After roughly a decade with only a handful of popular series, it appears the real-time strategy genre may be on the cusp of a comeback thanks to the emergence of a handful of new developers. One such develop is Frost Giant Studios, whose leadership hails from Blizzard Entertainment and oversaw the development of two of the studio's most popular RTS series. The studio now has the funds to begin development on its debut title using Unreal Engine 5 to realize the epic vision Frost Giant's team has.
Frost Giant Studios was founded in 2020 by former Blizzard developers Tom Morten and Tim Campbell with the intent of revitalizing the RTS genre. During their time at Blizzard, Morten served as a production director on StarCraft 2 and Campbell was the lead campaign designer for WarCraft 3: The Frozen Throne. The pair have worked diligentely to secure $34.7 million funding for the studio's debut title from the likes of Kakoa Games, Riot Games, and several others which, in turn, has allowed the development team to expand from 30 to 50 people and move into a new building.
Speaking with IGN about plans for the game, Morten spoke about how excited the team was to be building the game on Unreal Engine 5.
"We're always looking at ways to leverage the latest technologies to create a cutting-edge RTS game experience. We're investigating and experimenting with new tools for animation, visual effects, and artificial intelligence. We’re also exploring innovative ways to fully integrate esports within our game and to support our future player community."
As game engines go, Epic Games' Unreal Engine has been one of the go-to options for game developers since its first iteration in 1998. Unreal Engine 5, specifically, was unveiled in May 2020 with support for Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, became available in early access in May 2021, and is scheduled for full release in Fall 2022.
One key feature Epic is promoting for the engine is Nanite, which allows highly detailed photographic material to be imported into games, and that Unreal Engine 5 was designed to take advantage of high-speed storage devices, like solid state drives, which are becoming more common in consoles and PC.
Aside from the benefits of Unreal Engine 5, Frost Giant's debut title may be one RTS fans will want to keep an eye on given the founders' pedigree. StarCraft and WarCraft are both seminal franchises in the history of both the RTS genre, alongside titles like Command and Conquer and Total War, and rise of Blizzard as a powerhouse in gaming. Two veterans of those franchises leading the charge for this new game is already a good sign for this game, which the studio plans to reveal later in 2022.
Source: IGN
