Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector announced for Switch

Developer Jump Over the Age and indie label Fellow Traveller have today released a new trailer for Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector, showcasing gameplay from the highly-anticipated sequel for the first time. They have also confirmed an early 2025 release window, and added Nintendo Switch to the list of confirmed platforms.

The highly anticipated sequel to one of 2022’s most acclaimed RPGs, Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector takes players to the Starward Belt, a richly realized, ramshackle set of habitats in an asteroid belt full of secrets, stories, and characters trying to make ends meet.

Players step into the shoes of a Sleeper, an emulated human mind housed in an artificial body. They are on the run from the corporation that made them and the gang that seeks to control them. To stay ahead of their pursuers, the player will have to commandeer a ship, build a network of crew and allies, and take on challenging contracts as they seek to build a future for themselves.

Your crew starts with Serafin, your fellow escapee and a rock-solid pilot. But you’ll need scrappers, engineers and all sorts to take on the contracts that’ll keep you flying. Contracts take place far from the bars and shops of the Belt’s many hubs, and these high-risk jobs each have their own challenges, where failure is just a few bad dice rolls away, so you’ll want to make sure you pick the right crew for work.

Players will choose a class, configure their skills and assemble their crew in unique tabletop-inspired gameplay. Their future depends on the roll of a dice, as they make difficult choices in a complex world. Reinventing the award-winning systems of Citizen Sleeper, the sequel is a deep narrative RPG that will satisfy both fans of the original game and new players alike.

As previously revealed in last year’s animated trailer, this is a different Sleeper to the one you play in the original game. Soon after escaping from their corporate overlords, this Sleeper fell under the control of a local criminal gang and its leader, Laine. After a desperate attempt to free themselves from servitude, they’re on the run again – this time with a malfunctioning body, a price on their head, and no memory of their past.

Revealed today are details of the brand new and expanded gameplay elements, building on the original’s compelling table-top RPG-inspired systems…

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!