Skyfaring survival sandbox Lost Skies launches into early access, built from the bones of PvP cousin Worlds Adrift

I’ve always believed in second chances, both for people and for games, and few feel more deserving of a second shot at life than Worlds Adrift, Bossa’s ill-fated sky-pirate MMO. Despite impressive physics, grappling hooks and wingsuits, its heavy PvP focus turned off a lot of people, and in turn, Bossa turned off the servers.

Out now in early access on Steam, Lost Skies is a smaller-scale PvE-centric reboot for the game. Most of the trappings are still there—including the highly customizable airships—but this time round, players are working together to fight against invading aliens and robots instead of each other.

While survival/crafting sandboxes aren’t usually my thing, I’m tempted to give Lost Skies a shot, because I’m a sucker for sky-island adventure settings. Sailing through the clouds and exploring strange structures visible on the far horizon is inherently exciting stuff. The game’s store page also emphasises that it’s possible to enjoy Lost Skies entirely solo, though it’s almost undoubtedly better in co-op. Surprisingly, there’s no PvP options at all here, not even a casual duelling mode. A bold decision, considering its roots.

At first glance, the initial early access release seems a bit lightweight, with only one region of the map to explore and a single boss to challenge once your ship and crew have thrown together enough resources. It looks like an impressive enough fight in the trailer above, but it is still the only such battle in the game. Considering that this is a retrofit of a whole other game, it’s hard not to be a bit concerned that Bossa may be biting off more than they can chew.

While I’ve got my fingers crossed for the success of Lost Skies, Bossa recently laid off a chunk of its staff. Even with an increased focus on player-made content (with plans for Steam Workshop support this summer, allowing players to design their own islands to populate the sky with), I hope the studio has the resources needed to keep up with their audience’s demands for new locations, new enemies and new stuff to craft. Bigger games have sunk without trace for less.

The early access roadmap details that the first round of updates will focus on bug-hunting, optimization and expanding the outskirts region with new islands to explore. More enemies and resources are also coming. A second region with new enemies and bosses is planned, but it sounds like that might be happening after the editor launches.

Whether it turns out to be a true airship of Theseus or a hasty retrofit, Lost Skies is out now on Steam for $25/£21, with a small launch discount available until May 2nd.