While it was formally revealed for PC and Xbox around a year ago, developer Jump Over the Age and publisher Fellow Traveller popped up at this weekend's PC Gaming Show to announce that Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector will also launch on the Switch. What's more, it's been given a release window of early 2025.
If the title hasn't given it away already, this is a follow-up to 2022's excellent tabletop-inspired RPG Citizen Sleeper. Like its predecessor, Starward Vector will see you playing as an android (Sleeper) on the run from the company that made you. You'll have to commandeer a ship, build up a crew and carry out as many tasks as possible before your decaying body halts your progress. A nice, stress-free experience, then...
The brand-new trailer gives us our first look at the Citizen Sleeper 2 gameplay, where our decisions will once again come down to the roll of a die. It also showcases the new Starward Belt setting, which looks huge compared to its predecessor's single-station environment.
You can find out a little more about the game's features and get a look at some screenshots below.
REBOOT / REBUILD / REPAIR
Nothing in the Belt ever runs smooth, including the artificial body of a Sleeper. Citizen Sleeper’s revolutionary dice system returns, revised for the sequel. Players will have to manage their stress or risk taking damage to their dice. They’ll also have to deal with glitches as they accrue in their system.
DO THE JOB, GET PAID
Contracts offer a new kind of focused, tactical gameplay to the Citizen Sleeper experience. Players will need to prepare carefully and choose the right approach for these multi-cycle high-risk/high-reward jobs – but they’ll also have to react and adapt to both the roll of the dice and the twists and turns of each task.
PUSH YOUR LUCK
Each character class now has a unique “Push” ability, which can help players turn the tide of a difficult job or send them into a dangerous spiral depending on how and when they choose to use it. Push skills are upgradable and customizable, and include abilities like dice rerolls or single die augments. With the addition of Push, each class in Citizen Sleeper 2 will offer different tactical possibilities.
NAVIGATE THE BELT
The Starward Belt offers a bigger, more varied world than the original game. Instead of living on a single station, players will chart a course from hub to hub with complete freedom, taking on jobs and setting goals as they see fit. A living world, the Belt rewards curiosity and care, but it's up to players to decide which locations and stories deserve their time and resources.
CHOOSE YOUR FUTURE
Player choice is a massive part of the Citizen Sleeper experience, and the sequel deepens this with new skill checks that allow players to express their class and character in scenes, as well as branching storylines that will ask them to make hard choices. The future of your character is up to you!
We gave the first Citizen Sleeper a 'Great' 8/10 when we reviewed it back in 2022, so we are pleased to see that its sequel will be making the jump over to Switch early next year. We'll be keeping an eye out for a more precise release date over the coming months.