The race for a new real-time strategy game to dethrone Warcraft 3 and StarCraft II is ON. After Age of Empires debuted in Q4 2021, there has not been much movement on this front, that is if you don’t count the most recent plans by Frost Giant Studios, a developer founded by some of the founding fathers of the real-time strategy genre. A lot of esports today is about RTS as confirmed by https://gg.bet/en/esports, but the genre may have lost some of its glam over the last years. There are many reasons why this is. Now, the debate is whether we should get a new game rolling.
If you ask Frost Giant Studios, the answer is a most definitive yes. The real-time strategy has stagnated, alas, under the stint of Activision Blizzard, a company that was supposed to take it to the next level but came somewhat short. StarCraft II failed to live up to fans’ expectations although it’s a pretty good game altogether. Warcraft 3 had its brief comeback with Reforged but, alas, the title came short of achieving true glory due to Blizzard coming short of the many promises they had made about the game.
Now, though, things are looking up. Frost Giant Studios combines specialists who have been known to develop and create compelling strategies throughout their entire careers. They also show a consideration that is reminiscent of the old Blizzard team where quality was really all that mattered. But, as soon as you let the shareholders in, they start clamoring for perks – that is why Frost Giant Studios is not promising anything outside of very good strategy games to come.
The Time for a Great New Strategy Has Come
With the competitive genre becoming more popular and more players willing to go the extra mile to really make a difference, there have been many reasons why players these days are looking for a game that can truly live up to its potential. After all, why play an ill-balanced title when you can wait for the REAL thing.
That is precisely what many gamers out there are waiting for. A new game that would do the genre credit once again and enable everyone who is passionate about RTS to truly immerse themselves once again. Of course, Frost Giant Studios now have a lot on their plate. They have to effectively create a title that will live up to the hype and help heal the wounds left by some of the less successful games out there.
This is a tall order and one that will definitely require a lot of effort on the part of the studio. There is always a chance that the studio will come short of the stated goal simply because the task at hand is so incredibly massive.
What does the space need though? As things stand, we need a passionate community but for this to happen, we need a video game and an RTS that are truly excelling in their stated goal of delivering superior level of engagement with RTS enthusiasts. There need to be a lot of tournaments and an incentive to be better.
Micro and macro are an indelible part of the experience and there is no denying this, but for a game to be truly successful it needs to be authentic, focused on player improvement and rewarding in the end. That is why most RTS games that are successful do not expansions or story continuation. It’s good to have those – of course, but not as a “safe-face” for a product’s inherent failures.