Chaotic co-op space game Wildgate reveals transformational new update, and you can ask the devs all about it

Space. The final frontier. We've conquered it millions of times over in videogames, films, and books, yet we're still fascinated by its infinite potential. While titles like EVE, Stellaris and Starfield all present their own unique take on the 'space game' genre, Wildgate's chaotic co-op action is perhaps more akin to a mixture of No Man Sky's and Deep Rock Galactic's. Lock in your crew and your ship, then head out to find treasure. Grab Artifacts - mysterious oddities that every crew wants - and get out unscathed. But be ready to fend off mysterious beasties and enemy players using a roster of weird and wonderful weapons. While my space escapades are largely limited to Warframe these days, Wildgate is one of the few interstellar adventures that's caught my eye.

But Wildgate's about to get a whole lot bigger, and a whole lot better. Its absolutely colossal Emergence update is just around the corner, and Moonshot really is pulling out all the stops. But before I get into that, we've manged to grab studio head Jason Chayes (Hearthstone) and co-founder Dustin Browder (former game director for Heroes of the Storm, lead designer Starcraft 2) to chat about the Emergence update on Discord.

On Friday November 21 at 10am PST / 1pm EST / 6pm GMT / 7pm CEST, we'll be joined by Jason and Dustin for a Wildgate deep dive and AMA, where we'll showcase the Emergence update and all of its new features. You can head over to our free community Discord to get involved.

But back to the matter at hand. Emergence adds two new game modes, Treasure Hunt and Fleet Battle, each of which sound absolutely amazing. The former removes some of the chaos and focuses on chill, No Man's Sky-esque exploration, allowing you to scavenge for rewards without the overarching fear of, well, being unceremoniously blown up. You'll fight AI ships, complete quests, and extract when you're ready.

Fleet Battle, on the other hand, is the polar opposite. You'll be thrust into 3v3 ship battles, where the team with the highest score wins. Earn points by taking down your enemies, grabbing Artifacts, and destroying enemy ships. As someone who loves some fast-paced FPS action, this is absolutely the one for me.

But that's not all. There's a brand new, "weird" Prospector called Charlie, who can instantly revive downed allies, teleport them 150 meters away, and absorb the power of storms, radiation, fire, and shock fields to heal up. There's a new biome, too, where there are no asteroids to replenish your ice. You can salvage some energy from downed ships, however, as well as fix things up at the Crimson Towers, so all is not lost - yet.

The update also brings the ability to build custom lobbies so that you can host your own matches (that one's been a long time coming), and you can also play solo, or as a duo, so you don't need to sit around waiting for the queue to pop anymore. You can read all about the update's new features here.

And, to top it all off, Wildgate is having a free Steam weekend, too. "We've heard it loud and clear - you want easier ways to bring friends aboard," Moonshot writes, so what better way to convince them to play than things being free!

Wildgate's free Steam weekend begins on Thursday November 20, and ends on Sunday November 23, with the Emergence update dropping on Wednesday November 19. It contains all of the aforementioned content (Charlie, the two new modes, and the new region), so remember to join our Discord AMA so that you can pitch your questions to the team and see me get absolutely obliterated - I'm not great at shooters.