Gearbox announces sequel to space-based strategy game Homeworld

During its PAX Prime panel over the weekend, publisher Gearbox has announced that a sequel to the cult classic Homeworld series of strategy games is in development. The game, titled Homeworld: Shipbreakers, is being developed by Blackbird Interactive, which will be financially supported by Gearbox.

Blackbird Interactive had earlier been working on a spiritual successor to the Homeworld series titled Hardware: Shipbreakers. Gearbox has announced that it will be the same game, but with the Homeworld name attached to it.

Gearbox had bought Homeworld from THQ for $72 million earlier this year. The company’s Chief Creative Officer had also released a statement saying that he had great love and respect for the franchise.

Breathtaking visuals and an epic soundtrack

Back in July, Gearbox announced that it is working on HD remakes of the first two Homeworld games. This was the first thing the company had done since it picked up the Homeworld IP from a dying THQ.

The first Homeworld was a real-time strategy game developed by Relic Entertainment. For its time, the game was ground-breaking since it was the first strategy game that allowed movement in a completely 3-dimensional space. However, the game wasn’t a commercial success, and it got a lot of flak for its clunky interface and slow-paced gameplay. However, the game still maintains a cult following thanks to its extremely beautiful visuals and soundtrack.

There were two other games in the Homeworld franchise, dubbed Homeworld: Cataclysm and Homeworld 2. Cataclysm takes place fifteen years after the events of the first game. However, the game’s canonicity is often disputed, since Homeworld 2 doesn’t reference any of the events of Cataclysm.

Homeworld 2 took place a hundred years after the events of the first game. It revamped the original’s gameplay and brought about improved graphics. However, there was a noticeable sacrifice made to the game’s plot, mood, characterisation and voice acting.