Don't hold your breath for a Manor Lords roadmap anytime soon. Developer Slavic Magic has taken to Steam to explain why he won't be making one for the hotly-anticipated city-builder "yet", and the dev is also looking to temper a few other player expectations.
In a new post on Steam, Slavic Magic explains that no Manor Lords roadmap will be forthcoming, at least not in the game's early stages. Instead, the dev will adopt a "listen, verify, implement" philosophy.
In essence, this will mean that Slavic Magic will be listening to player feedback and implementing features based on that feedback. The first month of updates for Manor Lords will consist of "just bug fixes and polish", according to the dev.
As well as discussing the lack of a roadmap, Slavic Magic also goes into detail regarding what Manor Lords is, as well as what it isn't.
The dev says the game is "not a Total War competitor", but rather a "city-builder with battles". There will be combat, but it won't be as large-scale or as frequent as it might be in Total War.
It's also not an RPG like Kingdom Come: Deliverance or Mount & Blade, nor is it an empire management sim like Crusader Kings or Hearts of Iron. Rather, it's intended to be played "at a much smaller scale".
Finally, the game won't be a competitive RTS akin to StarCraft or Age of Empires, but "more of a relaxed experience" with "high intensity moments" occurring occasionally.
Slavic Magic also reiterates that Manor Lords will be an Early Access experience rather than a finished release, which the developer acknowledges could be "disappointing". Despite that, however, Slavic Magic still thinks this is the right route to take.
You'll be able to check out Manor Lords when it launches on PC via Early Access on April 26th. It's also hitting Game Pass on day one, so you can check it out at no extra cost if you're a subscriber.
