'Railway Empire,' to Roll Out for PC and Consoles on Jan. 26
"Railway Empire," strategy game and spiritual successor to "Sid Meier's Railroads!" is coming early next year. Publisher Kalypso Media has announced a Jan. 26, 2018 launch date for the game's PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions.
The same Kalypso Media who published top strategy franchises like the "Tropico" series or the "Sins of a Solar Empire" trilogy is launching another tycoon game early next year.
According to their recent press release, this tycoon simulation game is mostly focused on the North American Frontier era, during the early stages of the railroads in the U.S. during the Westward expansion period from 1830–1930. That's a hundred years of railroad history, with diesel engines being the end-game trains by the later stages of the game, as Polygon notes.
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The story mode in the game's main campaign will be mostly made up of scenarios ranging from starting a train service in an area to trying to run AI rivals out of business. Like any good tycoon games, "Railway Empire" will also feature a free-form "model-making" mode for players who want to leisurely grow rail routes without competitors or mandatory objectives.
Multiplayer support will not be available for "Railway Empire," at least at launch. Modding support is in from the start, though, at least for the PC version via the Steam Workshop. Modders will have the tools to "change existing scenarios and stats from trains, techs and economy system," according to Kalypso Media's press release as quoted by Gamespot.
It remains to be seen if modding support will also be extended to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game.
The video below shows a brief teaser clip for "Railway Empire," which is set to launch on Jan. 26 next year. Pre-orders are also available, and the Steam promo takes 15 percent of the regular price, aside from unlocking closed Beta and other bonuses.
