AI War 2 very early gameplay screenshot

Arcen Games have been on a bit of a downward spiral for the past couple of years. Their games, despite reviewing pretty well, mostly ended up selling abysmally. And when you add to that their completely underwhelming latest game In Case of Emergency, Release Raptor, the outlook seemed to be incredibly grim.

With that in mind, I am more than happy to tell you that their Kickstarter campaign for AI War 2 has not only been a success, but they have managed to gather ~$100,000 in funding - basically double the asking amount! In terms of stretch goals this means a whole bunch of new music, the return of the Spire as a playable race with their own mechanics, a new type of Nemesis AI whose only purpose in life is to end yours, and finally - giant interplanetary weapons... because why not!

If you're interested in what this looks like in gameplay terms, you'll find the very first combat prototype video down below. All of the footage you'll be seeing is from a pre-alpha build, so expect every single thing to get polished up, replaced, or reworked by the time AI War 2 reaches release. With that disclaimer now out of the way, here's the video:

You can expect AI War 2 to arrive on Steam Early Access in May 2017 at a $30 price tag, with the official release set for October 2017 at a slightly lower $20 price tag.

And if you're not sure whether AI War 2 is something you'd personally enjoy or not, here's the rather lengthy design document going over what exactly AI War 2 will be about, how that will be achieved, and why. Its quite a fascinating read, so if you're interested in game development you might also want to give it a look. Enjoy!