Gilded Destiny
Published by Hooded Horse and still targetting for release in 2026 (at the time of writting this asrticle, I’m looking right at its Steam page), Gilded Destiny is an ambitious Industrial Era grand strategy game that aims to redefine Victorian-age empire management. Built on a massive, true-to-scale 3D hexagonal globe featuring over a million detailed tiles, the game delivers deep logistical chains, dynamic population simulation, and realistic resource production. Players balance domestic industrialization, supply-line warfare, and shifting political reforms, backed by native day-one modding tools for ultimate alternate history flexibility. Check out this Gilded Destiny Developer Vlog Short for a quick look at how the 3D hexagonal globe map and Industrial Revolution mechanics come together.
Fragile Existence
Another Hooded Horse title, still slated for 2026, Fragile Existence is aiming to blend grand strategy orbital fleet command with intense real-time surface operations. As commander of humanity’s last remaining survivors following Earth’s destruction, players must plot interstellar jump routes, scan alien worlds, and deploy ground expeditions to harvest vital resources. With strict physicalized logistics chains, modular ship customization, and relentless enemy fleets in pursuit, this might actually become the Homeworld spiritual successor (and a lot more) we fans of the RTS genre have been looking forward to for decades.
Afterworld
Freshly revealed by Paradox Development Studio, Afterworld brings post-apocalyptic survival grand strategy to a procedurally generated North American wasteland. Players guide small survivor bands, from vault dwellers (because of course we have vault dwellers) to wasteland zealots (because of course as well) on a high-stakes quest to rebuild civilization through complex resource logistics, dynamic technology discovery, nation-building societal laws, and good fashion warfare! It’s great to see Paradox attempt something different for a change, and I wish them all the best in this non-historical endeavour. I’ll be accompanying its development closely, even if I’m not the greatest fan of a post-apocalyptic setting. Paradox, when are we going to have a modern-day grand strategy title starting in the late 1990s and going into the 2050s?
Espiocracy
Published by Hooded Horse (they’re really going for all these titles, aren’t they?) and set for a 2027 release after multiple delays, Espiocracy transforms Cold War grand strategy by shifting focus from traditional and direct warfare to covert intelligence ops. Controlling the intelligence agency of one of 74 playable nations, such as the CIA, KGB, or MI6, players orchestrate global politics through proxy conflicts, political assassinations, state coups, and targeted propaganda campaigns. Featuring over 30 distinct operation types, dynamic operative management, and complex geopolitical alignment mechanics, it promises an unprecedented deep-dive into shadowy, non-linear statecraft. Most games in the grand-strategy and 4X genre often lack any sort of meaningful espionage mechanics, so building a whole game around it is certainly unique, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it.
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