Hades' Star
Released Feb 2019
A unique space strategy game where thousands of players participate in one shared galaxy.
72% positive · 2,688 reviews
Not yet
Released, ongoing live service game
High confidence
Live Service
Not yet
Released, ongoing live service game
High confidence
Live Service
Where to get it
Free on Steam
Evaluation
Hades' Star is a free-to-play massively multiplayer space strategy game that has been live since February 27, 2019. By design, it is a persistent, ever-evolving game — the store description explicitly describes a "persistent galaxy that constantly evolves," and the game's structure includes ongoing seasonal competitive events, a subscriber rewards program with rotating cosmetic skins, and recurring limited-time events like the "Hades' Star Completist" event announced in October 2025.
The developer has maintained a consistent pattern of major updates across the game's lifetime. Significant milestones include major updates in 2019, 2020, and 2021, as well as the landmark "DARK NEBULA" overhaul released on October 30, 2023 — described by the developer as the biggest update since launch, built to keep the game "popular and viable for many more years in the future." Most recently, the 2025.2 update (October 17, 2025) added new gameplay modules and a special in-game event, and the 2025.1 update (April 7, 2025) introduced a Named Ship Loadouts system and quality-of-life improvements.
The developer's own stated intent, the game's free-to-play monetization model, the subscriber-based cosmetic program, and the sustained history of major updates all confirm this is a live game that the developer intends to keep evolving indefinitely. There is no indication that development is winding down.
Evidence
2025.2 update adds new Cerberus Drone module, a limited-time Completist event starting November 27, 2025, returning player incentives, and a new Platinum subscriber skin — demonstrating active live operations.
2025.1 update adds Named Ship Loadouts system, visual ability indicators, and bug fixes — evidence of sustained feature development in 2025.
Media
Details
Developer
Publisher
Parallel Space Inc
Achievements
15
Platform
Windows, macOS
Controller
—
Steam Deck
Verified
Players
Multiplayer · Co-op · PvP
About this game
In Hades' Star, you create and grow a space Empire over time, in a persistent galaxy that constantly evolves.
These are the star types discovered so far:
As the most stable star type, the Yellow Star offers a perfect setting to establish your permanent presence and plan your Empire's long term economy. All new players start in their own Yellow Star system and over time expand to discover and colonize more planets, set mining patterns, establish trade routes and neutralize the mysterious alien ships found throughout the Hades galaxy.
As the owner of a Yellow Star system, you have complete control over what other players have access to it. By establishing diplomatic relations, you can allow any other player to send ships to your system, and dictate your own terms for mining, trade or military cooperation.
Very early in the game, every player will build a Red Star Scanner, a station that allows them to jump ships to detected Red Stars. These stars have a small lifetime and will go supernova after 15 minutes.
The goal in the Red Star is to co-operate with any other players that have ships in that star system, defeat the NPC ships, retrieve Artifacts from the Red Star planets, and jump back before the Supernova. Artifacts can be researched in the home star and will yield necessary resources for trade, mining and combat advancements. Higher level Red Stars offer more challenging enemies and better rewards.
Players can organize in Corporations. Besides helping each other, Corporations can also scan for White Stars. A White Star sees up to 40 players from two Corporations battle in the same star system for Relics, a resource that can be retrieved to upgrade the Corporation and give each member additional benefits.
Time passes by very slowly in White Stars: every match lasts for 5 days, giving Corporation members time to talk and coordinate their strategy. The Time Machine can be used to plan future moves, communicate them to other Corporation members, and see potential outcomes of future combat.
These short lived stars only last for 5 minutes, during which the entire system is collapsing on itself. Each player can only send a single Battleship to the Blue Star. The 5 participating players combat each other, using their ship's modules and other NPC ships to destroy the other player ships and be the last one alive.
Blue Stars offer the fastest PvP action in the game. Regular participants receive daily and monthly rewards to advance their Empire.
These are the star types discovered so far:
Yellow Stars
As the most stable star type, the Yellow Star offers a perfect setting to establish your permanent presence and plan your Empire's long term economy. All new players start in their own Yellow Star system and over time expand to discover and colonize more planets, set mining patterns, establish trade routes and neutralize the mysterious alien ships found throughout the Hades galaxy.
As the owner of a Yellow Star system, you have complete control over what other players have access to it. By establishing diplomatic relations, you can allow any other player to send ships to your system, and dictate your own terms for mining, trade or military cooperation.
Red Stars
Very early in the game, every player will build a Red Star Scanner, a station that allows them to jump ships to detected Red Stars. These stars have a small lifetime and will go supernova after 15 minutes.
The goal in the Red Star is to co-operate with any other players that have ships in that star system, defeat the NPC ships, retrieve Artifacts from the Red Star planets, and jump back before the Supernova. Artifacts can be researched in the home star and will yield necessary resources for trade, mining and combat advancements. Higher level Red Stars offer more challenging enemies and better rewards.
White Stars
Players can organize in Corporations. Besides helping each other, Corporations can also scan for White Stars. A White Star sees up to 40 players from two Corporations battle in the same star system for Relics, a resource that can be retrieved to upgrade the Corporation and give each member additional benefits.
Time passes by very slowly in White Stars: every match lasts for 5 days, giving Corporation members time to talk and coordinate their strategy. The Time Machine can be used to plan future moves, communicate them to other Corporation members, and see potential outcomes of future combat.
Blue Stars
These short lived stars only last for 5 minutes, during which the entire system is collapsing on itself. Each player can only send a single Battleship to the Blue Star. The 5 participating players combat each other, using their ship's modules and other NPC ships to destroy the other player ships and be the last one alive.
Blue Stars offer the fastest PvP action in the game. Regular participants receive daily and monthly rewards to advance their Empire.
Are these done yet?
Last evaluated Jun 15, 2026
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