[2] Star Sonata belongs to the space opera genre established in computer gaming by Galactic Empire and Elite.
[5] By expanding their empires, teams compete to achieve a score in the top five with a sufficient percentage of the population of the universe, which enables them to make a claim for the Emperor's throne.
A reset triggers economic changes as supply and demand shifts for different items and resources in the new procedurally-generated universe of star systems.
[3] Some skill sets are mutually exclusive, requiring the player to choose a particular focus for the character, such as a fighting style, space station management, or freight transport.
[11] After beta sign-ups in August 2011,[12] Star Sonata 2 was released on November 12, 2011[13] with an upgraded client supporting 3D graphics and user interface improvements.
[7] In July 2012, Landauer Games announced a major increase in paid staff for continued development and additions to Star Sonata.