“Unveiling Wartorn: The Revolutionary Roguelite Experience by BioShock’s Creative Visionary”

Stray Kite Studios, the independent studio co-founded by BioShock lead designer Paul Hellquist, has announced its debut title – the fantasy-themed real-time tactics roguelite Wartorn, which will be accessible on PC as early access at some point this “spring”.

Stray Kite, whose other co-founder is Age of Empires Online lead programmer Shovaen Patel, has previously collaborated on projects such as Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep and Fortnite, but Wartorn stands as its first original release. The game follows two elven sisters, Yara and Elani, as they journey through the war-torn Isles of Talaur – a fantasy realm “fragmented by extremism and the disintegration of ancient bonds” – in their quest to secure the safety of their ancestral homeland.

Wartorn is characterized as a “single-player, squad-based, roguelite campaign experience” that will require players to recruit teams of strategically diverse fantasy creatures – including goblins, elves, demons, treefolk, and more – into their Caravan. Squads can be mixed and matched before battles, with battlefield positioning, squad combinations, and careful use of abilities all considered essential elements. However, losses will affect morale, leading to a Game Over if hope is extinguished.

Furthermore, there is mention of emergent, elemental-themed combat, allowing players to utilize elements such as fire, water, lightning, tar, and plants to generate unique tactical opportunities – with tar enhancing fire, lightning coursing through water, and more. This is in addition to a physics-based environmental destruction system, designed to introduce “depth and unpredictability” to battles – and there is also a slow-motion feature, enabling players to issue precise commands to create “even the most complex scenarios… manageable”.

Stray Kite is also emphasizing a strong narrative focus, with players encountering “unpredictable” events with each new attempt to return home. These are said to involve significant, impactful decisions – from who gets nourished to whose lives might be spared – as well as “ethical dilemmas of violence and sacrifice”.

“Wartorn challenges players to navigate the tumult of a fractured world.”