At Xbox Developer Direct, many games were teased including Ara: History Untold. Developed by Oxide Games and published by Microsoft Games, Ara: History Untold is a strategy game where players take history into their own hands. The developers worked on making it a 4x game: eXplore, eXpand, eXterminate, and eXploit. They also included two other x’s: eXpression and eXperimentation. Players can build great cities, conquer other lands, and write the history books in this new turn based strategy game.

In the game’s trailer we get a first look at the mechanics and game play that go into this game. With the ability to write your own history, there is no set path for players to achieve. Success is determined by the players actions meaning every action taken whether that be creating buildings, diplomacy, or even war has consequences both good and bad. Players can play as a multitude of different famous world leaders from multiple different cultures.

Oxide Games have made many strategy game previously including Civilization V. The developers talked about how they wanted to create a game that is different than many preconceived notions during Xbox Developer Direct.  They also talked about their soundtrack and how they used over 100 different instruments for it. The developers at Oxide Games started small and grew the game to prototype phase. There is an exclusive program for those to test and give their feedback on certain aspects of the game. In the livestream, they mention that cougars got out of hand and they had to dial back the aggressiveness of the wild animals near the settlements.

There is not an exact release date just yet for the game, however it is suggested it should come out in Fall 2024. Those interested in the game can sign up for their insider program which gives updates, opportunity for feedback and more.