Hello, everyone!

Tim Campbell here. We’ve reached an exciting point in Stormgate’s development where the team is making quick progress on many fronts and we have a lot to show you.

Since we founded Frost Giant and embarked on the journey of developing Stormgate, we’ve been committed to the idea that involving our community (you!) directly in the creation process would ultimately lead to a better game than we would be able to develop alone.

I have personally seen this theory proven out time and again during Stormgate’s first few years of development. Community feedback has helped shape core gameplay, competitive balance, map design, the relative priorities of a LOT of features, as well as the overall player experience.

As the team prepares for the upcoming release of our next closed beta test (codenamed Frigate), we’d like to share some insight into our design process as well as an early look at some of the progress we’ve made since our last playtest. Let’s start with an overview of how we’re approaching our maps & game modes.

Stormgate’s ranked 1v1 competitive and 3vE (3P co-op vs. AI) cooperative modes are playable. However, you may be wondering how we’re going to improve those modes and increase the amount of content available for them. You may be curious about the state of our Campaign missions, something we haven’t discussed much yet. Or, you may have seen a bunch of maps set in lush, green forests and wondered–hey, where’s the post-apocalypse? You may have seen that we’re working with our friend Samwise Didier to create all new “Creep families” to replace our placeholder Creep Camps (farewell, chickens!). So, when are those going into the game? In reality, the answers to all of these questions are intertwined, and I’m going to try to break it all down and show you some examples of how we approach various development challenges.

When creating a multi-faceted game experience like Stormgate (similar to the experience many of us had working on other RTS games back at Blizzard), our development team often faces complex production challenges that stem directly from being a small team trying to build a really big game.

With Stormgate, we’re not just making a 1v1 competitive game (a huge challenge on its own), but we’re also creating a compelling cooperative experience, a high-quality campaign experience (playable alone or with friends), a powerful editor for custom game content, a 3v3 team-based competitive mode, and more. Each of these modes and features requires its own unique content, but they nearly all have to flow through the same small groups of developers and can frequently compete against each other for attention.

Well, every team has its own approach. Blizzard traditionally took advantage of very long development timelines, with games in development for many years before being formally announced.

Other teams have thrown massive team sizes at these same problems. Even then, StarCraft II didn’t introduce Co-op Commanders until post-launch DLC after three premium boxed product releases. Other recent premium RTS releases have chosen to ship their 1.0 releases without significant features like map editors, replays, or even ranked competitive matchmaking, and instead add them in later as post-launch updates. Simply put, the RTS genre has such a large surface area and such a unique set of development challenges that every team (large or small, indie or not) has to find their own way to address them somehow.

For us, our approach comes down to trying to make smart, efficient decisions every step of the way–even if that means delaying a greatly-desired feature until the proper infrastructure can be put in place to support it or postponing certain types of content until other content with greater dependencies has been made first. At every turn, we do our best to choose the long road by avoiding doing rushed, throw-away work, and instead are building from the foundation-up with an eye towards building a sustainable, stable, fully featured game experience.

The advantages of this approach are far-reaching but can be seen most clearly in SnowPlay - our own custom RTS technology layer - which was developed first (before the start of our work on game content) and has provided the architecture needed to support robust features like matchmaking, replays, and observers, even during our early Alpha and Closed Beta phases.

Part of how we make this balancing act work when we have a very small development team is by having each mode fill a very specific role for us, while making sure that they each contribute to the overall game project.

Competitive 1v1, for example, is where we dial in core features, such as unit movement, selection, and responsiveness as well as how the tech trees feel, how different terrain types affect gameplay, and how our map sizes and camera position interact with each other to provide the best player experience.

We are intentionally building each 1v1 map to have unique characteristics compared to the others - often varying wildly in size, terrain density, amount of open space, Creep placement, resource positioning, ramp width, etc. This variety allows us to get feedback from the community about what players like or don’t like, as well as to collect actual hard data on win rates so that we can identify the reasons why each faction might favor (or struggle with) different map types.

At this stage of development, the visuals for maps are a distant secondary concern to how they help us improve the feel of gameplay. In fact, none of our 1v1 maps has received any sort of formal art treatment beyond a level designer quickly applying basic tilesets of ground textures and doodad props.

Environmental art is a huge part of what gives an RTS its final “look”, and we intentionally haven’t dedicated significant resources on this area–for good reason. Hardening the art on our maps too early would hinder our ability to adjust the layout based on community feedback (or would result in lost work when we effectively throw out a fully-artified map in order to take it back to the drawing board and make improvements). You can expect to see visual changes to our 1v1 maps in the future as we finalize their layouts and do art passes on them, including changing tilesets, adding landmarks and distinctive visual elements, and incorporating additional terrain types. We have yet to show you the final quality bar we’re aiming for on our maps, but when we do, we think the impact will be significant.

We have a couple new 1v1 maps ready that will be included in our next playtest, as well as updates to some of our original layouts. We’re also going to add a randomized map pool to make the competition on the ladder more interesting.

Cooperative 3vE, by comparison, is used more as our testbed for teamplay and experimental gameplay ideas. Risky “out-there” ideas are almost always implemented in Co-op first so we can try things out and experiment.

Sometimes we like these ideas so much that we migrate them into 1v1. For example, if we find a Hero-specific unit or ability that we love, we can find a way to integrate it into the base faction or in other modes. We recently tried out our “interactive corpses'' feature with Maloc’s Burned Ones in Co-op, but the feature will be expanded into a wider range of core faction abilities in the future. That way, our designers can experiment with an entirely new set of ability archetypes like resurrection, animate dead, cannibalize, or even corpse explosions. Similarly, the Infernal top-bar ability to spawn an Effigy started out as a co-op Hero ability, but was promoted into the core Infernal faction after playtesters responded very positively to it.

We also use Cooperative mode to push our tools and Editor capabilities, because essentially each new scenario or our mutators are built by our design team by “modding” our gameplay using the same tools that will be released to the community. We shared a little about what the Editor looks like at this stage recently at GDC, in case you missed it.[playstormgate.com]

Campaign is where we bring our game world to life. This is where we introduce our heroes and villains, where the tone of our game world and conflicts are established, and where many players will ultimately decide which faction they’ll prefer to root for and identify with. Because of this, the Campaign narrative heavily drives our decision making process about which assets we should develop and in which order we should prioritize them.

Because of our relatively small team size, we don’t have the ability to make many completely unique environment and character assets for each game mode. Instead, we plan around what the storyline for Campaign requires, and then we circle back to the other modes and incorporate those campaign assets where it makes sense. This is an age-old practice in RTS development (including on every RTS project that I’ve been a part of) and it is very effective at “force multiplying” our output by allowing Campaign assets to be reused, repurposed, and creatively tweaked in numerous ways by the development team.

However, an unfortunate side effect of this is that because we have not been able to share a lot about our Campaigns yet, we have also not been able to share a lot of the over-the-horizon content that we’ve been building for it–content that you can look forward to being incorporated into our competitive and cooperative modes in the future… This is one of the first things that I’d like to start sharing more about with you.

Our first six Campaign missions are well underway and are in a playable state. Our team is playtesting and giving feedback on these campaign missions each week.

We still have a lot of work ahead–these missions will be in an early state at the start of Early Access and we will be working directly with the community to improve them on our road to 1.0, but we’re already actively iterating on every aspect of the missions in order to make them as fun as possible.

In the grand traditions of Blizzard campaigns, we are working hard to give each mission its own unique gameplay twists, distinctive environments, and memorable enemies, including entirely campaign-specific characters and minibosses.

Some of the things that we’re currently working on for the Campaign include:

• Our story is set in a post-apocalyptic world that has been ravaged by war and invasion for decades. Even though you’ve mostly only seen a green forest so far, we are well underway on building out a range of more apocalyptic environments, including a destroyed cityscape, ruined science facilities, desolate desert wastelands, and some ancient underground vaults.
  
• Once these environments are finished, we will circle back to the other modes and incorporate these tilesets into our existing 1v1 and Co-op maps - so you’ll see a gradual conversion of our basic forest levels into wastelands and urban ruins.
  
• I’ll share some samples of the assets we’re creating to build out Stormgate’s destroyed cityscape below.

• We have missions that occur at night, dawn or dusk, or even underground in pitch darkness.
  
• The dark environments will be coupled with unit lights (including headlights and flashlights) to illuminate where your troops are.
  
• These lighting states include the ability for designers (and content creators) to trigger day/night changes (As a repeating cycle, or one-off transitions).

• Many of our missions involve water in one form or another, including swamps, rivers, and the ocean. We are well underway on a water solution that can influence gameplay in some awesome ways while being just as easy (if not easier) to place in the Editor as WarCraft III’s water.
  
• Water prohibits building placement, includes shallow/deep delineation, and enough pathfinding flexibility to allow some units to be blocked by shallow or deep water while allowing others to travel over (or through) it.
  
• No, we’re not building naval units into our initial factions… but, yes, naval movement is being supported out-of-the-box with our editor so that YOU can, if that’s your thing.

• Several campaign missions feature weather effects such as monsoon-level rainstorms, heavy wind that blows trees and grass around, lightning strikes, and even tornados that wander around the landscape destroying things they hit.
  
• Yes, we’re going to release these for modders and content creators to use in creative ways as part of our Editor.

• Several types of interactive structures will be encountered throughout the campaign, including the cantinas that serve as watering holes for hireable mercenaries and the lost vaults that often contain special team-wide bonuses.
  
• These will eventually be used on maps in other modes, but are being built initially to fill Campaign needs.

• The storyline we’re creating involves a wide range of characters that are not part of our core 1v1 faction or our co-op Heroes. These have taken a lot of effort to make, and we’ll share some specific examples in the weeks ahead.
  
• Some of the characters are “named” protagonists or antagonists that may be elevated to co-op Hero status in the future. But for now, they are unique to Campaign missions - each treated as a Hero-equivalent with their own special models, animations, voices, abilities, and attacks to look forward to.
  
• Other characters are less unique and will primarily help fill out the game world, including scientists, prisoners, marauders, and a whole range of animal critters and deadly monsters.
  
• Here’s a sneak peek at the “Pygmy Jerboa” critter that lives in our desolate desert “Deadlands” tileset. It’s wise in the ways of the desert and creates its own water.:

• Campaigns are often more complex beneath-the-hood than they might seem to be on the surface. They tend to require a lot of special features and technology (definitely the case with ours!) and we have made great progress towards implementing a lot of special requirements that aren’t currently visible to players in our Alpha and Beta playtests, including:
  
• Saving / Loading / Transitioning directly between maps without exiting back out to the menus.
  
• “Black Mask” to completely obscure unexplored areas.
  
• An “Item system” that allows Hero units to be able to pick up and use items during missions, like a quest objective, key, or medkit.
  
• A Mission Briefing screen that gives players a narrative update and a preview of their mission objectives before actually starting the mission.
  
• Special equipment options that can be equipped in the Mission Briefing Screen to customize the effectiveness of your force in the upcoming mission.

Thank you for reading this far. Along with this dev blog, we also recorded a development update video that includes a first look at many of the things we’ve been working on recently, including a new plague-spreading Infernal unit, the Hexen.

We’re grateful to all of you who have been a part of our journey so far and we can’t wait to show you what we’ve been building in our next closed beta playtest, which we’re planning to release for our playtesters on April 30. Please let us know what you think by joining us on the official Stormgate Discord[discord.gg].

See you in Stormgate!

-Tim Campbell, Game Director

Today, we’d like to introduce you to the new direction that we’re taking with Creep Camps in Stormgate–let’s call it Creeps 2.0.

We’ll start with a definition, as many modern RTS games don’t have Creep Camps; they are a game mechanic that WarCraft III players are more likely to recognize. A Creep Camp is a group of neutral minions that our level designers can place on a map using our in-game editor to provide players with an optional challenge resulting in a reward. Creep Camps provide players with powerful incentives to leave home base and encourage more active play. In Stormgate’s case, that reward can vary from additional resources, to map vision, to a speed boost, or healing.

Each of Stormgate’s highly asymmetric factions also has a unique attribute that provides the player with an added incentive to control Creep Camps. Vanguard players, for example, can benefit from Unit Veterancy and earn valuable experience to level up their key units. Infernal Host players, on the other hand, can Infest Creeps and bring them back from the dead as additional Fiend units. Our upcoming third faction also has its own mechanics revolving around Creep Camps as well.

With Creeps 2.0, Creep Camps will incorporate capture points. When the last Creep in a Camp dies, a circular capture point will be activated. Keeping friendly units within that radius for a certain amount of time will 'capture' that camp, giving its benefit to your army or team. Once captured, this point can be recaptured or 'back-capped' by an opponent which will change the allegiance of the camp, making them dynamic points of interest on the map at any given time. Enemies can contest control of a capture point with their own uncloaked land and air units. However, Sentry Posts, Shroudstones, and other structures are unable to take or contest a capture point. Capture points, we believe, will make for exciting skirmishes over their control, versus the current winner-take-all result of dealing the killing blow on the last surviving Creep minion.

When a capture point is captured, it will often provide a combination of local and global benefits to the player. Local benefits ensure that battles that take place near the capture point will have a twist while global benefits allow for capture points that are off the beaten path to impact gameplay. For example, capturing a health camp might grant the capturing player greatly increased health regeneration near the camp but a minor health regeneration bonus no matter where they are on the map.

We also like the idea of capture points triggering an immediate effect once claimed. That can include spawning a powerful neutral minion (we’ve been using a placeholder catapult in our playtests so far), or one of our other Creep Camp rewards, like map vision, health regeneration, or movement speed boost. After a certain amount of time, the Creep Camp units will respawn, but at a higher level that increases both their difficulty and the quality of their reward. All players in a game will be able to see the current level of any Creep Camp so that they can gauge how actively they’re being used, and choose whether to contest them appropriately.

We believe this new version of Creep Camps will more greatly encourage players to contest territory across the entire map throughout the entire game. Previously, Creep Camp locations were only important to contest when the creeps were alive. But with these new changes, players are encouraged to contest and hold all of the Creep Camp locations no matter what state they’re in. Even as a player with a smaller army, you can maneuver your forces around the map in a way such that you’re able to hold a significant proportion of capture points on the map.

Until recently, our Creep Camps have featured temporary art (like our Viking Chickens) while we worked with a legendary artist to shape the future look of these neutral minions. While we will miss our fine-feathered fill-ins, we are excited to see how our new neutral minions, designed to fit into the lore and worldbuilding of Stormgate’s future Earth, will help make our game feel that much more immersive and fun.

We are excited to share a behind-the-scenes look at the concept art for these new Creep Camps with a video narrated by none other than our friend Samwise Didier. Sammy worked with many of us as the Art Director on the Warcraft and StarCraft RTS games back at Blizzard Entertainment. We are honored to share that he’s been contributing his unique talents and artistic vision to Stormgate. Sammy put together this killer video sharing a walkthrough of his process for creating the concept art behind the first of our three new Creep Camp families, the Scavengers. Watch it here:

So who are the Scavengers? The Vanguard are Earth’s best hope for survival. As the player-controlled human faction, they represent humanity at the height of technological prowess and scientific knowledge. But other survivors of the Infernal onslaught that nearly wiped out mankind can still be found in the wastes around the world. Nomadic tribes, some more violent than others, seek out unpopulated corners of the Earth and have reverted to barbarism and plunder. Players will encounter various bands of dangerous foes as they fight for control of territory, including the savage mechanically-enhanced Scavengers. In the future, we’ll share a look at our other Creep Camp families: the Cultists and the Cannibals.

Closed beta players will get their hands on some of the changes coming to our new Creep Camps in the upcoming Frigate playtest. If you haven’t already become a Stormgate Founder, you can purchase a Founder’s Pack via Indiegogo here and take part in the final round of closed beta playtesting. The upcoming closed beta (kicking off at the end of April) will also be our playtesters’ first opportunity to get their hands on Stormgate’s unannounced third faction–which . . . may or may not be a race of magical anime cat girls.*

*The third faction will not be a race of magical anime cat girls. Or will they?

It’s Steam Next Fest, and that means you get a full week to try out (and try to break) Frost Giant’s upcoming RTS, Stormgate!

While some of you have been involved from very early on in development, even more will experience Stormgate for the first time this week.

BeoMulf, UpATree, Steadfast, Vodible, and KillerPigeon have joined forces to give you all the resources you need to get up and running to dominate the ladder, win those Co-Op missions, and generally have a great time exploring Stormgate this entire week!

Follow the Hosts and Guests:

1. BeoMulf: https://www.twitch.tv/beomulf, https://www.twitter.com/@BeoMulf_SC2, https://www.youtube.com/@BeoMulf, https://www.stormgatenexus.com/, https://www.twitter.com/StormgateNexus
   
2. KillerPigeon: https://twitter.com/KillerPigeon, https://www.twitch.tv/killerpigeon, https://www.youtube.com/@KillerPigeon
   
3. Vodible: https://twitter.com/Vodible, https://www.twitch.tv/vodible, https://www.youtube.com/@Vodible
   
4. Steadfast: https://www.twitter.com/SteadfastSc2, https://www.twitch.tv/steadfastsc, https://www.youtube.com/@steadfastsc2
   
5. UpATree: https://twitter.com/UpATreeZelda, https://www.twitch.tv/UpATree, https://www.youtube.com/@UpATree

Please note: Stormgate is currently in active development and this beta gameplay demo does not reflect the final game.

Don't you just want to squeeze him and love him forever?

Carbot has been an amazing BFF to Frost Giant Studios since our earliest days. We are honored that, in addition to designing our awesome Frost Giant logo, he dedicated time to creating this adorable plush version of his adorable Yeti mascot.

This guy's dangerously cute--many of our own employees have purchased several for their kids (and themselves!)

Please note that the Yeti plush will be available for a limited time only. After this campaign ends, he'll be gone forever!

Get your Frost Giant Plushie today on Makeship![www.makeship.com]

Steam Next Fest is here and we're thrilled to have you join us to play the first-ever public demo of Stormgate! The Steam Next Fest demo includes full access to the current closed beta phase, codenamed "Elephant." (Each Stormgate playtest build is named after a classic RTS unit, in alphabetical order.)

Here are some key insights into the current game state and what you can look forward to during the playtest.

How to Play With Friends
While our party system is still under construction, you can easily play with friends by creating custom games, either public or private, and sharing the Lobby ID. Crush that smack-talkin' Major Galt together in our 3P co-op map, WRECK HAVOC!

How Do I Get Gud?
If you are new, you may want to start by playing 3P co-op first or creating custom games against the AI to practice. PeacefulBot will leave you alone so that you can learn the tech trees and try out all the units. Then you can upgrade to MurderBot for a little challenge.

In addition, we recommend these great video resources if you are new to RTS or are looking for a refresher:

• Real-time Strategy is incredible and you should play it - CloudCuckooCountry
  
• 3 Tips to Dominate Stormgate - BeoMulf
  
• How to play Stormgate’s Vanguard Faction (for beginners) - PiG
  
• Stormgate Gameplay - Tips, Tricks & Guide for Open Beta! - Wintergaming

You should also find many content creators streaming and teaching the game on https://www.twitch.tv/directory/category/stormgate during Steam Next Fest.

Performance and Gameplay

As Stormgate is still in beta, here are a few things you might notice during play:

Occasional Server Restarts: We may need to bring the servers down occasionally during Steam Next Fest. Our plan is to bring the game back online shortly after any of these restarts. Please check the official Discord[discord.gg] for status updates and more information.

Unoptimized Performance: High unit counts may impact FPS, especially on lower-end systems, and server stability might vary due to new player influx. These are areas we're actively working on improving as the game has not undergone complete optimization at this early stage of development.

Faction Balance: Our focus is on crafting a fun, engaging experience. Balance is being refined, so you may encounter some bugs, exploits, or strategies that seem overpowered. Remember, this stage is for us to identify and address these issues together.

Settings: Some customization options and settings you might want are still in development. Hotkey customization is still in development and modifier keys are currently unable to be customized. We appreciate your patience as we work to include these in a future update.

Still a Work-in-Progress: This is an early preview of a game that is in active development. The two currently playable factions will have tier 3 units in a future update. A third faction will be revealed in the the coming months. You will also find placeholder art as well as missing sounds, animation, lighting, FX, etc. Additional content such as Campaign (available at Early Access), 3v3, and our Editor will also be playable further along in development. We are excited to share final designs and a more polished overall experience when the game officially launches.

(Early Access slated for mid-2024. Official launch date is still TBD.)

GeForce Now Support: The Stormgate Steam Next Fest Demo is playable using GeForce Now. Let us know how it feels if you decide to play in the cloud!

Please join the official Stormgate Discord[discord.gg] and introduce yourself. We'd love to meet you!

GL HF and see you in-game,
-Your friends on the Frost Giant team

P.S. Check out the Vanguard and Infernal Tech trees here:

Frost Giant Studios is partnering with the Elite Gaming Channel to operate the EGC Stormgate Open – the first-ever Stormgate prize tournament, featuring a $10,000 prize pool.

The early rounds will take place on February 10-11 and the final rounds will take place on February 17-18.
Participation in the event is open to the public!

Think you've got what it takes? Here's how to compete in the Open:

• 1st: register for an account at https://compete.playstormgate.com/
  
• 2nd: join the official EGC discord here[discord.gg]
  
• 3rd: sign up for the tournament here here[compete.playstormgate.com]

In addition to open qualifiers, 4 finalists will be invited from the public based on their ranked ladder ranking. Qualification ranking cutoff takes place Friday February 9, at 12 GMT / 7am ET.

You can find the ranked 1v1 leaderboard here[stormgateworld.com].

Complete rules and information: can be found here[drive.google.com].

GL HF!

It’s Steam Next Fest, and that means you get a full week to try out (and try to break) Frost Giant’s upcoming RTS, Stormgate!

While some of you have been involved from very early on in development, even more will experience Stormgate for the first time this week.

BeoMulf, UpATree, Steadfast, Vodible, and KillerPigeon have joined forces to give you all the resources you need to get up and running to dominate the ladder, win those Co-Op missions, and generally have a great time exploring Stormgate this entire week!

If you want to know exactly what’s happening, here’s the schedule (all times PST):

1. 10:00-11:00am - Past matches, highlights, countdown
   
2. 11:00-11:15am - Welcome! Intro to RTS and fundamentals with KillerPigeon
   
3. 11:15-12:00pm - Developer appearance & 3P Co-op
   
4. 12:00-1:00pm - 3P Co-op Push the difficulty limits with BeoMulf, UpATree, and Steadfast
   
5. 1:00-2:00pm - Noob Co-op: Let's teach a Rocket League caster how to RTS like a pro, with Vodible
   
6. 2:00-2:30pm - Developer appearance - Game Design, Campaign & more.
   
7. 2:30-3:00pm - Unit Design & Balance with Stormgate lead competitive designer
   
8. 3:00-4:00pm - BREAK -- Prerecorded matches and game content
   
9. 4:00-7:00pm - Backseat laddering, co-op, and more!

Follow the Hosts and Guests:

1. BeoMulf: https://www.twitch.tv/beomulf, https://www.twitter.com/@BeoMulf_SC2, https://www.youtube.com/@BeoMulf, https://www.stormgatenexus.com/, https://www.twitter.com/StormgateNexus
   
2. KillerPigeon: https://twitter.com/KillerPigeon, https://www.twitch.tv/killerpigeon, https://www.youtube.com/@KillerPigeon
   
3. Vodible: https://twitter.com/Vodible, https://www.twitch.tv/vodible, https://www.youtube.com/@Vodible
   
4. Steadfast: https://www.twitter.com/SteadfastSc2, https://www.twitch.tv/steadfastsc, https://www.youtube.com/@steadfastsc2
   
5. UpATree: https://twitter.com/UpATreeZelda, https://www.twitch.tv/UpATree, https://www.youtube.com/@UpATree

Please note: Stormgate is currently in active development and this beta gameplay demo does not reflect the final game.

As the final grains of sand slip through the hourglass, we're down to the last 24 hours of the Stormgate Kickstarter campaign. It's been an unbelievable journey filled with excitement, anticipation, and overwhelming support from all of you. Now, as we enter the home stretch, and with our public debut coming this February 5 during Steam Next Fest, we have a small, but special announcement to make this moment a little extra memorable.

The Stormgate Collector's Edition: Now with DOUBLE the Enamel Pins

To show our appreciation to our Kickstarter backers, we're excited to announce an upgrade to the Collector's Edition rewards. We're doubling the total number of exclusive enamel pins from 3 to 6! That's right – even more unique collectibles to celebrate your generous contribution to our team in support of the Stormgate universe.

And because we can't contain our excitement, we're sharing a sneak preview of one of the newly added pins, featuring our beloved Frost Giant Yeti mascot*. This little token of our journey together is just a small way to say thank you for being part of this adventure.

If you're interested in the Stormgate Collector's Edition or in becoming a Stormgate Founder and receiving beta access to Stormgate (you'll get in early, before Steam Next Fest!) then become a Founder today!

We're livestreaming some recent gameplay in anticipation of Next Fest from Feb 5-12.

This Steam Next Fest open beta playtest features two main game modes:
- 3P Co-op vs. AI mode featuring two playable Heroes (Blockade and Maloc)
- Competitive 1v1 (no Heroes)

Custom lobbies are also available for trying different maps.

Stormgate puts you in command of mighty armies fighting for survival in a new science fantasy universe. This playtest build includes two factions with a third faction coming to a future playtest in the months ahead, before the game's scheduled mid-year Early Access launch.

GLHF (Good luck, have fun!)