Revealed during the PC Gaming Show, the first footage for Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin was shown off, and it gives us a solid idea of how this new RTS will play. Featuring both a cinematic single-player campaign and cross-platform multiplayer with 1v1 and 2v2 settings, Realms of Ruin harkens back to the tabletop roots of the Warhammer franchise. Drawing from the series’ past, players will build bases, accumulate resources, and engage in massive warfare that could reasonably be compared to the Dawn of War series.
For Realms of Ruin’s multiplayer, you’ll attempt to earn more “Victory Points” than your opponents while simultaneously draining their score down to zero. It’s a war of attrition as you capture Arcane Conduits around the map and pad out your number of units by building Bastions.
As you acquire more resources, you can unlock additional upgrade tiers for your tech trees that enable more powerful weaponry, armor, and vehicles to be built. This is very much classic RTS 101, but with the genre having shifted toward Hero Units and such, this sounds refreshing.
While not shown in the trailer, console players of Realms of Ruin will be able to control the game with a new control scheme dubbed “DirectStep.” Developer Frontier Developments (known for Planet Coaster, Planet Zoo, and Jurassic World Evolution) is mum on details of how this will work, but it will likely give more direct control over units than has typically been possible for console RTS games. PC players can also utilize DirectStep but will have access to a traditional mouse and keyboard scheme.
Alongside new gameplay footage, Frontier has announced that an open beta period will be taking place on all platforms starting July 7, 2023. Running until July 10, players will be able to take control of both the Stormcast Eternals and the Orruk Kruleboyz as playable factions. The final game will feature additional factions of other races from Warhammer.
Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin will be coming soon to PC (via Steam and the Epic Games Store), PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. You can wishlist the game right now to be kept up to date on all official news.
