Put Musk And Branson In Their Place When Spaceflight Simulator Takes Off On Switch

Boasting "scientifically accurate rocket physics"

by Ryan Craddock Thu 2nd Dec 2021

Ever wanted to build your own space rocket, set off for Mars and leave this planet for good? Well, soon you'll be able to (pretend to) do just that, as Spaceflight Simulator is headed to Nintendo Switch.

The game, developed by Stefo Mai Morojna, has players putting together their very own space program from scratch with the aim of exploring our solar system and beyond. You'll be using parts like propulsion systems, fairings, and capsules – and other bits and bobs that we probably don't understand – to build rockets, and thanks to the game's "scientifically accurate rocket physics", you'll be able to enjoy "realistic" flight sequences.

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Spaceflight Simulator is already capturing the imaginations of budding astronauts on mobile, and it'll be touching down on Steam Early Access in January. The Switch port will come later (the release window is just '2022' for now), but hopefully it shouldn't be too far behind.

"I’m very happy and excited to see Spaceflight Simulator taking shape on Steam Early Access," Stefo says. "More space enthusiasts can start their own rocket programs, fail over and over, and finally reach the stars! And with the release on Nintendo Switch coinciding with the 1.0 PC launch, we’ll see more aspiring rocketeers than ever before."

As it happens, Stefo actually started working on the game in hopes of landing a job with the Kerbal Space Program. He never got a response, but the game went on to be downloaded more than 20 million times on mobile, so who's laughing now?

Does this look like it might be up your street? Or galaxy? Let us know in the usual place.

Ryan permanently joined the Nintendo Life team in 2017, specialising in keeping readers up to date with the latest news. He can list the first 151 Pokémon all in order off by heart – a feat he calls his ‘party trick’ despite being the biggest introvert we know.

1
abdias
Thu 2nd Dec 2021

Is kerbal space program on switch? Because that game is a blast, and, even it is very cartoonish, it touches a lot of real life space engineering concepts. This one in this article seems more serious, probably is more accurate, and less fun to play.

2
AzzyC
Thu 2nd Dec 2021

Sure thing.
Gonna put em in there and then crash it

3
Astral-Grain
Thu 2nd Dec 2021

Mom, can we get Kerbal Space Program?

We have Kerbal Space Program at home.

-Kerbal Space Program at Home-

Seriously looks like an old flash game from the early 2000s. Maybe if you can get past the visuals it's not so bad.

@abdias unfortunately not, I think they considered it but said Switch hardware couldn't run it without significant performance issues. Oddly enough, there appears to be a WiiU page for it, but it's blank: https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/kerbal-space-program-wii-u/

4
fdurocher
Thu 2nd Dec 2021

@Astral-Grain Heck, even my Series X has trouble with the physics sometimes. I can't imagine it running on Switch. (And this is AFTER the Series X optimizations.)

5
Astral-Grain
Thu 2nd Dec 2021

@fdurocher I have nothing but respect for a company that refuses to port a game because they know it won't look or run in an acceptable manner and not giving in to pleas from fans or easy money.

So many other companies would have released a performance nightmare if it meant they could make a few extra bucks (looking at you ARK: Survival Evolved!).

6
fdurocher
Thu 2nd Dec 2021

@Meteoroid Well, I'll say this: I'm not the one who plays it. My son has a propensity for recreating real-world stuff, and those all work great. It's when he decides that the bottom of a rocket needs over 50 engines and then he crashes it into a building... That's a lot of explosions to calculate. I don't blame the Series X by any means, but I couldn't imagine doing that on a Switch. I would expect it to overheat and reboot or something...