Hello, Engineers!

This week’s release adds a new decorative block: the Seat. It will provide a place for engineers to sit without accessing grid controls – ideal for passenger compartments, communal spaces, or immersive ship interiors.

As always, all blocks and improvements are available now!





First of all – thank you for all the feedback over the past weeks, and especially last week! The blog post about merging Story and Sandbox has sparked a lot of attention and thoughtful comments: Marek's Dev Diary - July 17, 2025

I appreciate how many of you took the time to think through the implications and share your reactions. Let me clarify a few important things, especially since the blog focused only on single-player, and may have left some questions open.

Story is Optional, Sandbox is Still King

The idea is not to force a story or campaign on players who just want to build, explore, or set their own goals.
SE2 is still a sandbox-first game. The story is there if you want it.
You can accept missions from NPCs or the Contract Block - or simply play free-form sandbox.


Some of these missions are part of the Colonization of Almagest - our meta-progression loop. This system unlocks new areas, resources, blocks, upgrades, and more.
It’s not mandatory, but it’s a key way to grow your capabilities and unlock more of the world.

Separate from colonization, some missions push the story forward - including cutscenes and narrative moments.
The story layer is completely optional. If you ignore both the colonization missions and the story, you’ll have a pure sandbox experience.

You decide how deep you want to go - colonization, story, both, or neither.

What About Multiplayer?

The last blog post focused on single-player, but here’s our current thinking on multiplayer:

• Co-op Story Mode: Your friends join your world. You play as Miro Sokol, and they’re your companions. Together, you experience your story.
  
• Vanilla Sandbox Servers: On public or dedicated servers, the story is turned off. Nobody is Miro Sokol. Everyone starts freely, just like classic SE sandbox.

This design is still a work in progress and subject to change. But your feedback is helping us shape it in the right direction.

Let me know what you think about any of this. I read all your comments - it’s one of the best parts of my life.






Please join us for Space Engineers 2 Modding Showcase Livestream!

• 🚀 Monday, July 28th, 5 PM UTC
  
• 🛰️ Twitch: https://twitch.tv/keencommunitynetwork
  
• 🛰️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SpaceEngineers

Image Credits: Glowing Sphere's by LazyNewf




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