DarkSpace

Players begin by selecting one of three factions. Two factions are human: the United Galactic Trade Organization (UGTO) with rounded ships, and the Interstellar Cultural Confederation (ICC) with long-range capabilities. Players can also choose the alien K'Luth, who pilot organic ships and are masters of hit and run tactics. DarkSpace also contains several non-player factions to interact with, such as the Machine Intelligence (MI) race, space Pirates, and several other alien entities.

Players then choose a starship. DarkSpace has several types of ships, such as battleships, troop transports, supply vessels, and space stations. Each ship type has different capabilities and plays a unique role in the game. Scout ships, for example, can reveal enemy positions, while heavy cruisers are built for attacking other ships.

DarkSpace establishes a fictional series of events detailing humanity's future progress into space. In the near future colonies are established on Luna and Mars, which then rebel and claim sovereignty. The United Galactics Trade Organization (UGTO) is formed and does a "complete survey, exploration, and colonization of the Sol system". In 2049 the UGTO sends three ships to explore the Centauri system, where a small outpost is established. Many years of space exploration follow, with humans visiting 11 solar systems and colonizing 10.

Human colonies are now so far from the Sol system that they fall outside of UGTO control. These systems became known as the Farstars. During the First Stellar Conflict the Farstar colonies fight for control of planets and resources but are eventually stopped by a UGTO police force. The UGTO attempt to shut down all independent shipyards, causing planets to rebel and begin the Second Stellar Conflict.

DarkSpace was created by Palestar, an independent development company founded by Richard "Faustus" Lyle. Lyle had the idea for DarkSpace in 1995, when he wanted to make a "massively multiplayer game with real-time elements based in the Master of Orion universe"; Lyle said that "Netrek, Starfleet Command, and Masters of Orion [were] the principle influences on DarkSpace". After getting the game to a playable alpha state in 2000, Palestar teamed up with Blue Byte to publish the game. Blue Byte, attempting to leverage the brand power their Battle Isle series, rechristened the game Battle Isle V: DarkSpace.

Prior to the publishing agreement Palestar had offered closed beta test signups on their website. After Blue Byte became involved they handled the testing arrangements instead. In early 2001, Blue Byte announced a closed beta test of Battle Isle: DarkSpace - testing was to begin in February, and those who had previously signed up through the Palestar website would get first consideration. Remaining beta testers would be selected randomly.

After its release DarkSpace received several positive reviews. Michael Lafferty of GameZone called DarkSpace "a game that looks good, sounds great and plays well", while Brett Todd of GameSpot thought "[n]early every scene could have been clipped from a big-budget movie" and Gamers Hell's Andreas Berntsen said it was "the closest to a perfect online space-strategy game I’ve seen so far". The gaming website Respawn UK named DarkSpace 'Best Space Game of 2002'. However, several reviewers felt that the learning curve was too steep: Lafferty said "when first launched, the tutorial in DarkSpace was somewhat daunting", while Berntsen said "actually mastering the gameplay takes practice, and the initial learning curve can be somewhat steep" and Aaron Daigle from Game Chronicles claimed that "reading the manual and completing the tutorial mode are critical if you want to excel [at] or even just play the game".

A common complaint was that DarkSpace suffered from a lack of players. Tim McConnaughy wrote in his GameSpy review that "there are too few players for such a massive strategy element". Berntsen agreed that "there simply aren’t as many players to show what it really can do", and Todd brought attention to lack of players as well.