German publisher Kalypso Media, best known for Sins of a Solar Empire and the Tropico series, announced the upcoming release of a new entry in their Grand Ages real-time strategy series, Grand Ages: Medieval at this year’s Gamescom convention in Cologne, Germany. The game, which is being developed Gaming Mind Studios, is a sequel to 2009’s Imperium Romanum 2 by Haemimont Games, which was later rebranded Grand Ages: Rome by Kalypso following their acquisition of the rights to the series.
Grand Ages: Medieval is set in the year 1050 AD, at the beginning of the High Middle Ages, and gives players the opportunity to build a kingdom that spans across Europe and beyond from the single, small village with which they begin the game. Following in the footsteps of its predecessor, Medieval’s primary focus is on macro-level administration of resources and infrastructure rather than the more common micromanaged combat of the real-time strategy genre. While combat does exist in the form of missions, each of which is comprised of small skirmishes over natural resources or trade routes, much more important to the survival of the player’s fledgling empire is the efficient transportation and allocation of resources as well as maintaining the happiness citizens.
Grand Ages: Medieval plans to take the core mechanics of the series to a much larger stage than Rome. With a game world spanning over thirty million square kilometers, players have ample room to expand and plenty of resources to fund further conquests. In order to cement their domination of Europe, players are able to raise an army consisting of knights, archers, and cavalry, trade in twenty different commodities used for the construction and maintenance of their infrastructure, and research fifty different technological advancements with uses ranging from agriculture to castle sieges. The immense game world comes with its own perils, however, as settlements can fall victim to natural disasters or even the Black Death.
The upcoming Grand Ages game plans to launch with an extensive single-player campaign as well as a traditional real-time strategy game mode known as free play that allows players to set up a game according to their own preferences. Medieval also plans to bring online multiplayer to the series, with an option for up to seven other players to join a free play match.
If you’re interested in learning more about Grand Ages: Medieval, you can watch the official trailer below or on YouTube. The game is currently planned to be released on Windows PCs in 2015.