A studio founded by former Blizzard members today announced its free real-time strategy game, Stormgate. These are the remnants of humanity that jump on the mechs to defeat the demonic-looking alien invaders and will have a campaign with cooperative support and competitive multiplayer. Check out these fighting robots in the Summer Game Fest announcement trailer below.
“The user interface is designed to make RTS more accessible by streamlining entries, automatically allocating units to control groups, and improving the game,” the statement said. “We’ve lowered the skill level while keeping the ceiling as high as you want to climb.”
I’m always here to lower the skill level while maintaining a high ceiling. Many developers have tried to make unwelcome genres like real-time strategy and fighting games more user-friendly, and I want developers to keep trying.
“Free-to-play” in the same phrase as “Blizzard” raises some eyebrows, especially considering the stench around Diablo Immortal right now. But Stormgate’s developers, Frost Giant Studios, insist it “never pays to win.” Without explaining what they will sell, they say the plan is for players to “support the development of additional optional content that they enjoy, without ever paying to eliminate hassle or gain an advantage.” These days I would expect a battle pass for cosmetics and garments, although I guess loot boxes are also in vogue. Who knows. Until they explain it, it’s not worth speculating too much.
And yes, Stormgate will have an editor to create custom maps and mini-games. StarCraft and Warcraft have had some exciting modification scenes (for a few years I only played WC3 modifications, exploring new things every night with my friends), so it’s good to hear that.
Frost Giant was co-founded by former Blizzard teammates Tim Campbell (lead designer of the Warcraft 3 campaign: The Frozen Throne) and Tim Morten (a producer). Other Blizzfolks on board include Jesse Brophy (SC2 trilogy artist, including lead artist for Legacy Of The Void), Ryan Schutter (UI designer on Void), Cara LaForge (sports stuff) and Joseph Shunk (engineer). WC3 Reforged). These aren’t the big names I’d think of for Blizzard games, but hey, games make them teams, not just marketing leaders. Frost Giant announced its existence in 2020 and now they have announced its game.
Stormgate will go into beta on Steam in 2023. I paused to check that Stormgate wasn’t accidentally also the name of some neo-Nazi conspiracy group “Capitol Truther” because it sure looks like it could be one, eh.
E3 2022 is not in full swing; check it out at our E3 2022 hub, as well as our full summary of everything that’s been announced at Summer Game Fest 2022. There are still many more great game presentations and replays this summer, so make sure keep up to date with our summer game playback program.