Shores of Hazeron
Shores of Hazeron is a sandbox MMO focused on building an interstellar civilization from the ground up. You design an alien species, establish a government, construct cities and starships, and then push your influence across a simulated galaxy where players can cooperate, compete, or attempt outright conquest.
| [singlepic id=44911 w=428 h=240 float=none] | Publisher: Software Engineering, Inc. Playerbase: Low Type: MMO Empire Simulation Release Date: February 16, 2015 Pros: +Unusual blend of genres that few MMOs attempt. +Deep, flexible race and character customization. +Strong sense of ownership and control over your faction. Cons: –Outdated visuals. -No female characters. -Steep learning curve that can overwhelm new players. -Little to no traditional character progression. |
Shores of Hazeron Overview
Shores of Hazeron is an MMO empire simulation from Software Engineering, Inc. that leans hard into player agency. You can swear loyalty to an existing nation or start your own from scratch, choosing how it is run and what rules it follows. The character creator is one of the game’s calling cards, letting you assemble alien bodies from a wide menu of parts (including insect-like and avian features) so your species can look genuinely distinct rather than like a minor reskin.
From there, the game expands outward into civic planning and logistics. Colonies are not just decorative bases, they are meant to function as living settlements populated by citizens with needs that must be met. In parallel, ship construction is handled through a block-based building approach, which emphasizes experimentation and engineering. Space travel is framed around Newtonian-style movement, so piloting and navigation feel more like managing momentum than steering an arcade ship. Over time you can develop a military presence and contest territory, scaling from local disputes to galaxy-wide power struggles.
Shores of Hazeron Key Features:
- Create your own alien race – the customization suite gives you unusually fine control, making it possible to build strange silhouettes and memorable species designs, such as a six-legged bird-like creature.
- Found an empire – establish a new faction with the structure you prefer, whether that is a rigid hierarchy, a loose federation, or even a lawless setup.
- Design ships – build spacecraft using a block-based editor, then take them into space where movement is governed by momentum and physics-minded controls.
- Build colonies – expand from a modest settlement into a full planetary colony, placing structures and infrastructure piece by piece.
- Conquer the galaxy – raise forces, project power, and attempt to outmaneuver rival empires through expansion and conflict.
Shores of Hazeron Screenshots
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Shores of Hazeron Featured Video
Shores of Hazeron Review
Coming soon!
Shores of Hazeron Links
Shores of Hazeron Official Website
Shores of Hazeron Subreddit
Shores of Hazeron Wiki
Shores of Hazeron Developer’s Website
Shores of Hazeron System Requirements
Minimum Requirements:
Operating System: Windows 7, Debian 7, Fedora 17, Ubuntu 14, or Mac OSX 10 64-bit
CPU: 2 GHz multicore processor
Video Card: 512 MB graphics card that supports OpenGL 3.2
RAM: 2 GB
Hard Disk Space: 200 MB
Shores of Hazeron Music & Soundtrack
Coming Soon!
Shores of Hazeron Additional Information
Developer(s): Software Engineering, Inc.
Game engine: In-house engine
Open Beta: December 31, 2010
Open Beta Closed: August 15, 2014
Subscription relaunch date: February 16, 2015
Development History / Background:
Shores of Hazeron is primarily the work of a single developer, David Hoeft, operating as Software Engineering, Inc. Funding has largely come from a small team connected to Hoeft that produces CAD software, which helped sustain development. The game moved into Open Beta on December 31, 2010 and for a time it was available to play for free while new systems were added and refined.
That early era ended on August 15, 2014 when the game was taken offline. The shutdown was tied to rising costs (reported to be around $100,000 and increasing) and ongoing friction with parts of the community, leaving the project difficult to maintain. A few days later, on August 20, 2014, Hoeft stated the project would shift toward a new direction that eventually became Gravity Well V, positioned as a continuation of the older Gravity Well series from the 1990s.
Community reaction to Gravity Well V and its approach was not especially positive, and players pushed for a return to Shores of Hazeron even if that meant paying a subscription. As a result, Shores of Hazeron came back on February 16, 2015 under a subscription model. Since then, the game has been described as being in the midst of significant revisions aimed at preparing it for Steam Greenlight.