Homeworld 3 developer acquires the rights to its superior previous game about salvaging spaceships, with 'multiple' new projects in the works

Homeworld 3 developer Blackbird Interactive has announced it has acquired the full rights to its previous game Hardspace: Shipbreaker, which saw players deconstructing decommissioned spaceships and recycling their parts for profit.

In a press release, Blackbird revealed it has acquired the full rights from Hardspace: Shipbreaker's co-owner Focus Entertainment, which served as publisher for the game and held partial ownership of the rights. But the pair have since reached a new agreement that makes Blackbird Interactive sole owner of Hardspace.

Blackbird goes on to explain that "multiple" Hardspace projects are currently in development. While it doesn't provide specifics about what these games are, the studio does say that they will feature "physics-driven gameplay" and "boundary-pushing design".

That last claim might seem a bit bold. But Hardspace: Shipbreaker certainly had originality on its side. Shipbreaker launched in May 2022 after spending a couple of years in Steam early access, with a concept that evolved out of a previous game that eventually became Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak.

As mentioned, Shipbreaker involved pulling apart old spacecraft piece-by-piece from a first-person perspective, working in Zero-G and relying on an oxygen tank to breathe. Alongside dismantling the ship's hull and prising its engines off their mounts, you also frequently dealt with hazardous components like radioactive reactors and pressurised compartments that could explosively decompress if not dealt with appropriately.

Threaded through with a well-told story about worker exploitation, it was a novel concept superbly executed, as explained by Natalie Clayton in her Hardspace: Shipbreaker review: "It's a game about being proud of a job well done, and fighting to make your workplace one you can be proud of," she wrote in 2022.

Homeworld 3 was Blackbird's most recent project, a long-anticipated return to the venerable RTS series that didn't quite live up to its predecessors. While Homeworld 3 certainly looked the part and boasted an interesting concept which involved using spaceship debris as cover, it was let down by a forgettable story, constrained maps, and a campaign that seemed to end just as it got going.

Nonetheless, I'm glad Blackbird is back working in a universe it (fully) owns, and hopefully this means we'll see more original projects like Shipbreaker from the studio. To that end, the developer has opened up registration for something it calls the LYNX pioneer program, which fans of its games can sign up to and help shape these upcoming projects.