Looks like 2021 is the year of comebacks for strategy-RPG franchises. King’s Bounty II is coming sometime soon, and now we know that Disciples is going to join it.
Publisher Kalypso Media and the Frima development studio announced Disciples: Liberation. This is the first time Frima has worked on the series. It adds more dialogue and character and story development to a franchise that long focused on progression, strategy, and tactics. It’s coming in the first quarter of 2021 for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S, and older consoles (a first for Disciples, which has always been a PC-focused series).
The series hasn’t had a new game since Disciples III’s launch over a decade ago. That changed previous games by having a hex-based grid for your units, and it had fortifications on the battlefield. It also offered more customization for your player hero. Typically, Disciples has you fighting in a fantasy realm among rival powers (like those led by humans or the undead). But much has changed in strategy-RPGs since Disciples III.
“We were looking for a developer for quite some time and found the perfect match in Frima,” Kalypso Media owner/managing partner Simon Hellwig said over email. “Their team is fully incorporating the original lore, but they are also helping us start a whole new chapter — one that we hope is only the beginning of something truly great that will delight both the fans and the newcomers.”
Frima has worked on live ops for the Forza: Horizon series, and its other previous projects include smaller console and PC games.
You’ll also find resources and build up a base in Liberation. It’ll have an 80-plus-hour campaign, and you’ll have over 50 units to recruit for your armies.
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