Star Atlas Update Flashes Web3 AAA Ambitions in New Unreal Engine 5 Gameplay Tease

• Star Atlas aims to rival traditional AAA titles with a new Web3 gaming standard for visual fidelity and gameplay depth.
• Unlike traditional games developed behind closed doors, ATMTA has embraced a transparent development process for the title.
• Despite losing half its treasury in the FTX collapse and laying off over 70% of its staff, ATMTA has continued development.

ATMTA’s Star Atlas, the highly anticipated Solana-based metaverse game, has been drawing attention with new gameplay teasers. The community has vowed to support Web3 projects that have committed to “building in public.”

In development since 2020, Star Atlas has built a loyal fanbase through its visually stunning Unreal Engine 5 showroom and its browser-based, on-chain strategy game, SAGE.

The latest teasers reveal gameplay that aims to rival AAA titles. An achievement rarely seen in the Web3 gaming space.

May Update Patch

On May 14, Star Atlas released its latest patch, introducing AI upgrades, dedicated servers for gunplay lobbies, and various multiplayer enhancements.

According to a company blog post , the monthly patch cycle will take a brief pause as the team prepares for a major mid-year update.

This upcoming release will reportedly include gunplay matchmaking and the first version of the game’s progression system.

The biggest upgrades include:

• New dedicated servers for gunplay lobbies with more than 4 players
• Upgrade to multiplayer hosting and joining lobby flow
• Improved enemy AI bots logic
• New c-op dogfighting
• New Pearce X5 in-game spacecraft
• Improvements to multiplayer racing
• Improvements to the mining minigame

Star Atlas Gameplay

The complete AAA release of Star Atlas is targeted for the end of the year, capping off a five-year development cycle.

Teaser footage shared by developers at ATMTA showcases realistic space flight mechanics and intricately designed spaceships.

Currently, players can experiment with a space flight mode and a 3rd person shooter demo, while the rest of the game remains under active development.

Future features promised by the team include dedicated multiplayer servers, PvP combat, and more.

A Technical Leap for Web3

Until now, many popular Web3 games have relied on simple gameplay mechanics, as seen in Telegram’s Hamster Kombat or the early success of Axie Infinity.

Star Atlas aims to bridge the gap between traditional AAA gaming and the decentralized world of Web3.

It offers players ownership of in-game assets through NFTs and powers its in-game economy with the $ATLAS and $POLIS tokens.

On May 11, Web3 gaming and crypto content creator Inspector Mindblow commented on X that Star Atlas’ development highlights a key distinction between traditional and blockchain-based games.

“The difference between Web2 and Web3 games is that Web2 games build behind the scenes, while Web3 games build in public,” he wrote.

“We have a front-row seat for all the setbacks, challenges, wins, and everything in between,” he added.

A Long Road to Completion

Despite its recent progress, Star Atlas has faced significant challenges along its development path.

One of the most serious setbacks occurred in 2022 with the collapse of FTX.

Developer ATMTA had a substantial portion of its treasury held on the exchange and lost access to roughly half its funds when the platform imploded.

“While previously we had multiple years of runway under our current operations, that has now been reduced by approximately one-half,” said ATMTA CEO Michael Wagner at the time.

As a result, the studio was forced to lay off over 70% of its staff and significantly reevaluate its development roadmap.

However, with a community eager to see a fully realized Web3 AAA game, Star Atlas is hoping to become the next breakout success in the industry.