Amplitude Studios, developers of many a game with "Endless" in the name, have split with publisher Sega to become independent again, with ownership of the studio reverting to its original founders and "other members of the team". The developers say everyone is parting "on good terms" and that the last eight years of getting published under Sega has been "amazing". But there are other businessy reasons, of course. Namely, Sega have been trying to trim down their European studios for the past year, and Amplitude is just the latest bunch of devs affected by that.
]]>Sega and devs Amplitude have revealed the first hefty expansion for their Civ-alike strategy Humankind launches sometime this autumn. Together We Rule adds six new civilizations to play as, and introduces some new diplomatic and spying options to save you from having to attack everyone all the time. Have a watch of the rather neat trailer for Together We Rule below.
]]>Humankind is adding six new cultures to its historical strategy roster with the arrival of its second paid DLC pack, Amplitude Studios have announced at tonight's Summer Game Fest. It's also getting another major patch in the form of the "Bolivar Patch", that's focused on community features. But first, the DLC. This will explore the heritage of Latin America, letting players progress from the ancient era Caralans through to the Nazca, Taíno, Inca and contemporary Argentinians and Cubans. You needn't wait to dig in, either, as the Latin America pack is out right now on Steam and the Epic Games Store.
]]>Humankind’s free Vitruvian update has arrived and it introduces one of history’s greatest inventors, artists and inspirations behind a Ninja Turtle: Renaissance legend Leonardo da Vinci. An avatar and persona of da Vinci are unlockable rewards for completing six new challenges in the game’s Da Vinci Event, running through May 16th. Sift through full patch notes for the Vitruvian update here for details of the bug fixes and some subtle changes to the UI, Beliefs system and, of course, trebuchets.
]]>Amplitude Studios today released the first proper paid DLC for Humankind, adding new African cultures. Perhaps more importantly than that, they released another patch. A Civilization-esque strategy game from the makers of Endless Space and Endless Legend sounded great but some found it suffered issues with bugs, balance, and general polish. So sure, expanding the game with DLC, sure sure, tell me about making what's already there better. Amplitude laid out some of their plans on that front, too.
]]>Humankind goes toe-to-toe with Sid Meier's Civilization, and like its famous forebear it offers a 4X game that spans the breadth of human history. Chances are you already know what you're getting with each new iteration of Civ, however, whereas committing to an entirely new 4X can feel like a large risk.
Enter Humankind's new 100-turn demo, available now.
]]>Last week I wrote that best-game-of-last-year Hades was coming to Xbox Game Pass in August, alongside some other fine games such as Curse Of The Dead Gods and Katamari Damacy.
This was apparently insufficient, since Microsoft have just laid out more games coming to their game subscription service in the Month Of Aug, including Humankind, 12 Minutes and Psychonauts 2.
]]>Today has brought the launch of a new 4X strategy game from Amplitude Studios, the makers of the Endless Space and Endless Legend games, and it's a good'un. Humankind is their take on a Civilization-sorta historical strategy game, growing a nation and its culture across the aeons - with inevitable conflict. This is demonstrated in the launch trailer, where a jaunt to the Moon turns frankly very illustrative of humankind.
]]>I adore strategy games, except for when I have to review them. With so many abstract systems, moving parts, and potential play experiences, it can be a real brain-scratcher to neatly sum up how good they are. Humankind is proving tougher than most. Partly, it’s because I’ve played an awful lot of it, meaning there’s even more than usual to sum up. Partly, it’s because as soon as Amplitude’s big boy 4X was announced, we all knew its success would be defined by how it compared with the Civilization series.
So, then. No point drawing this out: is Humankind as good as Civ?
]]>Humankind is sure angling for a strategic victory this month, outlasting other contenders in the shrinking pool of the top games in August we'd been looking forward to. Better yet than just holding its ground, Amplitude Studios have just announced that their Civ-alike will be coming to Xbox Game Pass for PC at launch as well. That, and they've prepared a snazzy trailer full of big numbers to show just how much you'll be able to get up to in their 4X 'em up later this month.
]]>As I entered a second hour of trying to hammer Distant Worlds Universe into a playable state on Windows 10, two thoughts occurred. The first is that I hope the upcoming Distant Worlds 2 is the 4X I want. The second was more troubling: What do I want from a modern 4X game?
I might as well put this upfront: I don't think I want the same thing most players do. Let me relate both why I admire Distant Worlds, and why I don't think its sequel will do what I want.
]]>The mayor steps to the podium, resplendent in silk pantaloons and a turquoise-embellished cuirass, and clears his throat. In the strip of face visible between his fancy Mesopotamian beard and his tricorner hat, the ancient dignitary’s eyes flicker over to a commotion in the East. the Huns are assaulting the city wall. Again. The Huns are always assaulting the city wall, so the mayor ignores the screams, and returns his attention to the mass of humankind gathered in the square before him.
]]>Amplitude's upcoming 4X strategy game Humankind was expected to launch yesterday until it was delayed to August. It may not be the full launch, but you can still get your hands on a good chunk of it right now. Amplitude have launched another of their OpenDev game demos, this one including the first four eras of the game for you to navigate as well-known strategist Victor Hugo. That is what he's famous for, yeah?
]]>We'll need to wait another four months for the civilisation-building strategy stylings of Humankind, as developers just announced a delay. Previously expected on the 22nd of April, it's now due to launch on the 17th of August. More time to polish, they say. Ah sure, I'm happy to wait a while longer to see what happens when the 4X wizards behind Endless Space and Endless Legend roll onto Sid Meier's lawn shirtless and ready to rumble.
]]>Do...do you feel that, reader? The snap of cold in the air? The thud of heavy feet on the frozen earth? Ah, but it must be our imagination yet. But wait. Do you hear it, reader? The scrape of mighty antlers as they brush through the pine branches? The frantic chuckling of a turkey? Oh no, no, not now. We thought we had escaped her this year. We made the obeisances; we left a glass of Monster Energy on by the hearth. Tremble, for it is the mighty terror wreathed in bone and wire; it is she, who augurs the future in the innards of her flock of eternal turkeys, each one disgorging the promise of a future video game.
It is the fearsome giantess Horaszdóttir. The harshest of all deities. The winter god of game releases yet to come. She has come again, to push our faces to the turkey giblets, and make us see and tell of the desires we hold - desires for games in 2021. Unbidden, the words come to us, and we must describe our most anticipated titles for the year ahead. What will it be today, dread Horaszdóttir? Only tell us, and we will obey! Ah, it is the tricksy genre, that beloved of warmongers and managers, builders and battlers. It is... strategy games!
]]>Upcoming 4X strategy game Humankind will have 60 cultures with units and technologies from different eras when it launches, but that certainly won't stop modders from creating more. The developers Amplitude say they've been thinking ahead to mod support for Humankind based on what players achieved in modding their past games. They have plans to create bigger and better modding tools than they have previously, including editing the AI and the UI and more.
]]>Strategy games is an enormous genre in PC gaming, with real-time, turn-based, 4X and tactics games all flying the same flag to stake their claim as the one true best strategy game. Our list of the best strategy games on PC covers the lot of them. We like to take a broad view here at RPS, and every game listed below is something we firmly believe that you could love and play today. You'll find 30-year-old classics nestled right up against recent favourites here, so whether you're to the genre or want to dig deep for some hidden gems, we've got you covered. Here are our 50 best strategy games for 2023.
]]>Amplitude Studios' strategy game Humankind is offering a playable peek at their vision for the next era of civilisation 'em ups. The strategy romp has a new trailer out along with a free demo that you can play in your browser so you can decide for yourself if it'll take the strategy crown. Sega announced today that they're planning Humankind's launch for sometime in April 2021.
]]>After a year of speculation, I've finally had a chance to play Humankind, Amplitude Studios' much-anticipated competitor to the Civilization series, and while I only got to play through the very first era of the game on a single map, I can say for sure we've definitely got a contender here. I'm hesitant to say how strong a contender until I've seen more of the game, since I think Humankind's brand of satisfaction is going to lean heavily on the way the outcomes of your decisions stack across thousands of simulated years. But the fact that I could see, even in the early game, how the calls I made might have ramifications for centuries to come, was a promising sign.
]]>Civilization can take a moment to catch its breath, as the developers of upcoming lowercase-c civilisation 4X strategy game Humankind have quietly pushed its expected launch back to next year. It was previously due this year, but a new trailer today says 2021.
Amplitude also put out a call to fans and prospective players to help them fine tune it, offering access to limited preview builds in return for active playtesting feedback with their Open Dev scheme. There's even a trailer for that.
]]>A new video developer diary for Humankind explains more about its single victory condition, the pursuit of Fame points. It's a system building victories from all facets of your cultural legacy, with points coming in everywhere from military victories to building wonders. Humankind is coming from the makers of Endless Space and Endless Legends, two cracking and fascinating 4X strategy games, so I'm mighty curious about their take on the big daddy of 4X: Civilization. Come watch the video to learn more about Fame and about switching cultures across eras.
]]>Civ-like strategy game Humankind has been big on its tagline of wanting players to create "a civilization that is as unique as you are." That will extend to your cities too, Amplitude say during a new developer video. As do real modern metropolises, Humankind's cities will evolve but carry with them the evidence of what they once were in the form of old architecture and oddly-shaped territories.
]]>The prospect of the studio behind Endless Space and Endless Legend trying their hands at a Civilization-style 4X strategy game is an enticing one, enough for us to declare Humankind one of 2020's most exciting new games. Amplitude Studios aren't yet ready to tell us when exactly we'll get to play Humankind, but they are ready to starting telling us more about it. The first of a new series of video dev diary doodads hit today, with Amplidudes explaining their background and why they're now shouting "COME ON THEN!" while tearing up Sid Meier's geraniums and kicking over his bins.
]]>Over the break we had a chance to do some serious scientific study of this business we call games, and it turns out that games are actually good. 2020 in particular has a healthy mix of big budget bonanzas and smaller indie plates to suit everyone's discerning tastes. And, as you know, the RPS treehouse is the most discerning, so to make it easier for you we've got a big ol' list of the games we're most looking forwards to this year. It's traditional.
]]>Like a heavily-sponsored Santa Claus, the Game Awards swept in last night and left us a pile of presents to unwrap. If you did the smart thing and slept through the event, you'll have missed a bunch of new announcements. Alice O and Graham did some amazing work in writing up as much as they could as it happened, but a few sly games snuck past 'em. Plus, sometimes it's just nice to have everything all in once place. Here's everything that was announced.
]]>What if the studio behind Endless Space and Endless Legend took a crack at Civilization? It's an exciting thought and looking to be an exciting game: Humankind, due to launch next year. Following the announcement in August, Amplitude Studios showed more of the historical 4X strategy game in motion with its first "gameplay trailer" tonight at The Game Awards. The video is mostly shots panning over cities but coo, those are some big cities. The video also shows some of the leaders we play as, though you'll not recognise them from history books.
]]>To the untrained eye (eyes that haven't spent many an hour trained on an exquisitely detailed topographical map, checking on all corners of your immense empire), Humankind probably looks like any other 4X game where you shuffle units around and micromanage different settlements. But according to the hands-off demonstration shown at Gamescom this year, it ain't.
4X stands for explore, expand, exploit and exterminate, the four key things you have to do to run a successful and burgeoning empire (and in the game?), and Humankind is Amplitude's take on a big sprawling historical strategy game. Amplitude's previous games, Endless Space and Endless Legend, were apparently practise for this, their magnum opus.
]]>Humankind, the latest and most ambitious 4X strategy game from Endless Legend creators Amplitude Studios, looks to revitalise the historical 4X genre and nab the crown from the titanic and venerable Civilization series. And look damn pretty while it does so, too.
But it's not just looks that Amplitude are hoping to win out on with Humankind. We'll go over everything we know about Humankind below, from release date information to our first glimpses of gameplay in trailers and screenshots, and what we can glean about how everything will work when it's released.
]]>Following the sci-fi 4X strategy of Endless Space and fantasy 4X of Endless Legend, the next strategy game from Amplitude Studios has an even stranger setting: human history. They've just announced Humankind, a 4X strategy game which I will crudely describe as "sounding like Amplitude's take on Civilization." By which I mean it's a turn-based 4X strategy game where galleons can be sailing around at the same time as submarines and all that. I've long wished for a contender to strut menacingly around Civ's turf and I'm doubly keen to see what Amplitude will do there. Here, watch the announcement trailer below.
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