The final Ara: History Untold – Developer Diaries Released Ahead of Game Launch Next Week

We are just a few days away from the much-anticipated launch of Ara: History Untold, a grand strategy game developed by Oxide Games and published by Microsoft through Xbox Game Studios. In the lead-up to its release, the official YouTube channel for the game has been active, sharing new content, including two final Q&A video developer diaries.

In these new dev diary Q&A sessions, host “GamerZakh”engages with Matt Turnbull, the Executive Producer of Ara at Microsoft Xbox Game Studios, while they address questions from the community. The first video in the Q&A dev diary features Turnbull discussing Microsoft’s history with RTS games such as Age of Empires, noting that this title marks their first venture into turn-based grand strategy. He expressed enthusiasm about partnering with Oxide for this project.

A community member raised a question about the game’s turn limit, asking, “Can the game last until someone conquers everyone, or does something else happen to end the game rather than an artificial limit?”Turnbull clarified:

“Just like in other acts of the game, Act I, Act II, and Act III have definitive ends. The conclusion is tied to a specific percentage of nations progressing through the technology eras of that act and reaching the singularity age. Once that is achieved, that effectively concludes the game.”

He elaborated that the turn limit is designed to accommodate both shorter and longer gameplay experiences. Currently, the maximum number of turns allowed in the game is set at 1,250, which would create an exceptionally lengthy game.

The second Q&A video features Turnbull answering additional queries from Ara fans, including the confirmation of cross-play multiplayer functionality for players who purchase the game via Steam, Windows Store, and PC Game Pass. He also explains the significance of the name “Ara”within the game.

Ara: History Untold is scheduled for an exclusive PC release on September 24. Players can pre-order the game now on Steam, with three editions available: Standard, Deluxe, and Premium. Additionally, it will be available on Day One for subscribers of Microsoft’s PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

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