Welcome to our 118th newsletter on Star Atlas! This weekly newsletter, published by Aephia Industries, focuses entirely on the development of this ambitious game. Here, we try to aggregate all the newsworthy tidbits revealed [mainly by the team] throughout the past week.
Happy Community Week! This first-of-a-kind week, in which a community-focused event is organized daily, is kicking off today! That for sure means we will have plenty of news to cover in next week’s issue.
Now, looking at the past week first, there was little in the way of news. Without the Community Week highlight, this issue would have been much thinner. Really, the only news from last week is that the team picked the COPA finalists and launched the alternative collectible cover for the final chapter of CORE Act 2.
So, without further ado, let’s dive in!
Star Atlas – COPA ’24 Finalists
COPA
This past Wednesday, February 21st (17:00 UTC), was the deadline for the DACs (guilds) of Star Atlas to submit their COPA (Council of Peace Assembly) presentation to the team. Right after the deadline passed, the team took a few hours to review the submissions and select the finalists who get to present during the COPA event this coming Thursday.
The team received 21 submissions (perhaps a few more? The team did not want to say), and after careful consideration and some internal discussion, they decided to pick 9 finalists instead. Originally, they communicated only 8 DACs would be able to claim the stage, but apparently, the choice was so hard that they decided to go with 9 in the end.
The finalists are (following the image above in clockwise order starting at the bottom left):
- Aephia Industries
- The Unseen
- Skull & Bones
- Solaris
- Heimdall Industries
- SAI (Star Atlas Italia)
- ROME
- SLY (The Shadow Loyal)
- BULK
This Thursday, February 29th, each team will get 12 minutes to do their live presentation, with the remaining 3 minutes being reserved for questions from the jury. Be sure to tune in at 18:00 UTC!
Looking Back
Interestingly, the first-ever COPA, which was held in June of 2022, was a lot more popular than this 2024 edition. Back then, 39 DACs submitted their pitch deck, of which 15 were selected to present (each getting 10 minutes).
This is somewhat remarkable because Star Atlas gameplay today is in a better state than back then. Additionally, dozens of guilds have registered themselves with the recently launched DAC program. Conversely, the bear and lack of progress in Star Atlas during the second half of 2022 likely shook out some guilds.
On that topic, perhaps the most remarkable twist of this edition is that all 3 winners of COPA in 2022 are missing. Coexist, the winner 20 months ago, did not submit a presentation. Meanwhile, The Club (#3 in 2022) did, but their entry did not make it. It’s not known if Dark (#2 in 2022) submitted a presentation for COPA ’24.
Star Atlas – Community Week
Community Week
Today is the kick-off of the Community Week, and it looks like this will be an interesting week for sure! Since the original announcement, the team has published more information, so we’ll review the schedule below!
- Monday [18:00 UTC] – Community Week Kick-off: Not much is known or really expected, but this event is taking place in the Amphitheater, which means a presentation of sorts is to be expected. This may just be the event schedule, but it could be more. There is only one way to find out!
- Tuesday [18:00 UTC] – Town Hall #42: Michael Wagner (CEO) will drop in to drop some alpha! It looks like we will be getting some product announcements and perhaps, if we’re very lucky, even a release! One thing we’ve meanwhile learned: there would not be a Town Hall if there would be nothing exciting to report about.
- Wednesday [18:00 UTC] – Atlas Brew #100: The one-hundredth episode of the community-focused event by the Community Team, originally set up by Jose (aka ZeSKK) when he was still a community member. Santi and his team have been saying this one would be special, so you probably want to be here!
- Thursday [18:00 UTC] – COPA ’24: The second-ever friendly competition between Star Atlas DACs! See the section above for more information.
- Friday [18:00 UTC] – Joni Awards ’24: The second-ever community award show, where outstanding members/projects from the community will get an award.
All of the above events will take place on the Star Atlas Discord. Except for the Brew, all of these will be hosted in the Atlas Amphitheater.
Star Atlas – Atlas Brew Badge
Limited Edition Badge
Stat Atlas enthusiasts attending all 5 events will be able to get their hands on a limited edition Atlas Brew Badge. You will have to complete 5 Zealy quests using secret codes handed out during the events to get your hands on such a badge.
Each Zealy quest will only be open for 12 hours after the associated event starts, so you can’t wait too long to complete them!
About the image above
When you look at the image the team released to kick off the Community Week, you may note a few things. Front and center is Joni herself, the mixed-race character we all know and love from the Star Atlas Trailer movie. Her cafe is right behind her to the left, and apparently, the Star Atlas Community Week celebrations are in full swing right outside her cafe.
Slightly less obvious is the Ustur to the right in the back. This could be the identical twin to Mendoza, the Ustur from the same trailer, so it’s probably him!
That begs the question if Miles (the human from the trailer) is also in there. The MUD human that is front and center could be him, but if so, then he received some MUD implants after recording the trailer.
Something unrelated that is interesting to observe is that this guy is holding two Crew Cards in his hand. Could this be a hint that a crew-related announcement is forthcoming? Or perhaps it means we could get lucky and get a crew member who is on this image?
Lastly, it’s good to see the different races get along quite nicely. This reminds us of the 100th anniversary of the Peace treaty, for which the winners of the story-writing competition will be announced on Wednesday during the Atlas Brew!
Is that all? Nope, there is more to be discovered in that image, but we won’t spoil all of it!
Star Atlas – CORE #12 – Alternative Cover
CORE – Act 2
This past week, the team released the limited edition, alternative cover version of their latest CORE installment, Act 2: episode 6! This is the final installment of Act 2, and there is no word yet if the team will take a break -such as they did after Act 1 was finished- or if we can expect Act 3 to start next month.
This alternative cover is sold by the team in ATLAS only, and you can pick one up for 4465 ATLAS for the next 9 days!
That’s a wrap! Thanks for reading!