Our Early Access Roadmap

Nuclear-Powered Space Combat

In The Black ® is an intense space combat simulator featuring singleplayer and multiplayer game modes (PvE and PvP). It is laser focused on the combat pilot experience in a future dominated by warring megacorporations. Rank up by completing contract missions and competing in BloodSport matches. Customize and upgrade your ships as you earn access to ever more advanced and lethal 23rd century space fighters.

Set in our solar system 200 years in the future, players are mercenaries hired by ruthless megacorporations to fight their shadow wars for control of the system’s resources. For now the action is focused primarily in Saturn’s system, particularly around Titan, Enceladus, and the rings. There is a rich mix of combat scenarios such as Debris Sweep, The Belt, Blindspot (Pallene), Asteroid Mining Facility, Space Recon, Ship Strike, and Station Defense.

There are five different flyable ship classes to suit a variety of combat styles, each with variants: the Shrike- and Kolibri-class light fighters, the Reus-class medium fighter, the Pegasus-class combat transport, and the Hyperion-class heavy fighter. Each ship has its unique characteristics, and all are multi-role capable depending on the loadout. The game’s ShipFrame Editor allows players to modify and upgrade each ship’s weapons configuration with the Hardpoint Editor and the Ship Paint Customizer offers a rich palette of options to give each ship a unique appearance.

Whether you prefer a more casual control system or a full virtual pilot setup with sticks, throttles, and pedals, In The Black’s robust input system supports everything from mouse and keyboard, gamepads, Steam Deck, HOTAS and HOSAS, as well as head and eye tracking and ultrawide monitor support.

The Impeller Studios team is led by industry veterans Jack Mamais (MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries, Far Cry, and Crysis) and David Wessman (the X-Wing / TIE Fighter series, Blood Wake, The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, and Saints Row). We are hardcore gamers ourselves and we believe the best games are skill-based and intrinsically rewarding. And we really like the idea of flying nuclear-powered rockets through the rings of Saturn to engage in explosive high tech mayhem using lasers, missiles, and railguns!

And thanks technical consultant and chief spacecraft designer Zach El-Hajj, PhD, In The Black ® elevates the visceral excitement of a cockpit shooter with a serious respect for science making it one of the few games to earn the Atomic Rockets Seal of Approval.

We invite you to join our growing community on Steam and Discord to share your feedback and help steer the future evolution of In The Black ®.

Please note: this game currently requires an Internet connection and it is an online-first experience. The core of the game is built around a shared back-end that relies on a live database. Even in solo or co-op scenarios, players are interacting with the same systems running the multiplayer experience. We completely understand the appeal of a fully offline mode, especially for a sim-style game like this, and it's something we hope to revisit in the future. Thank you for your understanding, mercs.