“You can literally reroute a river into a desert and cause it to bloom”: Star Wars Galaxies lead says of his new sandbox MMO Stars Reach
Legendary MMO designer Raph Koster, whose influential career includes creative roles on Ultima Online, Star Wars Galaxies, and EverQuest 2, is working on his most ambitious project yet: Stars Reach. The upcoming sci-fi MMO features a procedurally generated universe where every world operates as a true sandbox with real-world physics simulation.
Stars Reach represents a significant evolution in Koster’s design philosophy. Rather than predetermined content, players will interact with dynamic, physics-based environments where their actions have meaningful consequences. For example, players can freeze lakes, reroute rivers into deserts to make them bloom, and reshape the landscape through manipulation of environmental systems. This level of player agency and environmental interaction goes beyond the scope of Koster’s previous games.
Koster reflected on his influence on modern gaming, noting that features considered unconventional in Star Wars Galaxies—such as dancing—have become standard in contemporary titles like Fortnite. He suggests that the systems his teams pioneered continue to define MMO design across the industry today.
The procedurally generated approach combined with physics-based mechanics promises to create nearly infinite variety in gameplay experiences, allowing each player’s journey to unfold uniquely based on their interactions with the world. This represents a departure from traditional MMO design, which typically relies on handcrafted content and predetermined progression paths.