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ZeroSpace is developed by Starlance Studios in partnership with Ironward, and published by Starlance Studios. Starlance is an independent studio founded in 2022 with the stated goal of revitalizing the real-time strategy genre, led by founder and chief executive Marvin Gouw, a longtime games industry veteran.
A Partnership of Studios
Starlance works closely with Ironward, an established studio founded in 2014 in Zagreb that is known for its earlier squad-based strategy games. Ironward's chief executive and game designer Hrvoje Horvatek helps lead development. The combined team is small, around fifteen people for much of the project, which has shaped a focused, community-driven approach.
Crowdfunded and Community-Driven
The game was announced in August 2023 and funded through a successful crowdfunding campaign, drawing strong support from the competitive strategy community. From the start, the project has leaned on input from veteran professional strategy players to tune its competitive Skirmish design.
Community interest grew steadily through the pre-launch playtests and demos. By the time the Steam Next Fest demo wrapped up in June 2026, ZeroSpace had surpassed 250,000 wishlists on Steam ahead of the July 20 Early Access launch. The studio has also published a development roadmap that maps the path from Early Access through the full 1.0 release.
Evolving Visuals
As development progressed, veteran strategy-game artist Aaron Kambeitz joined to refine the look of the game, moving its units toward a grittier, more realistic style than the more stylized appearance of earlier builds. Ahead of the July 20, 2026 Early Access launch, the team polished factions, effects, and music, and shipped the fourth main faction, the robotic Xol, with the launch build, though it stays early in development and enters ranked matchmaking after community balance testing. Those years of work led into the Early Access release that opened ZeroSpace to a wider audience.
In the months before Early Access, the studio added a new color tonemapper called AgX, which aims for a more realistic, cinematic look by preserving colors and giving finer control over contrast. Around the same time, the team began a faction-by-faction visual overhaul, starting with a redesigned, grittier look for the Protectorate's units.
Bringing ZeroSpace to Asia
Ahead of launch the studio also secured a regional publishing partner to bring ZeroSpace to players across Asia, with that partner handling local marketing and localization. The collaboration added Chinese-language support to the game's demo. Full platform and language details are listed under System Requirements.