New RTS games in 2025 being made by Developers who face many challenges | Future of the RTS genre?

[@darkcyter]

Along with these indie devs, you're also doing important work spreading awareness about RTS and its current state, keep it up

[@perafilozof]

Thank you! I try my best to help both sides. Hopefully 2025 will treat us all better :) Happy new year!

[@JoeCoo7]

Heart of Muriet Dev here. Thanks for the great content and also for featuring one of my discussion with you. Have a great start into the new year and all the best to your channel. Hope its growing fast in the future.

[@perafilozof]

No, thank you for all your hard work and for being part of this video. Can't wait to show off more of your game in 2025!

[@TCODESERTSTORM]

AWESOME Video!! This clarify for most of us, indie RTS devs our struggle to get our stuff out there! Thanks man!

[@perafilozof]

I am glad to be able to talk about this and for developers like you to join in and share their side of the story ! Hope you will finish your game!

[@1124spawn]

Always glad to see updates from our RTS guild spokesperson! 🎉

[@perafilozof]

Hehe, I like that title very much :) Thank you kindly for your support! Hope 2025 will be great for you!

[@1124spawn]

@@perafilozof likewise! You're probably the only person I trust with anything RTS at this point LOL

[@perafilozof]

That is very nice to hear, but I certainly can't cover everything with this being my hobby. But I am seriously considering to make it a full time job soon.

[@1124spawn]

@@perafilozof I hope the stars align for you!

[@perafilozof]

@@1124spawn Thank you!

[@TheVoidOfWhatever]

Happy New Year, Pero! Thank you for doing so much for the RTS scene.

[@perafilozof]

Same to you! Hope we will all enjoy many more RTS games in 2025!

[@mimamo9214]

You're really doing a great job! I found and bought several small RTS gems trough your channel! Happy new year to you and your family!

[@perafilozof]

Awesome! Thank you very much for your kind words! That is wonderful to hear, and I hope in 2025 you will find more great games on my channel!

[@perafilozof]

Links to the NEW games are in the description. Happy new year to you all and may it be the Best year for RTS games! Feel free to share your thoughts on this topic, your favorite games or the ones you are looking forward to. If you have advice for Indie devs do write it here, as they will be watching this video too.

[@zaynevanday142]

Happy New Year Peter have a great 2025 my friend 🔥

[@Barbarossa97]

Thank you for your videos. Happy new year.

[@perafilozof]

You are welcome! Thank you for watching! Happy new year !

[@endeavor20244]

This is a great video! I want to say a few things from my perspective as a solo dev working on one of these games. 1. Making games is hard, not just technically but also creatively. 2. It typically takes a really good team to make a really good game. You need high skill in multiple areas for a game to feel polished and unique. 3. Creativity is possibly the most important part of game design, yet 95% of my time as a solo dev is spent on technical issues. I see a path forward for my game, but I don't have financial obligations, so my bar to success is low. My goal was never to make a "successful" game, it was to make the game that I wanted someone else to make. In my case, I was motivated by a childhood memory of playing C&C games against the AI. I wanted to recreate that feeling of discovery and absent any pressures/stress from PVP. Something with layers, but also familiar. I think most people will dismiss my project as a copy of Generals, but that is okay with me. Again, because I don't have financial obligations, I can take a long-term approach to my learning and development. As technical knowledge is gained, maybe I can spend 40% on creative game design instead of 5%. Lack of funding might be hindering progress from a customer perspective, we all want that AAA quality sound, visuals, writing, etc. But good teams always find success with limited resources before they ever make it to the next level. I think that forming teams from individuals working as indie developers is a great idea. But it will be a challenge, since indie developers need to overcome many challenges to create their vision, which means they get proficient at many different things. It would take a great leader to convince a bunch of Swiss army knives to pick one tool and trust others to do the rest.

[@perafilozof]

Hello mate! I am glad to see you here in the comments and thank you very much for sharing your viewpoint as a developer on this. Love your game and hope many play Endeavor: Rite of Passage! It is very cool to read on how someone started working on their own game and very inspiring to see them get to the finish line. It is very good that you don't depend on the success of your game and were able to work on your passion project. I do agree a bunch of "Swiss army knives" devs would be a challenge to manage into a working team. But I think many more games would be finished and with much higher production values. Of course even just organizing into teams who could help each other not spend time on non directly game development parts of the game would help a lot.

[@endeavor20244]

​@@perafilozof You are probably right. It's the game development version of a garage band. :)

[@perafilozof]

Exactly!

[@Josh-l8z]

Definitely relate to and believe in the making of games "for the love of it." I want to make something I want to play, even if no one else likes it. And that number 3... yeah, It seems like by the time I've got the technical stuff working, I've lost enthusiasm for the game vision itself. Especially when you realize your creative idea won't work well as you originally envisioned it. So then you need to do more technical work to try out changes to improve it. Also, working in a well-aligned group is incredibly motivating (that moment where you come back to a project and your group has made tons of progress is great), but I've only had that happen in a few instances, and always with close friends and relatives. Trusting random people on the internet is hard, and you have to find people who you work well with and who have a similar vision (on top of everything you mentioned).

[@perafilozof]

@@Josh-l8z Hello and thanks for sharing your experience with projects. This is similar to what I have been told by other developers. And it is something I have gone through myself when trying to find other people to work on my channel alongside me. I desperately need that help but finding someone with the same creative vision and the willingness to team up has proven fruitless so far.

[@piticvictor2878]

happy new year! lets hope Sanctuary will release in 2025

[@perafilozof]

@@piticvictor2878 Well, we certainly will be playing at least its demo in 2025. Thank you for the comment and I wish you much happiness in 2025.

[@wazman77show]

i dont know about getting wish lists, but at 8:14, your channel i think does a good job of getting eyes on these games. I dont know of many other youtube channels like yours for RTS.

[@perafilozof]

@@wazman77show Hello and thanks for the support and praise. I am glad to hear that, and will continue to do the same in 2025. Hope you will enjoy many more of my videos

[@Chyrosran22]

HNY dude! Thanks for all the great content! :)

[@perafilozof]

Thank you, I wish the same to you. Hope you will enjoy many new games in 2025!

[@Diarmuhnd]

Indeed, Happy New Year everyone :)

[@torshec8634]

Was really hoping there would be an evolution of the RPG/RTS hybrid of games with the new Spellforce and Kingdom Under Fire II, but sadly, they didn't hit the mark.

[@danielg2167]

Kingdom under fire 2 was released but the developers removed it and closed it down last year sadly. Amazing game, but yeah wish someone could make it again

[@diego2817]

Uhh no those hybrid are the worse.

[@perafilozof]

It is a very interesting hybrid, and there certainly are games which managed to pull something like that off. I enjoyed the first Spellforce game very much.

[@candyshopkeeper5702]

​@diego2817 It depends. There are a few examples of what I can say "successfully implemented" the idea of hybrid RTS/RPG. Like obviously, Warcraft 3. Heroes of annihilated empires, which is a hidden gem that from what I heard there were plans for further development on the past, but it eventually got abandoned. And finally my favorite of hybrids, Spellforce 3, it has choices-matter feature, while having fantastic graphics.

[@sebastienzanin1592]

So many wise words here. Thank you to support the genre. To be here to promote every great project too. You re the best :)

[@perafilozof]

Thank you kindly for the praise and support! I am glad to be able to help both gamers and developers!

[@MrChaserDnB]

Nice vid mate!

[@perafilozof]

Thank you kindly! I hope you enjoy many great games in 2025!

[@besoten]

it is nice and sweet to see you helping indie dev's here in saudia arabia they started supporting games with huge funds local or out side talents it would not hurt if any indie dev needing help to check it out

[@perafilozof]

That is exactly the kind of help these people need. Thank you kindly for sharing this with me.

[@timothydavies5337]

total annaialtion was, is , and forever will be the greatest rts of all time happy new year all :)

[@perafilozof]

I think this is why I enjoy playing Beyond all Reason so much :) Thx for the comment!

[@alexlewis5365]

The first game I've ever played was total annihilation. In fact, my dad was the one to introduce the whole genre to me, which I'll eternally be grateful for. And I'll probably keep on playing rts and strategy games until the day I die.

[@perafilozof]

I will too :) I just hope by the time I get very old, we can just plug in our minds into the game and give that omnipotent AI a run for its money :)

[@davidorawe3931]

I think my dad played TA but my first introduction was ironically SimAnt, the Maxis RTS. Then came C&C Red Alert then Starcraft happened and mind was blown. I spent so many fond memories playing various campaigns and messing around in the editors. I never felt like other kids had anything in common with me. Now I find out there were plenty other young boys/girls in awe of what we had then. I hope that as the genre is developed, devs don't hyperfocus on the 'best' graphics or building an eSport scene or optimizing for competitive play. Just make something unique, with compelling mechanics and unit design. Make me want to explore the map and micromanage my scouts, or dump everything into research to turn the tides with some überweapon. That is where the magic is: engage our imaginations.

[@perafilozof]

@@davidorawe3931 The internet connects us despite the distances :) Thank you for sharing your path in this genre. I am glad to have more veteran gamers on my channel! Hope you will find many more games you like on my channel.

[@Diarmuhnd]

Happy New Year perafilozof and family and chat ^^

[@perafilozof]

Same to you my friend! Hope you will enjoy many games in 2025!

[@TennessseTimmy]

Keep up the good work ❤❤❤

[@perafilozof]

Thank you, I will.

[@kaioberg2617]

RTS never dies. Every Time some people say that RTS/Strategie as a Genre is dead it triggers the comeback of RTS/Strategie. Its "Golden Times" are gone, yeah, but it is not the End. Never was. Good Vid. Keep it up!

[@perafilozof]

Exactly! Thank you for the comment and support!

[@zuluxray2098]

RTS games, which I love and play since I was teenager (51 now), are daying. This days most people play mindless FPS shooters or other such games which do not require a lot of thinking, planning, creating tactics and strategies. And you are right about corporations too....

[@perafilozof]

Hi and thx for sharing your thoughts on this subject. I do hope things will turn around and RTS games will get back to the throne of PC gaming.

[@altairfaltore7261]

A society defined by profit is a doomed one that can only corrupt anything that is meaningful. I just hope that genre still exists and anyone pouring their dream in it to not die from starvation or drive them to ruin.

[@perafilozof]

That is the truth of it mate. Thank you for the comment and your support of these fine folks who are still trying to make these games.

[@BaroqueViolin]

Excellent presentation! Thank you!

[@perafilozof]

Hi and thx for the feedback! Hope you will enjoy more of my videos. You can start with this playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PLRYGjguAn0CETNi54IC0YsVNFtTdd6Ccc

[@bonbondurjdr6553]

I appreciate all of the help that you bring to the RTS developers, Pera! Now, I am wondering why some of these devs do not begin by making mods for popular games. Didn't one of the upcoming game come from the StarCraft II editors? The game with the spinning bladed soldiers in the desert? Perhaps if RTS mods could have their own space, it could help developers test ideas as they start out with community support instead of starting from zero? What do you think?

[@perafilozof]

I think every game dev should start as a modder as that is an easy way to get into it and you have many people from which you can learn and ask for help. The game you asked about is Zero Space at 16:31 or is it IMMORTAL: Gates of Pyre at 16:55 that you are referring to?

[@eleven2435]

Wow man, started RA on PS, nice! Happy New Year! I think it is unachievable to put 10 solo dev with different visions to work on one project on their free time, it is hard to swallow to scrap the code/design that You worked on as a favor for days over and over again. Maybe a map editor like what SC2 or WC3 has, but free and more versatile, and the created game is Yours and Yours to publish, could help, it would be still hard tho.

[@perafilozof]

Happy new year to you too! I know it is hard to get people working together but than again those developers in the '90 probably didn't have the same vision but somehow they managed to work together.

[@darkiyolo]

yea that's fucked up that the only big problem is lack of money

[@perafilozof]

@@darkiyolo It is to be expected. Since money buys everything a dev needs to make a game except for talent and drive.

[@razorback9999able]

It's not just lack of money. It's the fact that the standards for a successful RTS were too high to achieve. Not to mention the lack of talent caused by global societal-economical problems beyond the scope of video games that prevents creatives from thriving.

[@89volvowithlazers]

Peter the philosopher is a prrfect nic name. This was the best on our favorite genre and explains much. I am positive on the future this again is a incredible effort🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@perafilozof]

@@89volvowithlazers Hehe, I am glad you think so. It was a joy to make and I hope it touches on everyone, gamers, developers, publishers and investors. Have a good one mate!

[@Dusteus]

You know? Imagine if any Japanese dev or indie creates C&C style RTS, that's would be a milestone.

[@perafilozof]

Well there are many indie games that take inspiration from C&C and I have not only shown them in my RTS news videos but also linked a few in the description of this video

[@crozraven]

Very unlikely, but then again what boggled my mind how come we can't find some South Korean devs making RTS games when SC2 was pretty big in SK back in its prime or even now. Not even from the indie sides too, at least to my knowledge. I did find some Chinese modders of c&c games though.

[@perafilozof]

@@crozraven There was a game I think some of them were trying to finish up. But I think they stopped working on it.

[@leokommadant938]

The chinese modder is there on Red alert 3, which called Corona mod. There are some many rare Chinese mods like on Rusted warfare, I've seen few of their mods were great.

[@Dusteus]

@@leokommadant938 Yeah I know. I'm not anti-modder but they could create their own RTS games rather than making mods.

[@addictedfoolgamer1970]

Awesome video. Great to learn about your past. The red alert PlayStation case is so nostalgic and precious to me. I think I said it before, but I tried to intro my 12 yr old nephew into CnC and just watching him click on frustration at having to actually think and do something really showed Me the changes in modern gamers Expectations. Granted he is one kid. But still… I don’t think it’s a unique experience. But I have faith there will be some quiet kids who want to sink into strategy.

[@perafilozof]

Hi, I am glad you enjoyed it my friend! Glad you are trying to find us more startegy players. You could try with turn based games to let them learn strategy at a relaxed pace. Like, I first let my kid play Worms for example and Heroes of Might and Magic 3. To teach him to think on his moves without having to do to many things with his fingers at the same time. Once he learns the UI and controls and basic grasp of tactics and strategy than we can move on to RTS. He is only 6 after all :)

[@Zergslayer_42069]

Thank you so much man, I pretty much want all of these

[@perafilozof]

You are welcome! I am glad I could help connect gamers to games!

[@Zergslayer_42069]

@ I’m still going through the video, but I’m up to the micro transaction part and it’s actually sad to me that horse earned the company more money than sc2 wing of liberty

[@perafilozof]

The exact numbers are nothing something I was able to hunt down, but the main point was that to make, market and sell a horse mount in WOW was infinitely cheaper than to make a whole StarCraft game and even if it earned half of what StarCraft 2 did it is still an insane profit cheat code in Real Life.

[@Zergslayer_42069]

@ yeah still man micro transactions are disgusting to me, I never participate in them at all, maybe on a free to play game that I put 40 hours into then decided to drop 20 dollars on a skin but no more than that

[@perafilozof]

Totally understandable !

[@RealOmegaFlex]

I thought that i added on steam wishlist most part of currently developing RTS games but there are a LOT of games in this video that i didn't know about.

[@perafilozof]

Hi and thanks for the comment. That is why you need to watch more of my videos :)

[@ConradProteus]

Good topic and content

[@perafilozof]

Thank you kindly my friend! Hope your game will find much success in 2025, and I will be mentioning it in my next video.

[@Josh-l8z]

One problem I've noticed for the genre is that there isn't a very good ecosystem for existing rts game engines. It seems that everyone is just building a new rts engine from scratch in Unity (where they spend tens or hundreds of hours solving the problems mentioned at 18:00 , even though these are all previously solved problems). It's no wonder people just make Starcraft/Warcraft custom maps or mods for existing games... and then they can't really make any money off of them. Spring engine and OpenRA exist, but they are rather limited in tooling and documentation. Spring's license might make some developers hesitant as well, as much as I love free software.

[@perafilozof]

That is an excellent point! Precisely one of the reasons so many man hours are lost due to people doing the same things over and over again. If developers shared the same engine they would make games so much faster.

[@FineWine-v4.0]

There's also OpenHV's engine & W2100's engine

[@Josh-l8z]

@@FineWine-v4.0 I didn't know W2100 was open source, or that OpenHV existed, thanks for pointing those out. It's good that there are a few options, as long as people can find them 🙂

[@RedGreekWolf]

Happy New Year!

[@perafilozof]

Same to you my fellow RTS fan! Hope we have a great year!

[@RedGreekWolf]

@perafilozof same to you mate

[@ethanforster]

I wouldn't have known about half of the Indy RTS games ive bought if it wasn't for your videos

[@perafilozof]

I am super happy to read that! Thank you for your continued viewership! And I hope you discover many more in 2025!

[@patrickordos425]

There's like 30 rts games on my wish list just on the verge of release... gunna be a good year

[@perafilozof]

True that! I hope at least a few are excellent!

[@mesarthim640]

Thank you for this video, it's was super interesting even if I already most of those problems from other devs. Thank you for your videos, I hope the golden age of RTS will come back and microtransactions will know the end of their age.

[@perafilozof]

Glad you enjoyed it mate! I am happy to talk on this subject more in future videos and help out every RTS dev I can.

[@mesarthim640]

@@perafilozof Please do ! It's a pleasure to watch a video more informative for once. Maybe there would be a way to create a documentary since you got so many testimonies already. Well, maybe that's just me, I don't know if it would be a popular video and it would requires quite some work.

[@perafilozof]

The thing about choosing video topics that I have learned over the years, that while you can pick a topic that is close to your heart, you also have to ask yourself: "Who is interested in this?" And it deepens on how you deliver the topic too. I could spend a lot of time on it and it would end up being interesting only to a few hundred developers. Or make a twist to it so that it is interesting to thousands of gamers but less useful to developers. Its really difficult to make the right choices to get the best of both worlds

[@mesarthim640]

@@perafilozof Yes I bet... It's an interesting subject but definitely not for everybody.

[@revan1202]

I think an RTS system of story telling would be great. I always if I was going to be a dev make something like command and conquer generals where it would involve a story from 3 factions with a base 30 mission stories and all future stories would be DLC with different commanders every so often.

[@perafilozof]

@@revan1202 it would be great, but it is also expensive to make. This is why you don't see indie developers managing to finish such projects as they need investment funds. Can't do it on their own

[@MrTBSC]

see this video is pretty much the reason i keep my personal expectations low these days i don't need stellar graphics, i don't need a huge campaign with 15 to 20 missions for all added factions, i don't even need multiple factions just give me a mechanically sound foundation, a solid unitpool, some QoL functions and something that makes your RTS entry stand out from other similar RTS games .. people seem to bash industrial annihilation but to be honest it's one of the few RTS titles i am actually seriously intrigued to get into once it's in a more advanced state or ready and while tempest and DORF look pretty good i personally look at them more as satisfying my quantum of RTS nostalgia than anything else, but who knows maybe they turn out much greater than that ... the point is i mean sure people can have their expectations but too many times at least to me they appear as rather unrealistic ... and i think it has very much to do with people having been spoiled a lot specifically by the larger more impactful entries of the early 2000`s till early 2010's and then of course there are still those of the vocal minority that just crap on games for the sake of crapping on them how would any indydev want to be motivated to develop games in such circumstances

[@perafilozof]

Hello and thank you kindly for sharing your view on this topic. The problem you describe is an outcome of low funding for RTS games. As the developers who I quoted in this video said, RTS games are hard to make. Especially good ones, but they don't sell so much/aren't as profitable as other genres these days so big companies don't invest in them. So you end up with games from 20-30 years ago being ahead of todays games in content and form because we are comparing apples and oranges.

[@blackbaron6310]

Good informative video. Ps i just realised your nick was Pera :D

[@perafilozof]

Thank you for the support! Yeah, you from Serbia too?

[@blackbaron6310]

@@perafilozof nah but close.

[@pumpkinpie8235]

Interesting video!

[@perafilozof]

I am glad you think so! Hope you will enjoy many more on my channel.

[@N7-WAR-HOUND]

Anyone remember Ruse? Such a unique arcade yet large scale take on the Formula

[@perafilozof]

Many do! They mention it often on my channel in comments. Lets hope more such games show up. Did your try Line war for example?

[@crozraven]

try warno

[@MrTBSC]

i think we cooould say a bit more optimistically, that there is a resurgence of the RTS genre, no really when was the last time we had this many RTS entries i think (and feel free to correct me) like between 2015 to 2023 there barely have been any impactful RTS entries with maybe one rare outlier

[@perafilozof]

This is very accurate. Especially in the indie Space. In 2023 I made a video about 100+ new RTS games. If I wanted to make a video like that today I would have to title it 200+ new RTS in 2025. ( video in question: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jGa3XpKvp5t3hNk )

[@revolver2750]

Another great video tried the red alert 3 mod you talked about a few videos ago and the scouring. Was fun for a bit but not really for me. Have you heard about the Supreme Commander Forged Alliance total overhaul mod LOUD? It's focus is performance and makes it actually playable against ai for hours. Base game runs pretty bad and FAF is for pvp. Hope you can cover it for a bit sometime in the future if you want to.

[@perafilozof]

Hi, I am glad you tried them out at last. No, I don't follow SupCom mods right now, but thank you for the recommendation, I will write that down for future videos!

[@vincentphoenix3921]

Cool vidoe bro❤ The rts genre needs a revival And the game makers are trying very hard People need to remember this genre.... Btw what is the game at 0:58

[@swinoob616]

what is this game at 15:37 like aoe2? it looks nice!

[@swinoob616]

also the game at 21:11 that looks like warcraft 2. can you tell us the games name? thanks!

[@perafilozof]

The links are in the description. The first is The Fertile Crescent , I did a video on it a while back and the second is The Scouring. I have done a video of it here : kzbin.info/www/bejne/gZiQd6l-ect7qdUsi=cCgYyHwzh6zhrC3T

[@swinoob616]

@@perafilozof thank you man, sorry for being lazy. Happy new year, you earned my sub.

[@perafilozof]

@@swinoob616 No problem, it is my pleasure to answer all comments. Just by commenting you have engaged with me and the video in the highest possible way. May 2025 bring you much joy! And start backwards from this video in 2025 :)

[@giovannigaronetti3981]

hello! Nice video, which game is shown at 18:49' ? UI look similar to AOE but with spell book? Hard core SC-BW player here!

[@perafilozof]

I am glad you enjoyed it! Hope you will watch many more on my channel in 2025. That game is Ablight, and I did a video on it a while back while I will be showing its gameplay fully very soon: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jGrdaYyHq9irfJI

[@giovannigaronetti3981]

@@perafilozof not sure is that one....18:53' Look like oldschool

[@perafilozof]

Ahhh, Lords of Solgrund is that one! store.steampowered.com/app/1550650/Lords_of_Solgrund/

[@giovannigaronetti3981]

@@perafilozof its a very good game! Settler + Knights and Merchant + Sierra City building + Heroes of M&M all in a RTS!!!

[@perafilozof]

Very true!

[@johnjoobooks]

Great video. As always, we need a reminders that true gaming is still here, even if somewhat undercover. What's the name of the game @1:40 ?

[@perafilozof]

Hi that is Liquidation, link is in the description. Thank you kindly for your support and comment!

[@AhmadAli-kv2ho]

what game was shown at 21.44

[@perafilozof]

That is a totally new one called Infiniwar. I talked about it in one of my previous videos. There is a link to it in the description

[@Диего_де_ла_Вега]

I think it's infiniwar

[@perafilozof]

@@Диего_де_ла_Вега Indeed it is :) Thank you for helping out

[@ghnaf1819]

I noticed there are many new indie RTS announced or in development. I think this is not healthy either. They will be released 2025/26 and compete for a small customer base. For players it´s good to have many options to choose/buy, but the developers compete with each other for a pice of the pie.

[@perafilozof]

That is a real problem. The smaller the player base of each individual game the harder it is for each to be profitable. You can't be profitable with just a few hundred or thousands of copies. They need lots of copies sold to make a profit and keep on developing more games. That is why coming together into bigger studios would help.

[@jfleocadio4397]

This year was mix bag for a rts fan, at least for me, I was so excited for stormgate, but it flop so hard, that I even can't undestand how these people are starcraft and warcraft devs, but ate same time we continue to see a lot more new rts games geting announce, I'am super excited to try tempest rising, D.O.R.F and shattered sun, and even more great, is that the age of empires series stills stands strong even after 27, RTS probably will never be as popular as before, but maybe some dude will make a new RTS hybrid, or some innovation so great that this genre will return, or idk maybe Microsoft will revive warcraft and starcraft, anyway, thanks for your work perafilozof, sharing thoses new RTS games, to all of us RTS fans, and happy new year.

[@perafilozof]

Thank you for the comment and kind wishes! I hope you will enjoy many new RTS games in 2025. It was a strange year because many games we expected to see released got pushed back while many totally new games showed up. It will be an interesting time to be an RTS fan in 2025.

[@fv7669]

Problem why there are no more good RTS games is that this genre is not too good for microtransactions like FPS or sports games, so it's not easy cash grab for big(ger) companies.

[@perafilozof]

This is why big companies stopped investing in RTS, correct.

[@predragpesic5953]

What is the name of that RTS with CEL shaded Borderlands style graphics?

[@perafilozof]

Hi, there are over 100 games shown during this video. Can you give me a time stamp?

[@predragpesic5953]

@@perafilozof It's at 4:05, shows a bunch of red soldiers lobbing grenades at a spider thingy. 🙂

[@perafilozof]

@@predragpesic5953 Ah, that is Dust Front. You can learn more in my video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/goWpqJ-Jes2ihdk

[@FineWine-v4.0]

Did I inform you that KKND 1 & 2 is on sale on both GOG & Steam until January 2 ?? (Just asking) I'm really excited that DORF will be more like Supreme Commander

[@perafilozof]

Hmm, I don't remember, but thank you for the recommendation ! D.O.R.F. is still very much in development, so the overall gameplay is subject to change.

[@razorback9999able]

Command and Conquer, StarCraft and Age of Empires and all classic RTS are made by teams of passionate nerds in their living rooms during the late 90s and 2000s. This will never happen in a million years today. Because today, how could a bunch of nerds in their living rooms simply compete with genres that are simple, easier to play and accessible and are made by bigger companies? They simply just can't.

[@perafilozof]

Hello and thank you for sharing your viewpoint on this matter. You are not too far from the target. Yes, both the audience and the people making games have changed. This is why we need a new wave of small, 10 people studios, with investors giving them money and no publishers to answer to.

[@bialyszalik5962]

Can anyone tell me what is the RTS at 1:31-1:33?

[@perafilozof]

Dust Front. Here is a more in depth look : kzbin.info/www/bejne/goWpqJ-Jes2ihdksi=qpzfv-Fk4CBVB7gm

[@crotman5000]

What game is at 4:37? Great vid also

[@perafilozof]

That is Annihilate the Spance, Steam link in the description, coming out soon. Thank you for the praise, I am glad to hear you enjoyed the video. Hope you will watch more of them in 2025.

[@Alex06CoSonic]

What's the game at 13:45?

[@perafilozof]

That is Ancient Wars: Medieval Crusades. What are you playing these days?

[@riufq]

0:35 is this stronghold?

[@perafilozof]

Yes it is.

[@predatorvmt]

2:45 what game is this? and 2:56 this game too? Thanks

[@perafilozof]

Hi, 2:45 is the unfinished Command and Conquer Generals 2. 2:56 is Elements of War

[@Zyzyx442]

I want DORF so badly, everyday I think about it. Can't even play OpenRA or Tiberian Sun anymore because of it.

[@perafilozof]

Haha, try to hold on :) One day you will be enjoying it!

[@battlebunny88]

What's the game at the 14 - 15 minute mark?

[@perafilozof]

Heh, can you be a bit more specific. One is Fragile Alliance the other is Space Reign.

[@battlebunny88]

@@perafilozof Orange background and some spaceships looked to be launching some fat missiles.

[@battlebunny88]

@@perafilozof Turns out it was indeed Space Reign, I was viewing some footage! Are you playing The Scouring demo atm? I think it deserves a long form video...

[@perafilozof]

@@battlebunny88 I did a video on The Scouring : kzbin.info/www/bejne/gZiQd6l-ect7qdU

[@battlebunny88]

@@perafilozof Turns out I didn't see it because... I wasn't subbed XDDDDDDD

[@SkarmoryThePG]

huh, what is the game at 14:45?

[@perafilozof]

Hello! That is IMMORTAL: Gates of Pyre - here is a more in-depth look: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZrNe6uJbbetqrM

[@SkarmoryThePG]

@@perafilozof I've played IMMORTAL and I'm pretty sure it doesn't have siege walkers, harvesters and mobile plasma :) I'm also curious about the game before it (feels a bit C&C3 mixed with dune?) and the full 3d space one after it. I glanced through the list of games you linked but didn't find these three.

[@perafilozof]

Hi, sorry, not sure what happened there, must have replied to a wrong comment or something. The game you asked about is Fractured Alliance, the one before is Endeavor: Right of Passage, the one after is Space Reign. All have links in there.

[@milosmarks9751]

Srecna Nova gospodine Filozof. Maybe when you realize that twitter is now XCOM (great games by the way), you might change your mind lol. On a more serious note, there are just too many new RTS games in development to keep track off and many are very similar to stand out. There are more then a few similar games inspired by Warcraft, AoE, Homeworld, C&C... So my suggestion would be for developers of similar games to work together, gather their resources and instead of 50 make 5 games that will be successful on the market.

[@perafilozof]

Hvala! That is exactly what I also suggested in this very video :) Glad you agree!

[@BlockdParty]

Do you like Iron Marines?

[@perafilozof]

Hi, I only tried it out a bit for my videos, but considering it doesn't have major depth it isn't bad at all.

[@avedis1990]

dont you think that the AI, which is still at its infancy state, will help gaming industry to improve quality, speed and reducing the cost of games which are being developed? because lets face it spending 5 years to create a game in todays market isnt ideal anymore, the tech is advancing so rapidly , i mean just take a look how far we became in the last 10 years .. its mind blowing. therefore definitely we need to integrate AI tech more and more to bring games to the market faster.

[@perafilozof]

I do agree AI tools should be used to help make games faster. But not in a way that you end up selling AI made stuff. Its one thing to use tools, its another to sell directly AI made content.

[@razorback9999able]

Speaking of AI, I think computer players should be more intelligent on harder difficulties.

[@perafilozof]

And cheat less often :)

[@anonymoushunter9808]

What game is at 12:32?

[@perafilozof]

Do you mean Silica or Nuke Them All?

[@1989ElLoco]

At 13:32. It's Silica. The most promising upcoming game to me. A rts/fps hybrid. The game has huge potential. But a lot still needs to be done though.

[@anonymoushunter9808]

@@perafilozof that’ll be the one

[@anonymoushunter9808]

@@1989ElLoco I got it but when I played my pc was getting hot quick so I haven’t played since 😂

[@1989ElLoco]

@ haha how long ago did you try it? It has been optimized a bit lately.

[@shaolinie]

I am always looking out for new strategy games and I have enjoyed Age of Mythology retold and mostly stick to Warhammer 3 at the moment but other RTS games I have tried just turn out to be just meh. They are trying some weird gimmicks or have a story I cannot relate to/suspend disbelief. Most of the time what sells me first is unit design (and most of recent RTS games have meh designs). I think I have been spoiled by CNC games and Total war games (later once) where every unit sounds different and has character and so do their designs. Say what you want about Red Alert 3 but it had the unit soul captured quite well and I would say same was with Generals. I think what killed RTS is their crazy obsession with e-sports - they all wanted to be Starcraft. Just like we had massive influx of PUPG, Souls, gambling and now microtransactions - following trends kills franchises and they then become unreliable investments and get shelved and with all the legacy out there it becomes hard to establish a new one or revive old franchise without it now looking like an easy cash grab from starved market I think that if a company would look at what made RTS fun instead of competitive (or how to get microtransactions out of them) and would emulate what worked even in new franchise (story should do all the things right too as other games did) then they would have a slam dunk and we could see it up there in steam top sellers. I personally have not seen any games like that. They all seem to be just well none wants to buy rts but I want to make one so if couple ppl play great - like they already gave up - at least these are the impressions I am getting from AA and indie RTS games lately

[@perafilozof]

Hello and thank you very much for sharing your view on this with us all here. This is something we talked on my discord about. A good RTS needs a well done singleplayer aspect to draw in the audience. And only later an MP aspect to keep them. Trying to do it the other way around just ends with people going back to their preferred old e-sport RTS. It also doesn't help developers earn anything as they don't sell enough copies. Campaigns help them do that.

[@zaynevanday142]

I have to disagree Manor Lords has on one person developing the game 😂😂😂

[@perafilozof]

One started it, but many will be finishing it. That is what makes it so great, one person had the idea but many are joining him.

[@Romanian901]

Check out Empire of the Ants. really nice RTS/platformer

[@perafilozof]

Hi, thank you for the recommendation, but I have already, I show its updates too in my RTS news videos, like this one for example: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fH-qYpl-o6-Lgdk

[@animemartin_9758]

Recall 2024 being referred to in the same manor and was a let down in my opinion. Though A few entries in 2025 have me hyped and hopeful as I need some RTS.

[@perafilozof]

Yes, indeed, it would have been had a bunch of projects not underdelivered and some ended up being delayed. This just means more of them getting published in 2025 :)

[@regalgiant1597]

Its kind of a vicious cycle, only people 'really' making RTS now are indies and small companies and lets be honest, passion aside, the games are not good, or not pretty, or not great etc etc, not because the people making them can really help it, but it does cause a loop, of people being exposed to only low budget unattractive games with many many issues, so the little interest people have wanes heavily. Sure you get outliers, you get amazing life changing games, but thats not a large scale sadly, its not bringing in millions of gamers, I have played RTS's for almost 20 years now and lets be honest, they have barely changed in 20+ years, many have superior mechanics, many others look worse than what came out all those years ago. As said, its a vicious cycle, its depressing. Going back in time 20+ years, playing the newest RTS's of the time and thinking 'man what will an RTS be like in the future? It would look amazing, the scope would be massive it would-' continues to wihslist and daydream, but its been so stagnant.

[@perafilozof]

It is mostly due to spreading an already small-ish player base across so many different games and RTS sugenres. You need numbers to be profitable, and if you don't even have a campaign it becomes even harder to sell many copies. People who do try something really different often don't get many gamers buying into the idea. Example: Moduwar. Really innovative approach yet so few people talk about it.

[@regalgiant1597]

@@perafilozof Its such a shame!

[@darknetworld]

It hard but there are still indie making simple RTS game. It depend on the dev enjoy it or not. I guess it is not easy as not all players enjoy tactics real time and remember way to counter those units. Too much units the player will not play it. Yeah features creeps is not easy as well one things how to make it modern for players to enjoy. I wonder there some type. One to relax, idle, bots and so on. Plus there is mobile game which has some restrict to limited A.I in case the player lose the match. I mean there some people still create RTS on mobile to keep it simple.

[@perafilozof]

Hi and thx for joining the discussion on this topic. Indeed RTS games are harder to make than most and at the same time harder to play. Reducing not just the number of developers but players as well. Which is why massive companies don't want to invest in them as they can't make x10 the profit on them like with FPS or similar games.

[@user-gf8xn4le9v]

Easy to say before they come out…

[@perafilozof]

Well... you aren't wrong there. As you play and test more and more of them you start to see a pattern of which have potential and which don't. But in the end it isn't the BEST games that win, but the ones people decide are BEST for them.

[@user-gf8xn4le9v]

@@perafilozof yes. I have been watching some previous year videos (of other streamers) and some of the amazing games werent quite so amazing lol

[@perafilozof]

Understandable.

[@AllrightNOR]

There are a lot of RTS games. Most of the are bad. Starcraft and Generals are the only ones that are good

[@kelthuzad4634]

Relic died with dawn of war 3

[@perafilozof]

They certainty took an arrow to the knee that time :) Thx for the comment!

[@AllrightNOR]

Dawn of War Soulstorm was awesome.

[@Mellowcanuck33]

Augmented Reality games.

[@perafilozof]

Huh? What do you mean exactly?

[@Mellowcanuck33]

@@perafilozof AR glasses

[@jfleocadio4397]

​@@Mellowcanuck33 but what does that mean in the context of the video? Do you think that AR tech will be the future of RTS? just say more of what you think.

[@Mellowcanuck33]

@@jfleocadio4397 RTS need to be more interactive. They tried the 10000 units on the screen. Time to dumb it all down. Use LIDAR to create customized, high detailed maps. That's your (blanket). Players select their units. That's your (little green army guys for example). Secret goals. Play. Save the map...or don't. Then you have players who would be breaking out their best maps. AR glasses would help you see it. Interact with it. On the fly...anywhere.

[@Mellowcanuck33]

@@perafilozof RTS need to be more interactive. They tried the 10000 units on the screen. Time to dumb it all down. Use LIDAR to create customized, high detailed maps. That's your (blanket). Players select their units. That's your (little green army guys for example). Secret goals. Play. Save the map...or don't. Then you have players who would be breaking out their best maps. AR glasses would help you see it. Interact with it. On the fly...anywhere.

[@ryanmoran-m4p]

X

[@perafilozof]

Thx ?