on October 31.
Prizes: 

• First Prize: DESIGN A PUBLIC PLANET EXPERIENCE! Plus 30,000 Klatuus & Special Edition Stars Reach Merch 
• Second Prize: 20,000 Klatuus & Special Edition Stars Reach Merch
• Third Prize: 10,000 Klatuus & Special Edition Stars Reach Merch 

Join the festival in game that day, too. Go trick-or-treating between player builds, or host a festive activity for visiting Wayfarers. The developers may even have tricks or treats to hand out at inhabited places they visit during the stream…

Seasonal quests end on Monday, November 2. Read more here!

Whether you’re taking your crew into the wilderness or preparing a home for Harvestwake visitors, we’d love to spend some of the coming week with you. See you among the stars, Wayfarers!

The Stars Reach Team