SteamWorld Build announced, demo available now
Earlier today during the SteamWorld Telegraph: Special Broadcast live event, Thunderful announced a brand-new entry into their franchise, SteamWorld Build. Working with an internal development studio The Station, it’ll offer a new spin on the series with multi-level city-building, giving players a chance to construct a thriving town above ground.
Not only did they announce a new game, Thunderful and The Station revealed a demo for SteamWorld Build is available right now on Steam, and all previous games in the franchise are discounted on the platform as part of the SteamWorld Build Announcement Sale. The official synopsis for the upcoming titles is as follows:
In SteamWorld Build, you are the architect of a SteamWorld mining town. Break ground and raise houses for your steambot citizens, keep them fed and provide some rootin’-tootin’ entertainment. You’ll also venture into the abandoned mine sitting under your town, rumoured to be filled with ancient tech that holds the key to escaping impending doom. Use the natural resources above ground and the abundant ores buried in the mine to expand your town. Stimulate new residential tiers to join the quest to dig deeper, unearth untold riches and ultimately help them to hightail it off the planet!
SteamWorld Build is being developed for both console and PC together to make sure they both work well using a game controller, just as much as they do with a mouse and keyboard. It’ll feature a user-friendly interface and mechanics to offer something to newcomers and experienced players to the city building genre, with three separate difficulty settings to choose from.
“When The Station joined Thunderful in 2020 and told us that they wanted to make a city builder, we thought it offered a great opportunity for SteamWorld and Thunderful to move into another new genre,” said Brjánn Sigurgeirsson, Franchise Director. “They know what it means to work on big IPs thanks to their experience developing for LittleBigPlanet, including crossovers with God of War, Dark Souls and many more. After losing plenty of hours getting sucked into the amazing gameplay loop they’ve created between overground city-building and underground mining, I can tell you that I’m really proud of what they’ve managed to do within the SteamWorld universe.”
Brjánn Sigurgeirsson also said more news on the SteamWorld would be coming in the form of more SteamWorld Telegraphs later in the year.
“Having the opportunity to work on an award-winning franchise that’s loved by fans was a real honour for us,” said Adam Vassee, producer at The Station. “We’ve put a lot of effort into making sure the game retains the charming character of previous entries, but we’re also lucky in that the SteamWorld series is all about trying new things. That’s been liberating in allowing us to put our own twist on SteamWorld and the city builder genre to craft an intuitive Anno meets Dungeon Keeper style system that we think is unlike anything else out there.”
SteamWorld Build will release on PC, PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch™ later in 2023.
