Starbound Enters Open Paid Beta State

Just like its inspiration, Terraria, Starbound is a side-scrolling role-playing experience with elements of world-building and Castlevania-esque platforming.

Unlike Terraria, however, the procedural generation of the world extends beyond the terrain and items; Starbound will randomly generate entire planets full of unique races and dungeon areas, which players can travel between once they have enough resources.

While Starbound did not have an official Kickstarter campaign, it has been available as a pre-order on its site since April this year, raising a whopping $2,000,000 by November.

Although the game is technically in early access, initial reports from players suggest the beta is relatively stable and feature-complete, with boat-loads of content available thanks to the procedural generation.

We reviewed surprise-hit Terraria back in March 2011, and you can expect a preview of Starbound here at Ready Up shortly.

Starbound can be purchased through Steam’s Early Access service for £11.99. Alternatively, you can order the game directly from the developer for $15, which includes a Steam key for the beta and a copy of the full soundtrack for the game.