To say that Starbound has been in development for a long time would be akin to saying that the Sun is a pretty hot place, but despite the glacial development pace and multiple delays I'm still glad its finally coming out of Early Access.

The big shift to version 1.0 will occur with Starbound's next update which "is getting close" and bringing with it story content, new quests, dungeons, upgraded crafting, new crew members, and a whole bunch more.

One of these characters is not taking their role seriously

While I would love to cover all of the changes coming with 1.0 there is simply far too many of them and Dark Souls 3 is getting ever closer to being fully downloaded, so if you're interested in all of the nifty new changes and additions coming to Starbound make sure to check out the development blog.

What I will bring attention to, however, is two features that I believe are of immense significance:

• Steam Multiplayer Integration means that you will no longer need to mess around with servers, forwarding ports, sharing IPs and all of the headaches that come with trying to fix any issues that rise up from there. Once its fully operational, Starbound's multiplayer will support drop in/drop out of a friends 'single player' game through the use of steam invites, as well as dedicated servers for those that want to let loose and go truly wild with modding.

• Steam Workshop Support is here to ensure that Starbound's mods are easy to install, distribute, and rate which should result in a much more vibrant and lively community, something that is always a very welcome thing.

There is currently no release date given for version 1.0, but the developers have stated multiple times that its coming "soon", so make sure to keep your eyes peeled.