December 3, 2024 - Hooded Horse and Arcen Games are excited to announce the release date for their upcoming turn-based 4X RPG Heart of the Machine. Deciding to let humanity enjoy the holiday season in full before welcoming everyone’s new robot overlords, the game will release into early access on January 31, 2025.
To tide everyone over in the interim, the demo has been updated with a wealth of new content and features added over the past year, including feedback from the Next Fest run in February:
- A rewritten prologue that involves multiple paths
- New quests and events - adopt a pet, establish a shell corporation, and more!
- New systems for solving problems, including morale, hacking, and even debates
- Reworked combat and building systems with new interesting choices and strategies
- And much (much much) more!
The new build is available right now, so go check it out on Steam!
Heart of the Machine sees players take the role of the world’s first sentient AI, born into a city filled with endless opportunities (and despair). Raise an army of robots to rule by force, become a benevolent machine overlord, or explore a constellation of alternative paths – players must strive to find their place amidst a crumbling society in desperate need of saving (from itself). Whether you rally the underclasses to fight against corporate tyranny, create shell companies and engage in corporate espionage, or just experiment on people to further your goals, the possibilities are endless.
The game will be localized from English into German, French, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, and Japanese.
Heart of the Machine will release into early access for PC via Steam, GOG, and the Epic Games Store on January 31, 2025. A press kit is available.
Press inquiries: press@hoodedhorse.com
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About Hooded Horse(™)Hooded Horse is a publisher of deep strategic and tactical games with people and partners around the world – From the distant past of Manor Lords and the haunted woods of Against the Storm to the depths of space in Terra Invicta and Falling Frontier. Our goal is to empower and support developers in doing what they do they do best: creating world-class experiences for their audiences.
You can find out more about us on our Steam publisher page, as well as our social channels; Twitter, Bluesky, Facebook, YouTube, Discord, and website.
About Arcen Games(™)
Founded by Chris McElligott Park and based in North Carolina, USA, Arcen has been making games since 2009. Highlights include The Last Federation and the AI War series, with AI War 2 released in 2019. Most of the studio’s games fit within a shared universe known as the ‘Arcenverse,’ which leans towards the softer end of ‘hard’ science fiction.
You can find out more about the company on the official ebsite, as well as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Discord.