INITUSINTERACTIVE
Starport Frontier: a busy spaceport at dusk, pad lights on and freighters docked
Initus Interactive presents

STARPORT FRONTIER

Build the port. Win the traffic. Grow a dusty outpost on the edge of settled space into an interplanetary gateway, one landing at a time.

Watch the trailer See how it plays
In development Windows PC Single-player Management · Strategy · Economy
Announcement trailer

From an empty plot to an interplanetary gateway.

Watch on YouTube · captured in the development build

The game

Ships come to trade.
Every call is yours.

Starport Frontier is a management game about running a commercial spaceport. Ships land to trade and to use your services. Buy their cargo cheap, sell it dear, charge for landing and fuel, and grow the port so that bigger, richer traffic comes your way.

Build capacity

Lay out pads, storage, power and services anywhere on your plot. Traffic only grows as fast as the port you build for it.

Trade every landing

Each ship brings offers from its hold and bids for what it needs. A living exchange sets the prices, and the news moves them.

Handle success

More ships bring congestion, power demand and running costs. Leave a captain circling too long and they take their business elsewhere.

Arrivals 5 ship classes · 3 pad sizes
FlightClassPad neededHoldLanding feeStatus
MCL 204CourierLight500600 crDOCKED
OFU 117Light HaulerLight2,000800 crAPPROACH
BWC 088TankerCargo8,0001,500 crREFUELING
TNS 451Heavy FreighterHeavy20,0003,000 crON FINAL
HBL 902Bulk CarrierHeavy50,0006,000 crHOLDING
A pad serves ships of its size and smaller. Ships carrying secure, hazardous, rare or exotic goods need a matching specialist pad. They pay three times the fee and trade better.
The loop

Prepare capacity before the traffic arrives.

Every in-game day runs through the same cycle. The skill is in seeing the next bottleneck before it costs you a ship.

Build

Pads, storage, power and services, placed where they work best.

Ships arrive

Traffic follows your reputation. Each ship needs the right pad, and soon.

Trade & serve

Buy and sell cargo, sell fuel, carry out repairs, collect landing fees.

Profit & rep

Quick turnarounds raise reputation. Reputation brings more traffic.

Grow

Level up, research and unlock bigger ships, richer cargo and a larger plot.

and back to build, with bigger stakes
The Build panel listing pads, storage and power, with the port behind it Build
Build anywhere

Your plot. Your layout.

Place buildings freely, metre by metre. Where things go matters: services reach only so far, and every building draws power and costs upkeep each day.

  • 25 building types: 8 pad classes, 4 kinds of storage, 3 power sources, services, research and survival plants for the Frontier
  • Construction crews and build queues. Hire more crews with Engineering Offices and research
  • In-place upgrades: Mk II and Mk III warehouses, tank farms and offices, and pads converted to secure or hazmat
  • The plot grows 60 metres with every port level
The Trade panel: a docked ship's offers and bids, compared with exchange prices Trade
Every landing is a market

Buy cheap. Sell dear.

Each docked ship brings offers from its hold and bids for what it wants. Review deals by hand, or write trading rules and let the routine run itself while you plan the next expansion.

  • 103 tradable goods in 9 categories, from water and grain to secure, hazardous, rare and exotic cargo
  • Rules per good: buy below a limit up to a target stock, and sell above a limit down to the stock you keep
  • A cash reserve stops your rules from spending the money you need for upkeep
  • Store goods in warehouses, tank farms, vaults and containment stores
The Market panel: commodity board, price chart and news bulletins Market
A living exchange

Read the news. Beat the market.

The Galactic Commodity Exchange sets reference prices for every good. Supply chains link them, and headlines from across settled space move them. A war scare, a plague or a mining strike can make your warehouse full of medicine worth a fortune.

  • 5 market tiers, from Commodities to Speculative, each with its own index
  • 34 kinds of news event: wars, ceasefires, embargoes, raids, solar flares, and rumours that turn out false
  • 60 production recipes link goods into supply chains, so one shortage spreads to others
  • Hourly, daily and weekly price history, with charts
A Tanker docked on a hazmat pad beside a Courier on a high-security pad Traffic
Keep the traffic coming

Reputation is everything.

One reputation score decides your share of the region's traffic. Quick turnarounds and perfect visits raise it. Full pads, failed deals, breakdowns and dark buildings lower it.

  • Five ship classes, from nimble Couriers to 50,000-unit Bulk Carriers
  • Set your prices: higher landing fees earn more per ship but put captains off. Fuel markup runs from 0 to 50%
  • Fuel supply deals with three suppliers, each trading price against reliability
  • Fuel, repairs and cargo handling as paid services
The Research tree: six branches of technologies across six tiers Research
Outpost to gateway

Research that shapes your port.

Research labs run projects across six branches. Deep in the tree, you face choices you cannot take back: specialise in long-haul traffic or quick short hops, fusion power or grid automation.

  • 42 technologies over 6 tiers: Flight Operations, Logistics, Energy, Commerce, Services and Engineering
  • 5 permanent choices at tier 5, so no two ports end up the same
  • Unlocks the Traffic Control Tower, Repair Bay, Fusion Plant, Vault and Containment pads, and Mk III upgrades
The Accounts panel: operating profit chart, income and costs Accounts
Run the books

Real accounts. Real risk.

Every credit is booked. A profit-and-loss statement, a cash-flow chart and a balance sheet show where the money goes. Borrow against your buildings to expand faster, but watch the clock if you go over the limit.

  • Credit line worth up to half of your buildings' value, with daily interest
  • Weekly review: pick from directives like Volume Week or Clean Sheet for bonus cash and reputation
  • Contracts from relief agencies, mining combines and colonial offices: deliveries, storage, convoys and scheduled berth slots
The guided start: the operations aide welcomes the Director over the comms channel Guided start
Easy to start

You're never on your own.

An optional guided start takes you through your first hour, up to port level 2. Your operations aide explains things as they happen and never blocks you. After that, goal hints point you at the next step whenever you want them.

  • A voiced android aide on a crackling comms channel
  • Soft guidance: it highlights and explains, and you can end it at any time
  • Pause, then play at 1x, 4x, 16x or 64x. Quick save and load, with daily autosaves
Scope at a glance

A deep sim, cleanly framed.

Here is what is in the game today. Numbers come from the current development build and may change before release.

25

Pads, storage, power, services, research and survival plants

5

Courier, Light Hauler, Tanker, Heavy Freighter and Bulk Carrier

5

From Frontier Outpost to Interplanetary Gateway

42

6 branches over 6 tiers, with 5 permanent choices

103

9 categories over 5 market tiers

34

That move prices across the exchange

4

Deliveries, storage, convoys and berth schedules

2

Earthlike or Frontier, with weather, day and night, and tremors

Rules of the port

The ten rules that run everything.

Starport Frontier is a simulation with clear rules. Learn these and you know how the game works. The skill is in using them well.

Ships come to you

Traffic arrives on its own. Your reputation, from 0 to 100, sets your share of the region's ships, from 10% to 45%.

Every ship needs a pad

Light, cargo and heavy pads. A pad serves its own size and smaller. Special cargo needs a matching secure, hazmat, vault or containment pad.

Patience runs out

Ships with no free pad wait in a holding queue. Leave them too long and they leave, and your reputation pays for it.

Every landing is a deal

Ships sell from their holds and bid for goods. Buy under the exchange price, sell over it, and keep the stock to do both.

Power must balance

When demand beats supply, buildings shut down in priority order. Plants fail at random. Batteries and fusion keep the lights on.

Money is a clock

Every building costs upkeep each day. Go over your credit limit and everything stops. Stay over it for 30 days and you are bankrupt.

Everything wears out

Buildings wear and break down, which costs reputation. Maintenance overnight is cheap. Emergency repairs cost four times as much.

Levels need all three

To level up, you need profit, reputation and ships served over a rolling 30 days. Levels never drop, and each one grows your plot and traffic.

One project per lab

Research needs a working lab and costs time and money. At tier 5, picking one technology rules out its pair for good.

The Frontier is thirsty

On Frontier worlds, every staffed building uses water, oxygen and food each day. Ship it in on supply runs, or produce it yourself.

Progression

Five levels. Each one changes the game.

Each level opens new buildings, bigger ships and more valuable cargo, and widens the plot. The goals below are for Earthlike worlds and must all be met over the last 30 days. Frontier worlds ask 20% more profit and ships.

1

Frontier Outpost

Light and cargo pads, warehouse, tank farm, power plant, research lab. Couriers, haulers and tankers.

Start
Empty plot
2

Planetary Port

Cargo terminal, fuel depot, port office and contracts, battery bank, traffic control.

Profit
250k
Rep
60
Ships
100
3

Commercial Spaceport

Heavy and high-security pads, vault, repair bay. Heavy Freighters and secure goods.

Profit
650k
Rep
70
Ships
450
4

Regional Hub

Hazmat pad, containment store, fusion plant. Bulk Carriers and hazardous goods.

Profit
2.5M
Rep
80
Ships
800
5

Interplanetary Gateway

Vault and containment pads, Mk III upgrades. Rare and exotic goods.

Profit
6.3M
Rep
90
Ships
1,030
Choose your world

Green and forgiving, or red and hungry.

Both worlds have a full day and night cycle with lamps that light up at dusk, changing weather, and tremors that can shake your buildings into breakdowns.

An Earthlike world: the port on green grassland beside a forest
Earthlike

Room to grow

A 300-metre plot, normal building costs and 22 building types. The best place to learn the trade and to chase big numbers.

  • Rain & storms
  • 300 m plot
  • 22 buildings
A Frontier world: the port on red, dusty ground
Frontier

Every crew must breathe

A 250-metre plot, dearer construction and higher level goals. Staffed buildings use water, oxygen and food every day, brought in on supply runs that can be late.

  • Dust storms
  • Water extractors
  • Oxygen plants
  • Hydroponics
Designed for decisions

Five things to watch. Nothing else.

Starport Frontier keeps the busywork out. Everything in the game feeds five numbers that you can read at a glance, so your time goes on decisions, not upkeep.

  • No workforce happiness meters
  • No road networks to untangle
  • No endless +2% upgrades
MoneyCash, credit line, upkeep and the bankruptcy clock
CapacityFree pads, storage space, power and crews
TradeWhat's docked, what's in stock, what the exchange says
ReputationYour share of the region's traffic
OpportunitiesContracts, news and the next port level
Fact sheet

The details.

Title
Starport Frontier
Developer
Initus Interactive
Genre
Management · Simulation · Strategy
Platform
Windows PC (Steam planned)
Players
Single-player
Controls
Mouse and keyboard
Language
English
Status
In development
Release
To be announced
Engine
Unity
Questions

Before you ask.

What kind of game is it?

A single-player management game. You run a commercial spaceport: you build its layout, trade with visiting ships, set prices, manage power and money, and grow from a small outpost to a gateway port. Play runs in real time, and you can pause and speed it up.

Is there combat?

No. The pressure comes from traffic, money, power, wear and the market, not from enemies. The risks are a queue of impatient captains, a bad trade or a power cut at the worst moment.

Do I need to know economics?

No. Prices are shown against the exchange price, so a good deal is easy to spot. The guided start and goal hints teach the rest. Players who like to dig in will find supply chains, indices and news to trade on.

When and where can I get it?

Starport Frontier is in development for Windows PC, and a Steam page is planned. The release date and price will be announced. Follow us below to hear first.

Can I cover it or stream it?

Yes, please do. For press access, screenshots and review keys when they are available, write to info@InitusInteractive.com.

Clear for landing

The frontier needs a port.

Starport Frontier is coming to PC. Follow development for news, screenshots and the Steam page launch.

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