Xbox-published strategy game Ara: History Untold gets release date, plus multiplayer detailed

Xbox has announced a release date for Ara: History Untold.

The upcoming turn-based historical strategy title is set to launch on 24th September. On its debut, it will be available for Windows PC and Steam. The Xbox published title will arrive on day one for PC Game Pass, as well.

In addition, president of developer Oxide Games Marc Meyer and Head of Ara for Xbox Game Studios Brian Stone have shared more about what players can expect on the game’s release later this year.

The duo showcased the game during an episode of the Official Xbox Podcast with an accompanying blog post, where they spoke about leaders and the game’s “living” map. They also spoke more on the Ara: History Untold multiplayer, with Oxide describing its gameplay as “Simultaneous Turns”.

“The way that works is you submit your actions, and everyone else in the world submits their actions at the same time, and then they all get resolved together,” Meyer explained. “It’s not a situation where if you go first, you get to get the claim; the person who goes second doesn’t get the claim. In this model, everyone goes at the same time. So, in multiplayer you really have a fair chance at everything.”

Meyer said the team wanted to make sure it “removed all the barriers for multiplayer”, meaning players will be able to “jump in and out of as many games as [they] want”.

Said Meyer: “You can take your turn when you have time and wait until it gets submitted. If your friend decides he doesn’t want to play anymore, an AI can come in and take over for him, it doesn’t mean the end of your entire world if you’re playing online and you don’t want to do that, you can stop, and you don’t have to worry about destroying the game for everyone else who’s playing.”

You can check out the full podcast via the video below. Here, the hosts also spoke more about Age of Mythology: Retold, which was announced earlier this week.

For more on what Xbox has in store, you can check out our rundown of the Xbox Games Showcase here.