Stray Kite Studios’ real-time strategy game Wartorn Early Access is now available on Steam and the Epic Games Store for $29.99. For a limited time, a special launch week discount slashes the price to $19.99 until June 24. Wartorn comes from Creative Director Paul Hellquist, known for his work as lead designer on BioShock and creative director on Borderlands 2. The game promises an imaginative blend of deep tactical gameplay, a player-guided narrative, and a striking painterly art style, all wrapped in a compelling roguelite adventure.
“What an incredible journey it’s been,” said Paul Hellquist, Creative Director and Co-founder of Stray Kite Studios. “This is one of the most personal games I’ve worked on in my decades-long career. Wartorn is our first major step towards that goal, providing an original blend of genres that combines storytelling, strategy, and ‘slow-time’ combat into a fresh, new experience.”
What is Wartorn?
Players will follow the journey of two elven sisters as they attempt to reunite their family. Along the way, they’ll face moral dilemmas and battle both external and internal threats, leveraging elemental and physics-based systems in their desperate fight for survival.
Wartorn Early Access Brings These Key Features
Stray Kite Studios plans to introduce a host of new content and features during Wartorn‘s Early Access period, leading up to the 1.0 launch. Future additions include new units, higher unit tiers, new bosses, new biomes and maps, and the continuation of the game’s narrative. As the Wartorn Early Access launches, Stray Kite Studios has called out these key features for the game:
- Adaptive Difficulty: The game dynamically adjusts its difficulty based on your performance across multiple battles and runs, aiming to provide an accessible experience for all skill levels.
- Dynamic Combat: Utilize elemental forces like fire, water, and lightning, which interact to create unique tactical opportunities. Ignite tar, amplify electric shocks with water, or douse flames to turn the tide of battle.
- Destructible Environments: Physics-driven destruction ensures that no two encounters play out the same way, adding depth and unpredictability to skirmishes.
- Unique Progression System: A roguelite progression system rewards persistence with heirlooms, hero upgrades, and new abilities that carry over into subsequent runs.
- Beautiful Aesthetic: Wartorn‘s world, heroes, enemy mobs, and magical lands are rendered with a striking painterly aesthetic and incredible attention to detail.
- Slow Down Time: A “slow-time” feature allows players to pause, analyze the chaos, and issue precise commands, adapting the gameplay to their preferred pace.
Stray Kite Studios has officially launched Wartorn in Early Access now.