The Starforged Legacy Demo is Back!
Greetings, Commander!
We're less than two weeks away from our flagship expedition—the Early Access launch on June 1st! To prepare for deployment, High Command has issued a new and improved training simulation. Or, in civilian terms, the Starforged Legacy Demo is back!
This combat simulation includes a broad selection of augments, ships, and unlocks (including both Hard and Endless Modes), and should serve as invaluable training for new recruits ahead of our Early Access release. If this is your first exposure to Starforged Legacy, we’d like to extend a formal welcome to our ranks and encourage you to strap in, take flight, and let us know what you think—the rebel fleet is itching to make your acquaintance.
If you’ve been following our development for a while now, take note we've implemented countless balance changes, fixes, optimizations, UI redesigns, and, of course, new content since February's Steam Next Fest Demo. A comprehensive list of changes would be far too long for us to transmit in a single broadcast, so to avoid overloading your systems, we've provided a breakdown of the changes most crucial to your survival:
Highlights
Enhancements Overhaul
Enhancements have received a significant rework to make upgrade choices clearer at a glance. Upgrades are now strictly component-focused. Instead of abstract bonuses floating somewhere on your hull, choices now clearly communicate exactly which part of your ship they improve and how your stats change.
The Enhancement pool itself has also been refined significantly:
Older or overlapping upgrades were consolidated, and new or rebuilt upgrades add more interesting tradeoffs and combinations.
Defensive upgrades now have more variety, fire-rate upgrades were rebuilt into clearer families, and several formerly single-stat picks now carry a small secondary bonus so choices feel more dynamic.
Many enhancements are no longer global boons (e.g., '+10% Crit Chance'), encouraging more thoughtful choices from pilots.
Revamped Starmap
The Starmap, your key to navigating contested space, has undergone massive changes since our open playtest, most notably the Hex Info Panel. Now, your preliminary scans will reveal information about adjacent sectors, including potential hazards, rewards, and optional objectives!
In addition to the Elite and Shop sectors, seven new sector subtypes have been identified (discernible by the icon above each hex):
Armory - Sector success rewards a single pre-augmented combo weapon.
Riches - More mineable asteroids. High Credit yield.
Industrial - Special Material-yielding mineables. High Material yield.
Research - Additional anomalies. Scan for science.
Experience - +15% in this sector, but no mineable resources or anomalies detected.
Strange Signal - An unknown transmission. Outcome unclear (guaranteed Narrative Encounter, with unguaranteed survival).
Prototype - Sector success rewards 1-of-3 pre-augmented prototype weapons.
Providing this level of insight into the sectors ahead will enable our navigators to make more strategic decisions or choose a route that helps them gather the right resources for their next Unlock. Speaking of which…
Unlocks, Challenges, and The Codex
The Skill Tree, Codex, and Mission Board now form the backbone of the unlock system for your progression through the ranks. The Skill Tree gives players permanent pilot growth, while the Codex tracks the expanding arsenal of ships, loadouts, weapons, and augments.
Pilots will be cleared to access more advanced weapons, augments, ships, and loadouts through challenges such as clean boss fights, timed boss kills, no-damage streaks, secondary mission completion, ship mastery, survival pressure, and high-damage single-run builds—all visible via the Mission Board.
Once you've proven yourself in the field (likely one populated with asteroids), you'll be able to unlock additions to your arsenal, or permanently add new augments to your drop-pools by unlocking them via the Codex with your hard-fought Materials, Science, and Artifacts.
Additionally, players will receive updates during and after runs via the new Post-Game Summary Screen (pictured above) on their progress toward current challenges and recent unlocks.
Demo F.A.Q.
How do I access this if I downloaded the February Demo?
If you still have our previous demo installed, Steam should automatically trigger an update. If not, simply head over to our store page and click "Download Demo" (and "Add to Wishlist", this is a vital step).
How much content is in the Demo?
The Starforged Legacy Demo contains both Normal and Hard difficulties, access to Endless Mode, limited access to the skill tree, 3 (the same ever-faithful starships we've had available in our playtests, each with unlockable alternative loadouts!), 4 base weapons, and 51 of the 160+ augments available in the full version. Additionally, access to 3 more weapons and 16 advanced augments can be earned through the completion of in-game challenges!
Will my progress carry over to the main game?
No, progression made in the demo will not carry over to the main game. This is a training simulation, after all.
Will the Demo receive updates?
Currently, the demo sports hours of content and unlockables—while we're likely to reserve additional content for the Early Access release of Starforged Legacy, it's not out of the question. We will, however, be deploying fixes and balance changes based on our pilots' after-action reports!
Does the Demo work on Steam Deck?
Currently, most, if not all, content in-game is accessible via gamepad, though we're still working towards complete Steam Deck compatibility. This is one of our top Early Access goals. While the game is playable on Steam Deck, players may encounter some unpolished controls.
Where can I give feedback?
As in our previous playtests, a feedback survey will be available at all times from the main menu, and we also highly encourage you to join our community Discord server to chat with the developers directly (and be notified of important announcements, releases, etc.).
Wishlist Starforged Legacy
We're hurtling towards our June 1st launch date at an incredible pace, and it would mean the known galaxy to us if you wishlisted and followed Starforged Legacy before our launch, and shared our demo with other fearless pilots and survivors-enthusiasts!
Communication Systems Online
Receive incoming transmissions: news, announcements, devlogs, and deep-space disturbances, by following Second Shift Games on X (formerly Twitter), Bluesky, YouTube, Reddit, and TikTok, or by visiting our website: SecondShiftGames.com.
Join our community Discord to chat with the developers and fellow pilots, and give your feedback on the game!
Wishing you clear skies, Commander.
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