Publisher Iceberg Interactive announced today that Stars in Shadow, the upcoming Master of Orion II-inspired 4X title from Ashdar Games , will enter early access on Steam and other digital platforms on September 15, 2016. Iceberg will also conduct hands-on demos and organize press interviews with Ashdar Games at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany next week. Read the full press release here.
Stars in Shadow looks to refine the winning formula established by MoO II, while adding its own touches including a distinctive hand-drawn, comic-style art and a rich, detailed backstory.
Other features include:
- Deep turn-based tactical starship combat, with quality-of-life features like multi-ship command to keep large-scale engagements moving quickly
- Seven playable factions, each with unique gameplay elements. Play as one of the young races, just reaching out into the stars, or one of the old races: survivors of a war long past who bear ancient grudges
- A robust diplomacy system
- Empire management that focuses on high-level decisionmaking
- Many planet types, with their own lore and backstory
So far, there’s no word on when Stars in Shadow will see its full release (the original date of September 2016 now seems unlikely). Here’s a little Stars in Shadow video we made a while back.
Needless to say, we’ll be back with that information and more as it becomes available!