It took nearly fifteen years for us to get there, but the highly ambitious 4X strategy game Sins of a Solar Empire is now finally getting a chunky new sequel. The appropriately titled Sins of a Solar Empire 2 will once again bring with it three unique factions, though the differences between them will be far greater than before as each one will come with a variety of special gameplay mechanics, new and reimagined units, extensive tech trees, and even a bunch of sub-factions.

Similarly, the combat side of things will be instantly familiar to veterans, though once again there will be a plethora of new features, mechanics and customization options to play around with in order to get the edge over your opponents. The details are unfortunately still shrouded in mystery, but what I can tell you is that Sins of a Solar Empire 2 will support multiplayer matches with up to ten human or AI players, along with the ability to seamlessly join games in progress as well as save things once you all need a break.

What this looks like in gameplay, that you'll have to wait a little while to find out, but for now I can share with you the brief cinematic teaser. Have a gander:

It's also worth mentioning that Sins of a Solar Empire 2 is being built from the ground up with modding in mind. As such, you'll have access to all of the tools you need to do everything from simple rebalances to full conversions. Given how many awesome mods the community has cooked up for the original over the years, I'm looking forward to seeing just what sort of stuff Sins of a Solar Empire 2 will get!

As for the release date, Sins of a Solar Empire 2 will be launching into Early Access via the Epic Games Store on October 27th, 2022. The initial version will contain the core gameplay systems along with the TEC Loyalist faction, while future updates will flesh out the rest of the factions, add missing features, and naturally, polish everything up. So if you're looking to play a mostly completed version of Sins of a Solar Empire 2, you might want to give the developers a year or so before diving in.

You can learn more about Sins of a Solar Empire 2, as well as keep track of any developer updates, over at the official website.