Interstellar War: Fleet Battles
In development · free · browser

One galaxy.
Everyone in it.

We are building a persistent space MMO that runs in a browser tab. The goal is one shared galaxy where crews shape prices and borders, and the world keeps turning while you are away. Take a ship out on your own, or fill the bridge with friends and argue about the reactor. The whole game will be free. Nothing that helps you win is for sale.

Follow development What a night out looks like The public demo is not open yet. A closed, invited playtest comes first.
One shared galaxyEveryone flies the same sky, on the same server
Solo or crewOne pair of hands, or a bridge full of friends
Free, and wholeNo trial, no card, no advantage for sale
In your browserOne tab and a keyboard, on a normal laptop
Playable now flown in development builds; public access is not open In the works partly built or awaiting playtesting Planned designed, not built yet

// Where development stands

Closed playtesting comes first

Flight, combat, mining, docking and travel between stars have been played in development builds, along with player orders, trading, refits, building your own parts, insurance and the influence map. Crew, comms and politics have had partial playtests, and titles and experience have had their first.

A host is running on our own hardware and survives a restart without dropping anyone; backups, monitoring and a restore rehearsal come next. The practice flight, the sound effects and the music still need a proper play, and fame and the law have only had a first look.

The public demo is not open yet, and there is no release date. A small invited playtest comes first. Development worlds are reset between tests.

Updated

Playable now

The core game

Flight, combat, mining, docking, jumping, trading, refits, industry and account setup have been played in development builds.

In the works

Preparing for players

Backups and monitoring, a listen through the sound, a first new player through the practice flight, and the seventh round of playtesting.

Planned

Still to come

Balance above the first tier, NPCs that fight back, contracts, deeper detection and combat, and a public demo after the invited playtest.

See what comes next · Read the development log

// A night out

One evening, from undocking to the bill

This is the evening we are building towards, for one player or for six. The badges show which parts have been flown and which still need work. All console panels on this page are illustrative previews, drawn for the site rather than captured from a running game. Their prices, contacts and damage are examples.

01 · Leaving

You find a promising trade route

The station board is a list of what the place is short of, and this week it is short of ore. Nobody has brought any in for days. Buy where it is cheap, carry it three jumps to a dock that is paying properly, and hope the dock is still paying when you get there.

You'll spend longer at the board than you meant to, and the prices keep moving while you make up your mind.

MarketAshfall Free PortLiveIn the works
Refined ore412 units▲ 18%
Reactor cells96 units▲ 7%
Hull plate1,240 units▼ 4%
Medical38 units▲ 31%
Luxuries510 units▼ 12%
02 · Company

Something out there saw you first

A contact appears at the edge of the scope, and you cannot tell yet what it is. If you keep your sensors quiet you stay hard to find, but you're guessing at everything around you. Light the array and you get a clear picture of the sky, and everyone out there gets a clear look at you.

Most nights you guess right and dock without any trouble, but not every night.

ContactsBearing 041ClosingPlanned
Unknown, heavy14.2 kmClosing
Unknown, escort15.8 kmClosing
Hauler, Orfine62.0 kmHolding
Wreck field8.4 kmStatic
Mine, drifting3.1 kmArmed
03 · The argument

Your reactor only makes so much

The guns want power, the shields want power, and the engines want more than either of them, usually at the same moment. There is never enough to go round, so you choose who goes short. Get the balance right and the fight starts going your way.

Everyone gets it wrong sometimes, usually in a fight they thought they'd already won. The board turns amber and the whole bridge starts talking at once.

PowerReactor busContestedPlayable now
Reactor output 84%
Shields 61%
Weapon charge 38%
Engines 72%
Coolant margin 11%
04 · The bill

Somebody has to go aft

A hit here does not shave a few points off a health bar. It opens a compartment to vacuum and knocks out whatever was bolted to the wall in there. Nothing repairs itself. If you want the coolant loop back, someone has to unstrap, walk aft and patch it while the shooting is still going on.

Flying alone, that's you, and the ship holds its heading while you're away from the helm. With a crew, it's the mechanic's job.

Deck 2Damage controlBreachPlayable now
HabHabMedGalStrAir CorVacVacCoolCorLift BayBayPwrEngEngAft

Two compartments open to space. Coolant loop degraded. Mechanic on the way.

05 · Afterwards

The galaxy remembers you were there

You limp into dock with half a hold of ore and a story. The clerk pays what the board now reads, which is less than it was when you left, because two other haulers got here first. The ore goes into the station's stock, the station stops being hungry, and the next captain to open that board sees a different galaxy from the one you saw.

The aim is a persistent economy where those choices matter tomorrow. Development worlds are still reset between tests. Fame, infamy and titles already keep score of what you do, and they're being playtested now.

LedgerAshfall Free PortSettledIn the works
Sold refined ore, 188 unitsbought at Sol+ 21,620
Repair, hull and coolantAshfall yard− 6,400
Fuel for the jump homefull tanks− 1,150
Ammunition, replaced40 rounds− 2,080
Berth, two nightswhile the yard worked− 300

// The crew

Six desks to share with your crew

On a crewed ship, each desk sees part of the picture. The gunner is waiting on a name for a contact comms hasn't finished reading. The pilot has no idea the reactor output is sliding. The mechanic is inside a wall, fixing something the rest of the bridge will never look at. You talk over each other and miss things, and after a few nights you start covering for each other without being asked.

DesksISW Patrol 1146 of 6 crewedIn the works
CaptainDecides who sits where, and answers for whatever they do with it.Owner
PilotFlies the ship, works the hold, and keeps flying while everything else goes wrong.Crewed
GunnerLeads the target, holds the charge and picks the moment to spend it.Crewed
CommunicationsTalks to everything outside the hull, and is the only desk that can survey a contact until it has a name.Crewed
EngineerShares out the reactor and decides which system goes dark first.Crewed
MechanicDamage control. Patches the breach, or robs one system to keep another alive.Crewed
The second Not a desk of its own. The captain names one of the crew as the second, and if the captain's connection drops, the second takes the ship straight away. If no one was named, command passes to whoever is still aboard, so the ship never sits there drifting. A name, not a desk
Short-handedIn the works

An empty chair still works

Rule-based automation can fly and fight, and has been tested in development. The dockside controls for assigning those rules to your own empty desks are still missing.

Drop inIn the works

Join for an hour

A friend can join for a short trip, take a desk and hand it back when they need to leave. Crew invitations and desk permissions are built, with more playtesting under way.

SoloPlayable now

Some nights it is just you

You can reach every desk from one account, so you can fly, mine or fight on your own. Switch between the helm, guns, power and repair controls as the situation changes.

// The ship

Every gauge is there for a reason

There are no decorative lights on the console. Every bar and number on it is something you can spend, lose or fix.

01 / HullsPlayable now

The ship you could get hold of

Buy a hull from the station's shipyard, board it from your hangar and launch. The yard lists the price, crew capacity, cargo space and standard fit before you buy.

02 / GunsPlayable now

A shot you have to mean

Shots take time to arrive and the other ship has plans of its own. You lead the target, hold the charge, watch the heat climb and pick your moment to fire.

03 / MiningPlayable now

Rocks are where the money starts

Find a field, cut into it and fill the hold, then turn for home heavier than you would like. It's quiet work until a contact turns towards you, and a full hold is exactly what it's after.

04 / CargoIn the works

The hold is never big enough

Cargo adds mass and changes how your ship handles. A full mining hold earns more at the dock, but leaves you slower to accelerate if trouble finds you on the way home.

05 / JumpingPlayable now

Fuel you do not get back

A jump takes fuel and time to prepare. Once in hyperspace, your reactor and ship systems keep running, and you can manage repairs during the crossing.

06 / HazardsIn the works

Space is already trying to kill you

Mines, drifting wrecks and fields that will strip a hull without anyone firing a shot. You can shoot some of them, hide behind others, or find their edges by flying into them.

// The galaxy

One world, and it does not pause for you

There is one galaxy and everyone plays in the same one. There's no lobby that spins up when you log in and no private copy of your own. Stations run short when no one supplies them, prices move with every trade, and powers rise and fall on what their players actually do. Log off for a week and the galaxy will have changed while you were away.

Economy

Trade changes what stations will pay

There are no scripted shortages. If the ore never arrives the station goes without, and a day later the whole system feels it. A blockade shows up as empty docks and prices climbing on everything the station can't get.

Run the same safe loop every night and the price slowly drops, because other players found the same route.

HyperspacePlane, near runsCourse laidPlayable now
Sol
Castor
Arcturus
Deneb
Algol
Tau Cygni
PLANE · COURSE TO ARCTURUS
FLIP IN 00:41
FUEL FOR THE RUN · 62%
Politics

Your flag is a choice, and so is theirs

Choose a race at account setup and take part in its politics. Every kind of motion can be put to the assembly, and the people entitled to vote hear about it in their inbox. Votes have been partly playtested, and paid political participation is planned.

Corporations sit underneath all that: a charter, a ledger, a chat log, and a group of people who trust each other with the money. Join one, or find enough friends to start your own.

The floorCastor AssemblyMotion 14In the works
Aid to Arcturus, military budget Carries
Declare war on Proxima Contested
Appoint Admiral, Castor fleet Carries
Alliance with Sol Falls

Every bar is a vote cast by players. The assembly can't set market prices.

Playable now flying, fighting, mining, docking, choosing your race, player orders, the influence map and titles In the works crew features, elections, corporations, fame and the law Planned the subscription vote, and NPC numbers that follow how dangerous a system is

// The nine

Choose the people you fly with

Eight powers, plus the ninth that every one of them threw out. Beyond them there are a great many captains who fly no flag at all and behave accordingly. Pick one and see who you would be flying with.

Choose a card for a short summary, then select “Read the full history” for its lore. Use the arrow keys to change the selected summary.

Terran EmpireSolPlayable faction

The empire that unified Sol.

The Terran Empire grew out of civil war on Earth. Felix Heinz Müller used recovered Cabal technology to conquer the planet, reunite its colonies and launch expeditions to other stars. Its disciplined forces and Stormguard became feared across the galaxy.

Terrans are capable all-rounders, raised in a culture of loyalty to the Empire. Their treatment of other peoples has earned them powerful enemies.

What they build

Terran ships have symmetrical, slab-sided hulls with blunt prows. Standard designs and mass production give the fleet a recognisable shape.

Flying with them

Terrans field versatile ships and disciplined crews. Their strength is organisation, with the Stormguard serving as their most feared troops.

Keywords

EmpireDisciplinePropagandaStormguardAll-rounder
Plexxan FederationCastorPlayable faction

Humanity beyond Sol.

After escaping the Directorate, the Plexxans formed independent Freeholds. Each governs itself and chooses Stewards to represent it in the Federation Assembly. Traders and space caravans have carried their influence far beyond Castor.

Their first encounter with the Terrans revealed that both peoples were human. Trade followed, but their very different ideas of government leave them wary of one another.

What they build

Slender, tapered, twin-boom hulls descended from civilian caravan lines and pressed into service. Every Freehold yard finishes them differently, so no two look alike up close while the family resemblance is obvious at range.

Flying with them

Plexxans are skilled pilots and strong individual leaders. Their independence can make coordination difficult, and opponents often exploit their sense of fair play.

Keywords

HonourIndividualistHeroesTradersDisorganised
Orfine AllianceArcturusPlayable faction

Warriors, artists and musicians.

The Orfine are powerful bipedal canines with a strong tradition of honour. After independence, their Alpha led hunts for Directorate forces and expanded the Alliance from Arcturus.

Their home worlds also became centres of painting, poetry and opera. Orfine warriors are sought after as bodyguards and mercenaries, and take pride in facing worthy opponents.

What they build

Forward-swept, jagged and clawed. Trailing edges break rather than run clean, and the prow forks into a pair of fangs. Their small and medium hulls are the same animal at two sizes, built to hunt in pairs.

Flying with them

Orfine are known for combat and leadership. Science and engineering are less prominent in their culture.

Keywords

HonourMercenariesBounty huntersOperaPack tactics
Preserver MatrixAlgolPlayable faction

Keeping the Morchedi legacy alive.

The Morchedi created the Preservers to safeguard their knowledge. When their creators vanished, these machines awoke and began their work from the Vault on Algol IV.

Terran Stormguard later looted the Vault and destroyed much of its record. The Preservers now gather knowledge and technology in the hope of finding and resurrecting their creators.

What they build

Perfect symmetry and repeated identical modules, arranged radially rather than left and right at the top end. No cockpits, no windows, nothing sized for a body. A hull is a frame full of interchangeable cells, upgraded in place forever.

Flying with them

Preservers excel at engineering and design. They prefer peaceful contact, but defend their interests with precision when threatened.

Keywords

MachineThe CauseModularSciencePeaceful until not
The HiveBetelgeuxPlayable faction

Many species under a council of queens.

The Hive brings together dozens of insect species, each with a place in a strict hierarchy. After the original Hivemind fell silent, most of its queens formed a council to lead their peoples together.

As their population grows, the Hive sends swarms beyond Betelgeux to claim resources and settle new worlds. Past swarms have brought them into costly conflicts with other powers and the Genus Brood.

What they build

Curved, segmented and limbed, with no flat faces anywhere. Bodies swell and taper, and you can read the caste straight off the silhouette: workers are round, warriors carry mandibles.

Flying with them

The Hive can fill many roles and field enormous numbers. Its rigid hierarchy leaves little room for independent leadership or invention.

Keywords

SwarmCastesRival queensColonisationAttrition
Kolari NexusDenebPlayable faction

Energy beings learning to meet a physical world.

The Kolari broke free of their captors and formed the Nexus. They appear as light and energy, using encounter suits to interact with other peoples and physical objects.

They generally keep to themselves. Their intervention with the Genus was an exception: they helped the Brood develop reason and control its destructive instincts, then withdrew.

What they build

Crescents, arcs and rings. Hollow shells rather than bodies, because nothing inside needs air. Luminous gaps where other races would put structure.

Flying with them

Kolari physiology makes them difficult to kill, and telepathy gives them unusual awareness. They find physical tasks and dealings with other peoples more difficult.

Keywords

EnergyTelepathyInsularUnfathomableHollow hulls
Slah'ke UnionProximaPlayable faction

A union built on faith and warfare.

The reptilian Slah'ke once served ten gods, organised around five tenets of sacred warfare. When the gods disappeared, the sects continued fighting in the belief that conquest would bring them back.

Recovered designs for the God Engines allowed the Priestlords to form a loose Union. The sects share a purpose, though their long history of rivalry makes unity difficult.

What they build

Temple architecture in vacuum. Ornamented and iconographic, with the prow cut to the shape of its sect's tenet: Arrow, Dagger, Shield, Hammer, Blade.

Flying with them

Religious conviction makes the Slah'ke determined fighters. Their traditions place less value on scientific inquiry.

Keywords

ZealTen godsSectsCrusadeIconography
Genus BroodTau CygniPlayable faction

Created to end a war.

Separatist scientists in Tau Cygni engineered the Genus to defeat Imperial forces. The creatures instead consumed their makers and the other life in the system, using the biomass to create more of their own kind.

The Brood spread until the Kolari intervened and helped it develop restraint and reason. The Genus remain highly adaptable creatures built for combat, capable of choosing peace when it serves them.

What they build

Grown rather than built. Asymmetric, ribbed and sinewed, with no straight line anywhere and no element repeated. The hulls they have consumed show through the plating, and sometimes you can still make out whose they were.

Flying with them

The Genus adapt readily to combat. Their strengths are biological, with less aptitude for technical work or formal leadership.

Keywords

Bio-engineeredAdaptiveAssimilationNightmareDriven back
The PiratesNo capital, no borderPlayable faction

Outcasts from the other powers.

Pirate crews draw their people from those expelled by the established powers. They survive in remote systems among other exiles, using whatever ships and equipment they can acquire.

Some are said to have left their factions willingly. Whether exile or choice brought them here, they now make their living outside their former societies.

What they build

Nothing. A pirate hull is somebody else's ship with the wrong modules bolted on, one arm missing and an engine that does not match. It is lighter than the ship it used to be, because the armour was the first thing sold.

Flying with them

Pirate ships are faster than their hulls should be and nowhere near as tough, so you take what you can from a wreck and leave. The big ports are closed to you, but the small ones will buy whatever you carry without asking where it came from.

Keywords

CastoutStolenVotedSalvageNo flag
The MorchediVanished, ISY 0Not playable

The people whose disappearance began the calendar.

The Morchedi guided and shaped other civilisations over many thousands of years. As their influence faded, they gathered their history in the Vault on Algol IV and created the Preservers to protect it.

According to the Vault, the Morchedi vanished in Interstellar Year 0. Much of their record was later lost to a Terran raid. The Preservers still hope to bring them back; the Morchedi are not playable.

What they left

Relic shards in wrecks nobody admits to building. Sites that defend themselves against ships their makers never met. Clues across the galaxy that the Morchedi shaped more of it than anyone realised.

Flying with them

The Morchedi are not a playable people. Their legacy survives through the Preservers and the records left in the Vault.

Keywords

PrecursorVanishedThe VaultRelicsUnfinished

Unaffiliated

Most of the ships you meet fly no flag at all: independent yards, one-off builds, a family freighter with a gun bolted on because the run got dangerous. There's no house style, and hardly any two of them match.

Free tradersCargo, a thin margin and a route they have flown four hundred times. Shoot one and word gets around
Independent yardsOne-off hulls sold to whoever has the credits. No two alike, and the gap where a part should be is whatever the builder happened to need that week
ProspectorsBarges working a belt on somebody's charter, or on nobody's. They got to the good rock first, and they know it
RaidersNot the Pirates, and not anyone else's either: a crew that took the hull it flies and answers to whoever holds the guns that week. The ship has the wrong parts on and is lighter than it should be, because they sold the armour

And the rest of it

Some of what you'll meet belongs to no power and won't respond to hails: packs, machines, animals, old defences, and the dead.

ReaversCheap ships built from one crude design in three sizes. They hold no territory and don't trade, and they hunt in packs that share their firepowerIn the works
The LatticeMachine ships are in the galaxy. Mining belts to reproduce is part of their planned behaviour; that full loop is not built yetIn the works
WildlifeGrazers drifting through a belt, swarms that are only dangerous in numbers, and a creature that looks exactly like a rock until it attacksIn the works
DerelictsWrecks can be cut for salvage. The latest cutting fixes still need playtesting; derelicts with active defences and encounters are plannedIn the works
GuardiansSomething old, tied to one place and still switched on. It won't follow you, but it defends everything within its reachPlanned
RevenantsAround Sagittarius, a wreck you leave whole can fly again with no crew aboard and hunt like it did when it was alive. It is a shadow of its former self. Every race has its own word for them. Kill one and it leaves nothing behind; cut the hulk down before it rises and it comes back weaker, or not at allPlanned
The BlightA growth in Swarmfall, the old Hive wreck field. It takes root in derelicts, and each one it takes wakes the wrecks around it, so a field left uncleared turns into a Blight field. Later it creeps out into the belts and starts closing mining sites, and pushing it back will take the whole serverPlanned

// What it costs

Free to play, with no paid advantage

You will be able to fly every hull, visit every system and use every crew desk without paying. There is no trial limit. The planned subscription pays for political participation, with no equipment or progress bonuses.

The game costsNothing
A better ship costsOre and nerve
Cargo space costsSpeed
An edge costsNot for sale
The rulePlayable now

Money never buys an edge

Ships, cargo space, skills and market prices follow the same rules for everyone. Paying will never give you better equipment or faster progress.

What is soldPlanned

A subscription buys a vote

The planned subscription lets you stand for office, nominate candidates and vote. Elected players can set policy, declare war and appoint an admiral, but they cannot set market prices.

Everything elseIn the works

Still yours, still free

Change your flag. Join a corporation, sit at anybody's desk, inherit a ship when your captain drops, form a wing and lead it. Trade, mine, fight, salvage and talk. None of it needs a subscription.

// The sound

Music that changes with the action

Music

Music that follows your flight

The music is generated as you fly. A long quiet night in a belt stays quiet, and when a contact turns towards you the piece you're already hearing shifts with it, instead of skipping to the next track.

Dock and the station takes over with a playlist of its own, chosen by whoever runs the place.

ScoreScene: approachGeneratedIn the works
Pads
Pulse
Lead
Low

// Fair play

The server checks every action

The server checks movement, combat and other actions, and only sends contacts your sensors can detect. Our latest security pass tested modified clients and fixed the issues it found. Further tests will continue as the game develops.

Truth livesServer side
You receiveWhat you see
Your clientAsks, never tells
Same rules forEveryone

// Your first night

Start with a short mining trip

The controls are panels and orders rather than a joystick, and that takes a little getting used to. Here is a simple trip to try when playtesting opens.

01 / DockIn the works

Read the board before you buy anything

You start docked, with a small hull and a little money. Open the market and look at what the station is short of, then have a look at the yard. Don't buy anything yet; just get a feel for what's expensive.

02 / UndockPlayable now

Fly to a rock and cut it

Set a throttle, pick a heading and watch the ship take a moment to believe you. Find the nearest field, sit on a rock and mine until the hold is heavy, keeping an eye on the scope while you work.

03 / Come backIn the works

Sell it, and see what changed

Dock, sell the ore and check the board again. The price will have moved, partly because of what you sold. You'll have a bit more money and a better idea of what the station needs.

// Next out of the yard

What we are working on next

Backups, a listen through the sound and the invited playtest come first. These are some of the features in development or planned for later. See the roadmap for the order, or the development log for recent changes.

CrewsIn the works

A full bridge, live

The captain hands out desks, takes them back and can put somebody off the ship, and the ship keeps flying when someone's connection drops. Your wingmates' hulls sit on your rail. It's built, and we're testing it hard to find what breaks.

TalkingIn the works

An intercom, a shout and a beam

Typed comms are built and partly playtested: talk to your crew, broadcast across the sector or send a message to one ship. Remaining fixes and checks keep this in development. For voice, use Discord; in-game voice chat is not planned.

WorkPlanned

Contracts worth taking

Contracts and bounties will give you jobs to take on between stations and targets to pursue. These are planned alongside the next stage of the player economy.

The mapIn the works

Borders that move

Each power's influence comes from local spending, and the map shows its real share wherever your own power has a stake. A busy system grows more lawful and a quiet one slides towards lawless. How fast that moves is still being tested.

CompanyIn the works

Things that live out there

The galaxy has NPC patrols, working ships, Reavers, machines and wildlife. Their population is currently fixed. A later update will adjust numbers and difficulty for each system.

DetectionPlanned

Running cold means something

Sensor range already depends on your hull. Emissions, running cold, beacons and cloaks are planned to make detection depend on how you use your ship too.

// Questions

The ones people ask first

Is this an MMO?

Yes. We are building one shared, persistent galaxy where players can meet, trade and fight. Development worlds are still reset between tests.

What does it cost?

Nothing, and the free game is the whole game rather than a trial. Later on, a subscription will buy the right to stand for office and vote. It will never buy a better ship, a better price or a bigger hold.

Do I need friends to play?

No. You can control every desk yourself. Friends can join your crew when you want to share the work; player controls for assigning automation are still to come.

Is there voice chat?

The game has typed crew, sector and ship-to-ship comms. Voice chat is not planned; you can use Discord to talk with your crew.

Can I play with strangers?

That is the plan: everyone shares the same galaxy. Captains can invite players aboard or open their ship to visitors while docked. Public access is not open yet.

Will people shoot me?

Some of them, yes. The galaxy is contested and your flag makes you somebody's enemy. You can stay in friendly space, run quiet, fly with company or fly something that shoots back. There's no setting that turns it off.

Do I have to install anything?

No. When the demo opens you open a tab and you are flying. There is no launcher, no download and no patch day.

Is it finished?

No. Flight, combat, mining, docking, jumping, trading and industry have been played in development builds. Crew, social and political features have had partial playtests; the sound, the practice flight and several newer systems still need testing. The public demo follows a closed, invited playtest.

Will my progress survive?

Development worlds are reset between playtests. The finished game is intended to keep your progress in a persistent galaxy.

What do I need to run it?

A recent browser, a keyboard and a stable internet connection. A reliable connection matters because flight and combat run in real time.

Follow the game as it takes shape.

We are preparing for a closed, invited playtest. The public demo comes after that, with nothing to install and nothing to pay. Join us on Discord or follow the development log and roadmap.

Development log What a night out looks like