What we're building next

Every day brings a pile of releases, but behind them sit a few bigger pieces of work. This post is a look at what is on our desk right now. These are plans, not promises: designs change once they meet playtesting, and we will not put dates on any of them until they are ready.

Galactic Credits you can use everywhere

Galactic Credits are the galaxy's money in Ultra War: you earn them by playing, mostly in Flagship flight today, from trade, contracts, pirate bounties and Credit chips. They are in-game only, and they stay that way. Now that the daily ceiling on earning them is gone, the honest gap is the other side: there is not yet much to spend them on.

So we are designing uses for Galactic Credits in every mode, each one sized so it means something whether you have played a week or a season. Some of the ideas we are working through:

• Flagship: repairs and rearming at stations, docking away from friendly space, and module upgrades.
• Dominion: ordering goods from your home system's market, and building out your Colony Station (below).
• The Galactic Map: gear and logistics for your Commanders, outside the matches themselves.
• Skirmish and social: galaxy-themed looks for your card table and your player card.

One rule holds throughout: nothing you spend Galactic Credits on changes a deck, a card, a match or an opponent. Card battles stay fair.

Your own Colony Station

Today your Dominion colony has a small orbital station with one slot. We want it to become a real place: your own station over your colony, which you grow tier by tier with wings like a Market, a Shipyard, a Refinery, Defences and a Hangar.

As it grows, ships start calling at your harbour, and a share of the harbour dues comes to you, even while you are away. A busy harbour has a cost too: dues left uncollected in the strongroom draw pirate raids, so a station needs looking after. And because it lives in the shared galaxy, it is something other Star Captains will be able to see and visit.

Cloud saves

Right now your progress lives in the browser you play in. That is quick, but it means clearing your browser's data, or moving to another computer, leaves your progress behind. The one-tab protection we shipped today was the first step in making saves safer.

Next, we are designing cloud saves: a copy of your progress kept on our servers with a short history, so it can be restored if something goes wrong. We are building it to be light on your connection, sending only meaningful changes. Playing the same save across several devices comes later, together with real sign-in.

New faction ships, concept first

Your Flagship is only the beginning. We are designing new ships for every faction, and we are doing it concept first: each ship starts as painted concept art and a written brief of its role and silhouette, and only then becomes a 3D model in the game. It is slower than building a model straight away, but it means each faction's ships look like they belong to that faction, from a distance and up close.

Real sign-in, later

Today the game knows you by your browser, not by an account. Real sign-in is planned as its own project after a few more game updates. When it comes, it is what will let your cloud save follow you from device to device. Until then, nothing changes for you: keep playing as you do now.

Tell us what matters to you

These plans are shaped by playtesting, and by you. If something on this list excites you, or something is missing, tell us with Report a bug in the top bar (pick Other for an idea), and keep an eye on the daily digests to see each piece land.