Back in 2016, a game called Starbound made a big splash on Steam with its space sandbox adventure that received "Very Positive" reviews overall, and a few years later it made its way to PC Game Pass - where it remains to this day.

But what about the Xbox version? Well, it's been announced that the console release is almost ready to go... but before then, a free playtest is taking place via the Xbox Insider Hub from today until next Wednesday, September 4th.

"Our main aim of the playtest is to find the optimal default controller mapping for the launch version using information we receive from the playtest surveys. We want to find out what feels best and most natural for the majority of players, so after you’ve given the default controls a try, you can adjust the mapping and deadzone balancing in the Settings."

To join, you'll want to go to the Xbox Insider Hub app on your Xbox and look for the Starbound preview. If you don't see it, it's either because you're not been deemed eligible for it, or the "first come, first serve" preview is already full. That said, it may not begin appearing properly until later today (Wednesday 28th), so keep checking back!

"The testing pool will be size restricted in order for us to manage and prioritize the feedback we receive, so please note that access is not guaranteed for all users."

There's no release date for the full version of Starbound on Xbox yet, but it sounds like it'll be very soon indeed. For more information about the preview, including full details on what kind of feedback the team is looking for, you can head to the Starbound website.

Have you played Starbound before? Will you be trying this? Let us know in the comments,.