Starpath: Jonathan Smårs reveals open-world co-op space sim for Steam

• Starpath is described as an open-world co-op space sim where players build their own spaceship and explore a seamless universe.
• The game uses real distances and sizes as a starting point and is said to be nearing 90,000 Steam wishlists.

What happened

Jonathan Smårs has published the Steam page for Starpath and asked players to wishlist the game. In the source, Smårs is explicitly identified as the lead engineer and designer of Valheim, immediately tying the announcement to a well-known developer. Smårs also shared the Steam page on X, writing that players should share and wishlist the game because it would mean a lot to him.

The official Steam description presents Starpath as a space game where you can build a spaceship alone or with friends and then head into a seamless universe. The description mentions traveling between stars, planets, and star systems without obvious breaks. The external context reinforces that same idea, describing the game as one where players can build their starship solo or with friends and explore a seamless universe.

According to the shared information, Starpath takes an unusual approach to scale. The game uses real distances and sizes as the basis for worldbuilding, while the developer also says it should deliver an authentic astronaut experience that remains creative and fun. Game Rant also describes Starpath as an open-world co-op space sim, further emphasizing free exploration and teamwork.

The available descriptions also mention survival elements. The source says players could lose their ship or die in space if they make mistakes. At the same time, this remains a description of the game’s current presentation in the provided information, not a separately confirmed final product with fixed release details.

Game Rant also reports that Starpath has collected nearly 90,000 wishlists on Steam. That figure is an approximation in the article, not an exact live count, and it may have changed since then. Both the official Steam page and the Starpath website refer to the game as a new space project still in development and ask players to visit the Steam page and wishlist it.

Background

Starpath comes from Jonathan Smårs, who is identified in the sources as the lead engineer and designer of Valheim. That makes the project the work of a developer with experience on a major survival hit, though that says nothing about Starpath’s final scope or quality. The external context also mentions a YouTube video framing Smårs as the Valheim lead designer announcing Starpath as a realistic space survival game with fully customizable, physics-based starships. That video title mainly supports the topic of the announcement and confirms only that the project is being presented in that direction.

The available descriptions focus on space exploration, spaceship building, and co-op. The official Steam page says the game lets you build a starship, explore a seamless universe, and set course for distant worlds. The Starpath website also describes the project as a new kind of space game that avoids tropes and tries to blend space sim, survival craft, and cozy game elements into a large procedurally generated universe.

Scale is another recurring theme. The source explicitly says Starpath uses real distances and sizes, and that the developer is trying to balance realism with playability. That matches the idea of an authentic astronaut experience that still needs to remain creative and fun. No fixed release date has been announced in the available information, and the current descriptions show Starpath is still in the announcement and wishlist-building phase.

The reported wishlist total of nearly 90,000 is an important number, but it remains an estimate from the article. Since both the Steam page and the official website still refer to a game in development, it is worth following later updates on release timing, features, and system requirements separately. The current source material mainly confirms the creator, the Steam reveal, the co-op focus, spaceship building, and the emphasis on scale and space exploration.