Gearbox bought the Homeworld IP for $1.35 million in April, following the approved sale of publisher THQ's games and studios for $72 million in January. At the time, Gearbox issued a statement saying that Brian Martel, Gearbox Software's chief creative officer, only had great love and respect for the Homeworld franchise and "personally spearheaded the acquisition." The company said that preserving the Homeworld games is Martel's highest priority and intends on making "them accessible on today's leading digital platforms."

Developer Paul Zakrzewski launched a Kickstarter campaign to develop a real-time strategy/space combat simulator inspired by the Homeworld series called Void Destroyer. The campaign was successfully funded in June and is currently on Steam Greenlight.

The Relic Entertainment-developed Homeworld was initially released for Windows PC in 1999. The sequel, Homeworld 2, launched for Windows PC in 2003.