Star Command being submitted to Apple this week

Star Command developer War Balloon Games is submitting the iOS version of the Kickstarter-funded spaceship management title to Apple this week, the studio said today in a lengthy, candid Kickstarter update.

Once the iOS version is submitted, War Balloon will continue working on the Android version, which it estimates will launch approximately one month after the iOS release.

"We don't think everyone could wait a whole month for side-by-side release," the studio explained.

In a recent interview with Polygon, co-founder Jordan Coombs was reluctant to give specific release dates until they were set in stone, since Star Command is coming in so much later than the developers originally anticipated.

After the Android version is done, War Balloon will shift to the Windows PC version, which will become the game's "beta platform" because it allows the studio to essentially do public beta testing. Its first priority with that platform will likely be a sandbox mode.

The three-person development team also emphasized how much work has gone into Star Command in nearly two years, and said that while the finished game represents "probably 30 percent of [the studio's] original vision," the team is "VERY proud of Star Command."

The developers added, "We do feel like we got to the core of the idea — managing your ship, hiring your crew, making life or death decisions, meeting strange aliens and exploring the galaxy. There are many things we would like to still do, and we will get to those in future updates."

"we are VERY proud of Star Command"

War Balloon also apologized for skipping out on some elements it wanted to deliver, elements that backers may have been expecting.

"We have done our best to keep the integrity of our original pitch while being as responsible as possible with what we have capability of actually creating," the studio said.

In addition, the team said it regrets announcing release windows and then missing them, and promised that it never gave a date simply with the intent of "[making] people go away." And War Balloon offered two other apologies: one for being less communicative with updates than it should have been, and another for anything its members said that may have offended or irked fans — indiscretions the developers chalked up to pressure and a lack of a PR firm to filter them.