Legends of Starkadia Is Free to Keep on Steam Until September 14

Steam users can currently claim Legends of Starkadia for free and keep it permanently before the turn-based RPG becomes a paid game on September 14.

Developer Doom Turtle says anyone who adds the game to their library before the change will continue to own it at no cost. New players will have to pay $1.99 from September 14 as the studio tests whether there is enough interest to bring the larger Legends of Starkadia project back into active development.

Legends of Starkadia launched as a free game on July 7, but Doom Turtle is now changing its approach rather than running a temporary giveaway for an otherwise paid release.

Players who already own the game will not lose access when the price changes. Anyone interested in claiming it for free therefore has until September 14 before the $1.99 price takes effect.

The current release is a single-player RPG built around turn-based combat with quick-time events used during attacks and defense. Players can recruit different characters while exploring Scrap World and completing story, side, and secret missions.

Doom Turtle originally planned Legends of Starkadia as a much larger adventure spanning 11 planets, but concluded that the project had become too ambitious for its small team after roughly two years of development.

Instead of shelving the work, the studio finished Scrap World and released it for free as a standalone experience. At the time, Doom Turtle said it had no active plans to continue development.

The studio is now reconsidering that decision. It describes the existing game as "Chapter 1" and says revenue from the $1.99 release will go toward recovering some of its previous development costs and potentially funding additional chapters if there is enough demand. Doom Turtle has not committed to making those chapters.

The version available on Steam contains Scrap World, the first planet from Doom Turtle's original vision.

The developer estimates the current adventure takes around two hours to complete. Although the wider story covering the remaining planets has already been written, those parts of the game have not been developed.

Whether Doom Turtle expands Legends of Starkadia beyond that first chapter will depend on the level of interest it sees after the game becomes paid.