Uncapped Games, a new studio comprising developers who have worked on iconic real-time strategy series such asStarCraft, has announced it is working on a new game set to shake up the real-time strategy genre. Led byStarCraft 2’s former lead multiplayer designer, the Tencent studio has shed light on the unnamed project in a new half-hour documentary.
Formed in 2021 as a subsidiary of Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent, Uncapped Games boasts a formidable roster of skilled industry veterans. Led by senior game director David Kim, who previously worked at Blizzard as the lead multiplayer designer onStarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty, the team behind the new title is composed of artists and designers whose credits include work onsome of the best multiplayer RTS games ever made, such asWarCraft 3, Dawn of War,andCompany of Heroes.
At first glance, Uncapped Games’ new project sounds much like many of theother great RTS games on the market. “We’re creating an action-packed PC RTS, full of massive armies,” announces the blurb on their YouTube channel. “Customize and power up your army, expand your economy and advance your technology to dominate opponents in PvP battles.” However, the studio quickly affirms its ambitious vision for the new title. Uncapped Games aims to “redefine the strategy genre by creating a paradigm shift with a more action oriented, fast paced and fun-focused experience that can be enjoyed by everyone.” Uncapped Games' ambition to make a real-time strategy game that can be universally enjoyed will likely pose their greatest challenge.
How Could Uncapped Games' Shake Up the RTS Genre?
StarCraft 2is known for being one ofthe most difficult RTS games to master. Despite a fantastic single-player campaign experience, the game’s multiplayer is nothing short of daunting for a beginner. Many RTS gamers will have been victims of the notorious “Zerg Rush,” their base overrun by swarms of the enemy’s insectoid aliens only minutes into a game. To say the online learning curve is steep is an understatement. As the game’s competitive scene capitulatedStarCraft’s esports circuit into the spotlight, Kim recognized that more and more of the development team’s focus seemed designed to cater to these high-end players. This trend is common among modern RTS games, although by no means a new one, with games such as 1999’sAge of Empires 2still enticing players with their blazing build order and micromanagement to this day.
Uncapped Games aims to “redefine the strategy genre by creating a paradigm shift with a more action oriented, fast paced and fun-focused experience that can be enjoyed by everyone.”
However,the phenomenal success of titles likeHalo Warsand its sequelshows that there is another market for a less complicated RTS game.Halo Warsachieved an impressive feat for a strategy game, its controls working as intuitively on a controller as they did with mouse and keyboard. Despite this, its rock-paper-scissors gameplay proved too simplistic for players wanting a more involved experience. Uncapped Games wants to combine these two extremes of the genre, creating an experience that all RTS fans will enjoy while simultaneously “maintaining all the depth and infinite gameplay that old-school fans love.” Few other details are currently known about the upcoming title, but Uncapped Games is expected to reveal more at about their exciting project at this year’s Summer Game Fest in June.
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