Xbox Port
The Starbound Xbox Port is an official console port of the PC exclusive game. Since its announcement on August 28th. 2024[1] the Xbox port is currently in closed beta.
Contents
How To Enter Closed Beta
The Xbox Insider Program hosts this build alongside other game betas. To access the program, Insider Hub must be installed on the Xbox Store. The program will give you access to game betas you are eligible for, including the starbound port. If eligible, the "Starbound Demo" game will be ready to play-test.
It is highly encouraged to send feedback on the Google form given on the blog post, to ensure the best console experience.
As stated on the blog post, "Xbox Series Consoles, Xbox One and Xbox One X are able to host up to 4 players in a party, whereas Xbox One S players are able to host up to 2 players in a party."[2]
Development
Announcement (April 20th 2018)
The port was largely unknown until its initial announcement was pushed to the blog on April 20th 2018[3]. The Xbox One port was first featured at a press event of GDC (in San Francisco), but was later showcased in the Xbox room of EGX Rezzed (at London).
Partnership (June 7th 2019)
The next major announcement was pushed to the blog during June 7th 2019[4]. It was discussed that they would be acquiring support from another company to reduce lag and improve optimization. No screenshots were provided.
Troubling Development (December 2nd 2020)
Alongside the blog post[5] announcing the release of the Xbox Game Pass (not to be confused with the port itself), there was more information shared of the xbox development progress. The port was experiencing troubling performance when 3-4 players were active in multiplayer. While performance was being worked on, they weren't certain that the port was ready. No screenshots were provided.
