The Beginning...

A lot has been written about Spacewar! The groundbreaking game from 1962 that started it all. Many features are surprisingly modern: PvP, newtonian flight physics, high FPS.

1970s

The 1970s saw the disparate elements we consider part of a full 'space sim' game start to coalesce.

Spasim brought in networked PvP, 3D graphics, space combat and some resource management, while Star Trader featured buying and selling quantities of resources from different systems.

1980s

The rise of home computers saw rapid refinement. Star Raiders (1980), influenced by Star Wars, established the fundamental shape of the space simulation, that of strategy and combat combined.

Elite (1984) is such a big milestone it gets its own article.

1990s

The 1990s saw space simulations acquire greater depth. More complicated simulations and procedural generation but also rapidly improving graphics and, as exemplified by the Wing Commander series, more involved narratives, characters and mission designs.

Wilderness Era

In the late 1990s and through to the 2010s, the tide receded on the genre. Gamers moved to other types of games and the large budgets that had become required to make space simulations were no longer available.

Despite this recession, there were still a smattering a games being developed such as Eve Online, Rebel Galaxy, and the X series.

But generally it was seen as a niche genre.

Indie Renaissance

The rise of PC gaming via Steam and itch and the democratisation of gamedev tools such as godot has seen a resurgence in space simulation games as smaller studios enter the field.

Additionally, large studios have returned to the genre, with games like Star Citizen and Starfield reaching wide audiences.

But the never-ending search for the ultimate total space simulation game continues.

Perhaps it is in the search for the perfect game that we glimpse its form.