Weekly Star Atlas Newsletter #188

Welcome to our 188th newsletter on Star Atlas! This weekly newsletter, published by Aephia Industries, focuses entirely on the development of this ambitious game. Here, we attempt to aggregate all the newsworthy tidbits revealed, primarily by the team, throughout the past week.

The past week was very light on news. The only real news, which even flew mostly under the radar, is that the Holosim beta period is wrapping up soon. Furthermore, we got an announcement of an announcement! Other than that, the Community Week preparations are well underway, and the PIP-18 is open for voting for a few more days!

Let’s dive in!

Announcement of an Announcement

Due to a lack of news, an announcement of an announcement is making the headline item this week!

Michael shared the following on X on Wednesday of last week:

This was followed up on, on Sunday (US time), with the following message:

All in all, it appears that the team will make a monumental announcement later today. Stay tuned!

Holosim

The team shared last week that the beta period of Holosim is coming to an end on July 31st. It looks like the game will then coast for a bit afterward, without further (quest) updates. It will remain available, however, while the team processes the feedback and prepares to launch Holosim with Season 1 officially.

On the topic of feedback: If you’ve recently played Holosim, the team is seeking your feedback. To gather your thoughts and insights, they have published a form for you to fill out.

Community Week

The deadline for Joni Award nominations is this Thursday, July 17th. The deadline for COPA submissions is the same day.

Make sure not to miss it, and cast your vote today! Be aware that the Joni Awards form asks for some argumentation as to why you made that choice, meaning it likely will take a little time to fill it out.

DAO Update

PIP-18 has entered the final week of voting. If you haven’t already, please make your voice heard using the link below.

PIP-18: Marketing & Merch Expansion for Gamescom 2025 — This proposal seeks funding of up to 5,775 EUR (in ATLAS equivalent) from the DAO Treasury to expand the reach and impact of the already approved PIP-8 (Star Atlas Comet Meetup at Gamescom 2025). The event will take place on August 23, 2025, in Cologne, Germany, during Europe’s largest gaming convention.

Results around time of publication: 88.29% For | 7.63% Against | 4.08% Abstain
Closes: Thursday, July 17th, end-of-day UTC

That’s it for this week! Short and sweet. Next week promises to be a lot more interesting, so stay tuned!