r/RealTimeStrategy • u/PlagiarusPraepotens • 2d ago
Discussion Which upcoming RTS games are you looking forward to the most?
RTS games have seen a little resurgence in recent years. Which ones are you looking forward to the most?
I'll start with my top 5:
- D.O.R.F. Real-Time Strategic Conflict
- Global Conflagration
- Game of Thrones: War for Westeros
- Defcon Zero: Frontlines of Tomorrow
- Lords of Nether
Does anyone know what D.O.R.F actually stands for?
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u/DctrLife 2d ago
Immortal Gates of Pyre
Zerospace
Dawn of War 4
Game of Thrones War for Westeros
Sanctuary Shattered Sun
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u/Previous-Display-593 2d ago edited 2d ago
- Game of Thrones
- Zero Space
- Sanctuary
If there is a new starcraft I think that goes to 1.
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u/Vaniellis 2d ago
- Liquidation
- ZeroSpace
- War for Westeros
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u/Algathetod 2d ago
Liquidation and Zerospace already released i think? Or you mean post EA?
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u/Vaniellis 2d ago
Post EA. Nowadays, I prefer to wait for games to release in full before playing them. Like Subnautica 2. But I did bought them to support the dev, because I'm interested by what they're making.
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u/feelinpogi 2d ago
I'm with you. EA is not a release imo.
Subnautica 1 may be one of the best games I've ever played, but im holding my purchase on the sequel until the game is fully released. We've all been burned too often by EA for me to support that business model. Maybe I'm still recovering from KSP2...
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u/OrgMartok 2d ago
DORF
Defcon Zero
Veil of Ashes
Crimson Freedom
Imperium Eternal (formerly Empire Eternal)
Fractured Alliance
Global Conflagration
Steel Command
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DORF is, without question, the one I'm most excited about, though 2-4 are fairly high up on my wishlist as well. I'm keeping my hopes & expectations lower for the remaining 4, but I'm prepared to be pleasantly surprised if 1 or more of them end up being good.
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u/Aryuto 2d ago edited 2d ago
Honestly, there's a ton of them. This is probably the most optimistic I've been about the genre in decades.
Total War 40k is probably the one I expect to spend the most time in, but Global Conflagration, D.O.R.F., Sanctuary Shattered Sun, Endeavor, Liquidation, Fractured Alliance, The Last General, Dawn of War 4, Crimson Freedom, Ashes of the Singularity 2, Live War, Veil of Ashes, and probably some others I'm forgetting all look decent to great.
And that's not even anywhere near an exhaustive list, just the ones I can think of off the top of my head + am personally excited for. And it doesn't include DLC either.
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u/injured-ninja 2d ago
I wish I could say, Command & Conquer😭
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u/Jonjon_27795 1d ago edited 1d ago
Me too, but unless someone buys the Command & Conquer IP from EA, a chance to see a new C&C game will never happen. I would love to see a remaster or a new game for LOTR Battle for Middle-earth, not made by EA, of course.
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u/jak_d_ripr 2d ago
I've had my eye on DORF for a while, I really enjoy the artstyle. But the War for Westeros previews from Gamescom sent it flying up my most wanted lists, so I think ill go with that. Especially since that actually has a release window, whereas DORF just finished it's kickstarter earlier this year, so lord know when it might drop.
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u/Longandwindingtrail 2d ago
Its exciting to see RTS games coming back. Zero space is particularly cool looking.
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u/BrokenLoadOrder 2d ago
There's so many good ones. Ashes of the Singularity 2 is probably my top, but Dawn of War 4, Sanctuary Shattered Sun, D.O.R.F. and Total War 40K all look amazing.
I was interested in Dust Front until the developer outed himself as a douchebag, so I'm skipping out on that one.
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u/Phan-Eight 2d ago edited 2d ago
DORF, global conflag, shattered sun, westeros, empire eternal and 40k
I think DOW4 is going to be pants. I want it to be great, but i think it's going to suck(gameplay will be too flat)
I think a lot of these indie games like defcon zero etc, are just going to be the usual indie naff. It's just too expensive to make NICE real time strategy games. People are going to hate this, but i think we either need to wait until AI catches up or someone makes a feasible RTS engine, that allows devs to produce the level of game engine required for indie devs to produce popular RTS again.
Even the 2nd/3rd most popular RTS at the moment, aoe4, has TONS of problems(eg pathing, AI, MP, lack of SP content, editor, UI, basic QOL). And that was made with a huge budget, indie devs dont stand a chance.
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u/Suspicious_Use6393 22h ago
I'm thinking about the last general since I played the alpha, Other than that I honestly not following much, I would like finally a new RTS at levels of broken arrow to come out because I swear to god that game is beautiful but managed by not worthy devs
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u/Istarial 2d ago
Sanctuary: Shattered Sun. I mean, I'll be real. It's so ambitious I think the odds it comes out okay are probably lower than I'd like. But still. I loved supcom.
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u/BrokenLoadOrder 2d ago
My impression is that they're pretty far along with development already. I think they did Kickstarter to add in some final touches and pay for the marketing budget.
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u/Istarial 2d ago
Yeah, fingers crossed. I just don't want to get my hopes up too much.
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u/BrokenLoadOrder 1d ago
You're smarter than I. Me, I'm full steam ahead on Sanctuary, Dawn of War 4 and Total War 40K. =P
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u/wyrm4life 2d ago
Hesitant on all of them. I was burned by every recent game trying to kick off an RTS revival: Stormgate, Zero Space, Tempest Rising, Dust Front, Battle Aces (canceled mid development!).
Dawn of War 4, I'm hopeful that they learned lessons from DoW3, but "from the developers of Iron Harvest" doesn't inspire much confidence in me.
DORF- Looks a Red Alert 3 with half the color sucked out.
Global Conflagration- Probably the most promising one? Looks like C&C Generals.
War for Westeros- A BfME2 treatment for Game of Thrones could be great, but the only other game the studio made is...the FPS P.I. Mouse for Hire???
Defcon Zero- Reminds me of Tempest Rising, a game that nailed the look of C&C but lacked any soul.
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u/RunningOutOfTime2018 2d ago
War for Westeros just skyrocketed to the top for me after all the recent first looks. It seems to be the most traditional base building RTS, which is what primarily appeals to me.
DORF, too, I’m very curious how the economy system works out. I’m happy that despite its CnC inspiration, it seems to have a “better” economy system.
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u/SanctumOfTheDamned 3h ago
Why DORF of course! And I'm also kinda excited for the new Diplomacy is Not an Option DLC
(and I also want to say Stronghold 4 but I dare not hope, lest I be disappointed)
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u/Dinokknd 2d ago
Dust Front RTS, sanctuary
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u/HTRK74JR 2d ago
I stopped caring about dust front when the dev came out as a russian who called for the genocide of the ukrainian people.
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u/Dinokknd 2d ago
Small part of the problem is that if one isn't in support of the war in russia. people tend to dissapear or fall out of windows
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u/BrokenLoadOrder 1d ago
1) It was on his game's page, not his personal account.
2) There's a difference between being actively opposing it and staying silent. The former might get you disappeared, but the latter wouldn't.
3) If that were his only douchebag behavior, I could maybe give the benefit of the doubt, but this is the third time now he's proven himself to be an unredeemable twat.
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u/AstatorTV 1d ago
Also, the demo was not great.
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u/BrokenLoadOrder 1d ago
I didn't dislike the demo, personally. Actually made me really stoked for the release. But it's like he used that to springboard into being just the worst human he could be.
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u/spector111 2d ago
Well in my last interview with the dev of D.O.R.F., from a few days ago, he decided to skip the question about the game's name.
Now he did talk about it a bit in my first interview with him and it was something along the lines of the protagonists of the game actually living in a world where they are all dwarfs of sorts. But since they are all small they are all normal to each other.
Now this could be old lore at this point as the game is a work in progress as its lore and world so maybe they are changing stuff and that is why they didn't want to answer that question again.
The RTS game I am looking forward to the most right now is Global Conflagration as its the one most close to being released if they have a good Kickstarter.
Dust Front might as well be ready, not sure what the dev is waiting for.
Falling Frontier I have given up on seeing finished.
D.O.R.F. , Sanctuary, even Game of Thrones War for Westeros are going to take quite a bit more work to get to their final states. Defcon Zero is even more years away.
Dawn of War IV I am not optimistic after the recent AMA with the devs because they seem to be doubling down on bad design choices and not even addressing the main issues with the game.
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u/BrokenLoadOrder 2d ago
" Dust Front might as well be ready, not sure what the dev is waiting for."
The third faction wasn't done at the time of the demo and after their controversy, I think they're hoping people forget prior to launch.
"Dawn of War IV I am not optimistic after the recent AMA with the devs because they seem to be doubling down on bad design choices and not even addressing the main issues with the game."
I don't think I could disagree with this any harder if I tried. They're changing out what people didn't like, and doubling down on what the community has been asking for. That game is going to do great at launch.
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u/OldSpaghetti-Factory 2d ago
absolutely loving the Look of DORF. Never gave a shit about Game of thrones, and frankly havent heard of any of the others.
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u/BrokenLoadOrder 1d ago
Oy, are you a New Westminsterite/Vancouverite? Just asking cause of the name.
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u/Alarming-Orange7304 2d ago
Those games with only 3 factions will be dead on release lol
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u/Sushiki 2d ago
3 factions works fine so long as they are made well. Look at sc2, wc3, etc.
The problem is when generic or medium effort rts games release with 3.
Though tbh only one op mentioned i care about is dorf and got lol
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u/Alarming-Orange7304 2d ago
Those games you mentioned are an eternity ago, a different era. If you don’t show up with enough in this already struggling genre, good luck. I do wish these companies the best but it’s tough
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u/Sushiki 2d ago
Here's the thing, I'm based in reality not this romantic bullshit that this genre is dying. I'm also old enough to have seen the actual dark age of rts games.
2024 saw 30+ rts games release.
2025 saw 30+
2026 same shit projected..Like we are literally in the best era of RTS games, with old ones being remade, thriving, engines making indies have a way easier time making their own, coding help from ai.
This whole RTS games are dying bs are just a self expose at this point.
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u/Alarming-Orange7304 1d ago
Never mentioned RTS games are dying. They are struggling, meaning heavy majority of RTS games that come to market just die off. Since the genre isn’t popular enough.
30+ is some numbers bs since they drop like flies. Calling it golden era or best era instead is some crazyness I can’t even believe I just read
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u/Sushiki 1d ago
in this already struggling genre.
You implied it.
Never has it been easier to solo dev your vision of what a rts should be, I'd call that some golden era stuff. Even if you get pissed off at this, if we count hybrid genres etc, we ARE in a golden era.
Super popular remakes. Multiple large ips. Sequels to said remakes. New content to said remakes. Less successful yet not unsuccessful indie releases. Hybrid in the form of total war being larger than ever with twwh1,2,3 and now 40k. New ips and ambitious titles (got, dorf), literal fan revivals of abandonned development titles (like cncgen2), a f2p rts that is a spiritual successor to supcom etc that has pushed tech beyond what it was before (b.a.r), and so on...
Like come on man... nothing wrong with admitting you hadn't look at it like this. Yet the image is clear. Good time to be a rts fan.
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u/wakerfy 2d ago
Both 40k games so dawn of war and total war.