An all-new medieval strategy game was revealed Sunday morning named Manor Lords. Developer Slavic Magic dropped an announcement trailer that went semi-viral, with PC gamers comparing Manor Lords to Banished, Stronghold, Total War, and more. Slavic Magic plans to launch Manor Lords in Early Access this fall.
The announcement trailer for Manor Lords starts with at first appears to be a realistic Medieval game like Kingdom Come: Deliverance. But then the camera pulls back to reveal a strategy game with villagers building houses, trading shops, and so on, like a Medieval Anno. Then the trailer moves on to major battles with companies of archers and swordsmen, proving it to be a fully-fledged RTS.
Manor Lords' Steam profile describes the game as featuring "deep, organic and realistic city building with large scale, tactical battles." By deep and organic, Slavic Magic means Manor Lords city building will be gridless, with full control over placement and rotation. By realistic, Slavic Manor says the entire game is referenced from XI-XV century Europe, with grounded weather and season changes.
Development of Manor Lords is still going to be a process, however. The footage shared in the trailer is confirmed to be pre-alpha, meaning the final game could be unrecognizable compared to the trailer. Manor Lords will be launching in Early Access, with a plan to stay there for 1-2 years. So interested PC gamers can wait and see how the game's development unfolds before buying in. Nevertheless, it makes for an exciting pitch.
Manor Lords launches in Early Access fall 2020 on PC.