Company of Heroes developer Relic Entertainment has announced Earth vs Mars, a turn-based strategy game that pits Earth’s forces against a Martian invasion. It will launch for PC via Steam this summer.
Earth vs Mars is the first smaller-scale “indie-style” game from Relic Entertainment’s new initiative Relic Labs, which will differ from its traditional, bigger real-time strategy games. The Relic Labs initiative will allow the studio te explore new sub-genres, experiment, and release games more frequently.
Here is an overview of the game, via its Steam page:
About
Martians have been visiting Earth for decades, abducting animals and humans and harvesting their atomic essence to create bizarre Martian-creature hybrids. This time they’re here to claim our planet.
In this turn-based strategy game, an unlikely group of commanders will lead Earth’s military as they face an overwhelming Martian invasion. Fight high-tech saucers, grav-tanks and elite alien warriors in a battle for the planet’s survival.
Your secret weapon is the “Splice-O-Tron.” With it, you can combine human “volunteers” with Earth creatures to create powerful hybrid supersoldiers to fight alongside Earth’s regular military.
Rain acid from the skies with the fast-moving cheetah-fly. Charge through enemy lines with devastating human-rhino hybrids. Or strike from the forests with your deadly squirrel-cow infantry.
As the campaign progresses, you’ll unlock new types of creature, powerful unit upgrades and game-changing commander abilities. But as your army evolves, so will your enemy’s, and you’ll face everything from the sentient organic weapon known only as “The Creep” to the Martian’s own mutant creations.
Key Features
More information on each key feature will be released in the coming months, but for now, here is a short summary.
- Single-Player Campaign – Earth vs Mars will feature an expansive narrative focused campaign composed of over 30 hand-crafted missions.
- Online Multiplayer – Battle against other commanders, either as the armies of Earth or as the forces of the Martian Invaders. Lots more information to come!
- VS Mode – Battle against the AI on custom maps giving lots of replayability to single-player fans.
- Map Editor – Fully featured Map Editor allows you to create custom maps and scenarios. Again, more information to come in time!
- Splice-o-tron – Bringing some old-school Relic flavor to this genre, the Splice-o-Tron will be a key mechanic in the game. Combining creatures with human “volunteers” will allow you to field an array of exciting and powerful hybrid units.
- Unit Abilities – Many of the Units in Earth vs Mars will have their own unique abilities, adding new strategies and gameplay depth to this style of game.
- Commanders – There will be multiple commanders in the game, each bringing passive and active abilities that enhance the way you play.
- Beautifully Realized 3D World – We’re excited to bring 3D units, tilesets, and stunning effects to turn and tile-based players in Earth vs Mars.
And here is a FAQ containing additional information:
When is Earth vs Mars coming out?
We are targeting a summer 2025 release for Earth vs Mars.
Will Earth vs Mars be coming to any other platforms?
For launch, we are focused on releasing Earth vs Mars on Steam (PC), however based on the game’s reception, we may consider other platforms in the future.
How much will Earth vs Mars cost?
We don’t have a final price just yet, but we’re looking at other similar games in the genre to help inform that decision.
What languages will Earth vs Mars support?
We’ll have more news on all the language options for Earth vs Mars closer to its release date.
Will Earth vs Mars be Steam Deck compatible?
Earth vs Mars will not be Steam Deck compatible at launch, but it is top of mind for the development team.
When will you share more information about the story, characters, units, Splice-O-Tron and more?
Over the coming months we will have lots more to share from the development team in blogs, videos, and livestreams. Join the official Relic Entertainment Discord server to stay up to date on the latest.
This game and genre are very different from what Relic Entertainment has done in the past. Should I be worried?
No! Earth vs Mars is the first of our Relic Labs games, which allows us to have some fun, be experimental, and try new ideas with smaller games. We will still be working on big classic real-time-strategy games now and moving forward. You can read more about our new development strategy here and here.
Will Earth vs Mars have any post-launch downloadable content or expansions?
For launch, we are focused on the core Earth vs Mars game itself. If players love the experience, we would be eager to work on additional content for the game.
Watch the announcement trailer below. View the first screenshots at the gallery.