Star Atlas Weekly Newsletter #197

Welcome to the Star Atlas weekly recap from the Intergalactic Herald. Below is what happened with Star Atlas this past week. The video and article summaries below are AI generated so they may not be 100% accurate.

Star Atlas: Year in Review-Part1 from Intergalactic Herald

This episode of the Intergalactic Herald podcast, number 149, hosted by Matt, serves as the first part of a two-chunk year-end review for Star Atlas, covering the first half of 2025 since the Star Atlas team is on break. The host directs listeners to intergalactic herald.com for articles, videos, guides, guild directories, content creators, and Star Atlas tools, and also mentions his merch store at Intergalactic Gear.com and a community group for non-guild gamers at intergalacticcoalition.com.

The year 2025 began following the typical two-week studio break. In mid-January, Michael Wagner, the CEO, addressed transaction issues within Sage, which later was seen as potentially prompting the team to consider developing their own blockchain, now known as the Zinc blockchain. Late January marked the four-year announcement anniversary of Star Atlas. A key change to improve information sharing was making the private Discord foundation room read-only. Early 2025 predictions were reviewed: Fleet Rentals and Community Week occurred, and UE5 updates were consistent, though they slowed later in the year. However, a promised hackathon and the Atlas locker did not materialize this year.

In February, a UE5 update allowed players to access the game without needing a wallet. The Monthly Economic Forum announced a free-to-play test that eventually became the Hallim product. Although nothing came of it this year, the Atlas locker addendum was published in mid-February, proposing more benefits, including substituting Solana fees—a benefit that might be less appealing now with the advent of Zinc. The fleet rental system was announced in mid-February and launched in early March. Mid-March saw an investment from Shagga for a cloud gaming system intended to allow users on other devices, like mobile or tablets, to control the game remotely via PC installation, but no updates have been heard since. By the end of March, the mobile app was sidelined and subsequently shelved, largely due to security concerns regarding the inability to securely track movement, disappointing the host who felt it was the main benefit of the crew cars. A partnership with the ASI Alliance concerning AI was also mentioned during this time, but has not been heard of since.

April was generally quiet, only featuring roadmap updates late in the month. In May, a new group of UE5 game testers was formed, though they are under NDAs, leading to subsequent quietness regarding their activities. The monthly cadence of UE5 patches continued into mid-May. Late May featured the first highly publicized, community-driven iOS quest tournament, made possible by ongoing changes to the UE5 client. Early June brought a town hall where updates were given on C4 (the next version of Sage) and UE5, and Holosım was announced as a formal product. Mid-June saw the end of the Star Path referral program and provided more details on C4.

Reflecting on the first half of the year, the host highlights the positive, consistent cadence of UE5 updates and the existence of ongoing tournaments,. However, the fleet rental system, while launched, seemingly died down after a few months due to issues suggesting it was possibly botted, making it difficult for users to secure a fleet,. Disappointments included the abandonment of the mobile app, no progress on the Atlas locker, and several partnerships that have not advanced. The host concludes by stating that the review of the second half of the year will be covered in the next podcast,.

147 1/12/2025 Wagner announcement about SAGE transaction issues
148 1/19/2025 4 years since Star Atlas announcement
149 1/26/2025 Foundation Room became public (read-only); 2025 look ahead – fleet rentals, UE5; community week, hackathon; SAGE; ATLAS locker
150 2/2/2025 UE5 update without need of wallet
151 2/9/2025 economic forum about a free-to-play test
152 2/16/2025 ATLAS locker addendum; announcement of fleet rental
153 2/23/2025
154 3/2/2025
155 3/9/2025 Fleet rental launched; Econ forum on free-to-play
156 3/16/2025 Shaga investment (cloud gaming)
157 3/23/2025 UE5 patch launch
158 3/30/2025 Mobile app indefinitely sidelined; partnership with ASI Alliance (AI)
159 4/6/2025
160 4/13/2025
161 4/20/2025 roadmap updates
162 4/27/2025
163 5/4/2025 new game testers
164 5/11/2025
165 5/18/2025 UE5 patch launch
166 5/25/2025 Iris Quest tournament
167 6/1/2025
168 6/8/2025 Townhall – C4, UE5,Holosim
169 6/15/2025 Starpath ending; C4 details
170 6/22/2025 community week announcement
171 6/29/2025

Latest podcast

• 
  Podcast 151: Star Atlas Weekly Review
  by Matt
  January 11, 2026
  In this episode, I recap the latest news of Star Atlas from the past week. Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify I am looking for guests to be on the podcast. The podcast is a discussion of the past week’s news about Star Atlas. If you are interested in… Read more: Podcast 151: Star Atlas Weekly Review

Latest recap

• 
  Star Atlas Event Recap 57: LIVE-Atlas Brew #187
  by Matt
  January 15, 2026
  In this episode, hear an AI summary of the latest Star Atlas community event.  Full video recordings can be found on the YouTube channel of Star Atlas TV at https://www.youtube.com/@staratlastv. Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Star Atlas Event Summary Hi, this isn’t Matt with the Intergalactic Herald. I… Read more: Star Atlas Event Recap 57: LIVE-Atlas Brew #187