At PAX West this year, publisher Gearbox and developer Blackbird Interactive announced that the long-awaited Homeworld 3 is officially in development and will have a crowdfunding campaign on Fig with a goal of just $1. To accompany the announcement, Gearbox also released the first trailer for the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J675BQaIuQs&feature=youtu.be
This announcement comes as part of the series 20th-anniversary celebration and may not come as a surprise to close followers of the franchise. On August 20th, the official Homeworld Twitter account teased that a special announcement would come from Gearbox's Main Theater Show.
https://twitter.com/HomeworldGame/status/1163797837357944832
While it may not be a surprise, it should certainly come as a relief for longtime Homeworld fans. After Homeworld 2's release in 2003, the series simply gathered dust in Vivendi's and THQ's closets until Gearbox bought the IP rights at a yard sale 2013. Since then, Gearbox has teamed up with Blackbird Interactive—which was founded by several of Homeworld's original dev team—to release Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak, a prequel to the original game, as well as Gearbox releasing remastered versions of the first two games. Though the game was generally liked, it didn't feature the space-based combat that fans had come to love about the series. Now, with Homeworld 3, it appears that the franchise is launching back into space.
The press release stated that the game "is in its early stages with only a few months into pre-production", so don't expect to see it in playable form anytime soon. In the meantime, players can check out Homeworld 3's Fig campaign, which is currently set up with a funding goal of a single US dollar. Backers of the project will be able to invest in the game, pre-order the game and collectibles, provide feedback on features and priorities, and provide input on what the collector's edition should include. In a press statement, Gearbox Publishing head Steve Gibson said,
It’s a unique experience that only Fig can offer and we're excited for the most open development process in both Blackbird's and Gearbox's history. You don't just get the game. You get a chance to profit from the financial success too. If you’re not interested in that, no worries. We’ll see you at launch later down the line.Are you excited for a new Homeworld sequel? How long do you it'll be before the actual release? Do you, uh, think they'll hit their crowdfunding goal? Let us know in the comments below.
