The Settlers 2020

HOW THE SERIES IS RETURNING WITH AN AIM TO PLEASE OLD FANS AND NEWCOMERS ALIKE

The Settlers franchise has been mostly dormant since the release of The Settlers 7: Paths To A Kingdom in 2010. But to mark the 25th anniversary of the series in 2018, Ubisoft re-released the first seven games, as well as announced a brand-new entry, simply called ‘The Settlers’.

Volker Wertich, the designer of the original game and The Settlers III, has come back to direct the new title, which Ubisoft says “brings back the best, modernised elements from previous The Settlers titles, combining them with brand-new features and gameplay systems”. Art director Edgar Bittencourt said in a video for fans that: “It’s a stylised game, it’s in the Settlers DNA, but this time we’re going to go for full-power authenticity and believability. The characters will come in and work and will produce stuff, and you’ll be able to see what they produce, their output and input piles, how things are running in the building.”

One interesting aspect of the new game is how wild animals like boars, rabbits and deer fit into the ecosystem. Each animal will grow and eventually die, and each has a preferred habitat where they will breed more successfully. But boars are aggressive, eating crops and chasing after farmers, meaning you’ll need to send hunters or soldiers to clear them out, while deer can provide leather as well as meat.

The latest title claims to have more buildings than any Settlers game before it, and there are also different ways to win, one of which is the ‘Path To Glory’. For this, the player sets up a tournament, and sends a hero into the arena to face off against an opponent. Settlers from both sides gather at the arena to watch, and the audience gains a confidence boost if their hero wins, but loses confidence if their champion fails. Settlers with low confidence might become protestors and start a revolution against their leader.

Thomas Häuser, director of The Settlers II, says he’s pleased with how the game seems to be shaping up: “I’m looking forward for the next Settlers game, because I think they’re moving in a good direction, moving back to some of the basic ideas.”

The Settlers was originally slated for release in autumn 2019, but last year it was delayed to a currently unspecified date in 2020.