14 DAY TRIAL // The development team at Firaxis was widely expected to announce an expansion for their recently launched Civilization: Beyond Earth, but the company is ready to surprise its player base by revealing that it is working on a turn-based strategy title set in space which will be called Sid Meier’s Starships.
The experience is at the moment set to be launched on the PC, the Mac and iPad devices and will be offered in the first few months of the year, although no window has yet been offered.
Players will be able to take control of a fleet of ships that travel through the galaxy to complete missions, create a bigger planetary federation, and protect planets and their citizens from alien attackers.
Sid Meier’s Starships will ask players to research new tech and then use it to create complex customizable starships that can take on the variety of enemy designs which will appear.
GameSpot quotes Sid Meier himself as saying that “When designing Starships, I was intrigued by the idea of exploring the next chapter in the story of Civilization: Beyond Earth. What happens after we colonize our new home and eventually build starships to take to the stars? What has become of our long-lost brothers and sisters from the planet Earth?”
The veteran game developer also says that adventure, exploration, diplomacy, starship design and combat are equally important in the new title, which does not use the Civilization name.
Sid Meier’s Starships is linked to Beyond Earth
The teams at Firaxis and 2K Games are saying that some interesting features will be offered to all those who get the new Sid Meier’s Starships and also own Civilization: Beyond Earth, although they are not offering any details.
The new title was apparently created by Sid Meier, who imagined the core features, and a small team inside the studio.
It will be interesting to see how Sid Meier’s Starships manages to use the classic turn-based structure the company is known for while adapting it to suit ship-to-ship combat and the creation of a wide federation of planets.
UPDATE: Here's an official trailer, with some more narrative info.
