StarDrive, developed by Zero Sum Games and published by Iceberg Interactive, is being hailed by critics as the new benchmark in the ‘4x space strategy’ genre, with strong emphasis on ship design and combat, and exceeds all expectations a player might have for a 4x strategy game (even pausing to make it turn-based). StarDrive has been in beta on Steam since March 8th and has met with praise by the notoriously hard-to-please crowd that is 4x gamers.

Iceberg Interactive CEO Erik Schreuder says: “We have been overwhelmed by the volume of pre-orders and buzz around the beta release, which goes to show how much 4x fans have been craving a title such as StarDrive to fulfil their ultimate 4x dream. After many months of developer dedication, QA and community input, we are now extremely happy to deliver the final product to market. StarDrive is going to be a living thing, that we are committed to keep fuelling with support, updates and upgrades.”

After the bitter disappointment of Swords of the Stars 2: Lords of Winter and Legends of Pegasus, 4x gamers looking for a little more sci fi in their gaming have been waiting quite long enough for a truly great space based 4x game to turn up on the market. So will StarDrive be a shining star in the endless black that is the 4x gaming universe of late, or will it just be another black hole? We’ll let you know soon enough as a review is incoming. For those of you who can’t wait until then, you can pick up StarDrive on Steam now.

Are you a fan of the 4x genre? Did you play the StarDrive beta and most importantly will you be picking it up now it has been released? Let us know in the comments below.