UK-based publisher Kwalee and independent developer Galaxy Grove have announced a new management sim experience: Steam to Electric. This new locomotive-focused title offers players a railway management experience where they can build and optimize their own railway network.
Previously, Galaxy Grove developed and released Station to Station and Town to City; now, it’s all about historical train inventions. The new announcement trailer (featured below) offers a first look at some of the game’s historical train models and deep management systems.
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“As a huge fan of trains and of management games myself, it’s a dream come true to make a game about some of the boldest railway innovations,” says game director Joost van Dongen in Kwalee’s release to press. “From a train powered by literal jet engines to one that drives on a single rail and is kept upright through a complex gyro system, it’s hard to believe that some of these have really existed. But they did, and they worked! In Steam to Electric, we’re giving these amazing inventions a beautiful homage by letting you build them.”
With a voxel world infused with Art Deco aesthetic, Steam to Electric aims to provide players with “a bold, refined vision of rail innovation – industrial optimism, precision engineering, and the promise of progress.”
What is Steam to Electric about?
Ever want to be a railroad baron? Well, in Steam to Electric, players build and optimize their own railway network, transporting passengers and goods while unlocking some wild (but very real) historical train inventions. As their network grows, players evolve from steam to electric trains, balancing simplicity with the surprising depth that older technology offers (with over 25 historical trains featured in the game).
Similar to the Urban Games’ Transport Fever series, Steam to Electric isn’t about building a town or managing a physical empire; it’s about the minutiae of railroad systems and managing their evolution. Building an effective railway system facilitates the growth of larger towns and cities along the railway.
As a full-fledged transport tycoon, players will design, build, and optimize a complex rail empire. You’ll be asked to connect industries, cities, and people across a dynamic world that responds to your decisions.
But not managing a city doesn’t mean you won’t have some management hallmarks, such as managing goods transportation, monitoring production chains, and transporting passengers. To get the most out of your railway, players will have to maximize efficiency and profits as they expand from the era of steam into the modern future.
Additionally, Steam to Electric also allows players to unlock bold, experimental train designs based on authentic historical inventions, showcasing Galaxy Grove’s historical research. Be unconventional and push the envelope as you embrace technological change, as you move from discovering vehicles, wagons, stations, and rail types that you can’t find in other games.
Galaxy Grove points out that Steam to Electric’s goal is to be “easy to pick up but difficult to master.” This is because just laying the railway isn’t the end, as players are offered a high skill ceiling in the form of optimization to take their empire to new heights.
Watch the Trailer
What is the release date?
Steam to Electric does not currently have a release date set. However, the upcoming management video game has a release window sometime in 2026.
What else has Kwalee published?
Founded by games industry icon and Codemasters co-founder David Darling CBE, Kwalee is supported by a global team of games experts, with studios in the UK, India, and remote locations worldwide. Kwalee is a multi-award-winning games publisher and developer based in Leamington Spa, United Kingdom.
Current released games from Kwalee:
- Wildmender
- ROBOBEAT
- Voidwrought
- In Sink
- Hordes of Hunger
- The Precinct
- Town to City
- Don’t Stop Girlypop!
- Modulus: Factory Automation
Upcoming games from Kwalee:
- Hark the Ghoul
- Call of the Elder Gods
- Grime II (Currently in Early Access)
- Ground Zero
- Retro Space
- Lost Hellden
- BPM Bitcrushed
- Shift at Midnight
- Welcome to Elderfield
- Lily’s World XD
- The Coin Game
- Rune Dic
