Realms Of Ruin’ is one to watch for RTS fans

Frontier Developments has announced Warhammer Age Of Sigmar: Realms Of Ruin, a real-time strategy (RTS) game that has been created in partnership with Games Workshop.

Set to launch for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, Realms Of Ruin will be set in Ghur — the inhospitable realm of beasts from Games Workshop’s Age Of Sigmar fantasy tabletop series — and feature both multiplayer and single-player components.

Realms Of Ruin‘s single-player campaign has been co-written by Black Library’s Gavin Thorpe, and follows a band of super-powered human soldiers, Stormcast Eternals, as they attempt to protect their foothold in Ghur and ultimately secure the realm in humanity’s name. However, the mission is jeopardised by the Kruleboyz: a violent faction of Orruks (orcs) that have been further corrupted by the swampland they live within.

In the game’s 1v1 and 2v2 multiplayer modes, both the Stormcast Eternals and Orruk Kruleboyz will be available as playable factions. While the Eternals will offer a roster of elite units and limited numbers, the Kruleboyz will be far more numerous but less mobile, relying on weaker units until they can field harder-hitting monsters.

Another two factions will be playable for a total of four, but the remaining two factions are yet to be announced.

Multiplayer battles will see players compete to conquer territory on a map and deplete their opponents’ victory points, all while managing their own army, tech trees and economy. While this is the standard format for RTS games — think StarCraft, or Company Of Heroes — Frontier Developments has noted that efforts have been made to make the traditionally-confusing genre easier for newcomers to understand.

Likewise, while the real-time strategy genre has typically found its audience on PC, Realms Of Ruin will launch with console-specific controls to make it easier for controller users to play.

While a release date for Realms Of Ruin is yet to be announced, a gameplay trailer is set to be released in June and two multiplayer open betas will be held ahead of launch.

In other gaming news, Bungie has unveiled an Escape From Tarkov-style extraction shooter titled Marathon.