Take on Mars expected to hit beta in April

Take on Mars, the space sim from Bohemia Interactive will soon be reader for wider consumption.

According to a new Take on Mars development roadmap, the sim will go into beta at the start of April, with full release expected in June.

The project is currently available via Steam early Access, but between now and beta Bohemia plans to implement a competitive multiplayer mode; more survival features; and the story campaign.

Once in beta, the game will be feature locked - all remaining development resources will be focused on refining and optimising, not adding new content. That said, tutorials will be added in May.

"Many, myself included, are looking forward to the addition of the Manned section to the Space Program mode, and we sincerely hope not to disappoint," project lead Martin Melicharek wrote in a dev blog post.

"This will be story driven, focusing on survival in a catastrophic failure scenario. I am sure this culmination to the Space Program mode will whet the appetite for playing with friends online in the Cooperative or planned Competitive modes. I hope to meet many of you on the surface of our red neighbour."