Stormgate: Debut title from Frost Giant goes into Early Access

After years of development work and an extensive Kickstarter campaign, the time has finally come. Stormgate went into Early Access on Steam yesterday. But as initial reviews show, the supposed revival of the RTS genre has turned out to be a middling disappointment.

At the end of July, owners of the Early Access pack were able to take an early look at Stormgate Now the real-time strategy game fromFrost Giant Studioshas officially entered Early Access for everyone. Interested parties can now try out the game for free.
The game offers a mix of 1v1 and 3-player co-op missions as well as custom 2v2 team games. Those interested can also get a first look at the campaign, which is set on a post-apocalyptic Earth where humanity is fighting against demonic invaders

Reactions from the Steam community

The reactions to Stormgate have been mixed. Only 60% of the almost 3,000 reviewsare positive. These community members emphasize that the PvP gameplay is mature and that the game is a lot of fun in 1v1 matches. However, the sound, graphics and balance need further work. The positive voices in the community hope that the game will continue to develop over time and realize its potential.

The critical voices about Stormgate relate on the one hand to the weak game design. Many players are disappointed with the state of the campaign and the character designs. Some describe the campaign as “soulless” and character models as “unfinished”. Furthermore, the story is not exciting and seems to be geared more towards younger gamers. In addition, there are technical problems such as frequent crashes when loading maps, which makes the game even less enjoyable.

On the other hand, the generally hated microtransactions are a major point of criticism in Stormgate. Various community members complain that, despite high Kickstarter support, additional content is hidden behind a paywall right at the start of Early Access. This has caused displeasure among many backers who feel deceived by Frost Giant Studios

A long way from Stormgate

The current statistics on SteamDBshow that there is definitely interest in Stormgate. Almost 5,000 people have already been in the game at the same time. Around 56,000 community members have already watched the game on Twitch.
However, the negative reviews make it clear that Frost Giant still needs to put some work into the title and work on its current funding model in order to fully exploit the game’s potential. Meanwhile, the German indie landscape is trying its hand at the RTS genre.