A lot of strategy games tend to fall on my lap given that it’s a genre I’ve been fascinated by since I was a kid. One of those games happens to be Steel Division 2 from Eugen Systems. Originally slated to launch in early April, the game had its release date changed to May. Well, it looks like fans have to wait just a tad bit longer as another delay has pushed back its release date to June 20.
Delay The Invasion
According to an announcement from the Steel Division 2 store page, it was due to the newly designed campaign mode:
Army General, the single player campaign mode, is an entire new game within the game and it wouldn’t be polished enough to be released on May 2nd. This new game mode has evolved a lot during development and is now becoming a compelling and interesting solo experience. We will release a dev diary and a video soon to explain how this 1:1-scale turn-based strategic game mode will be played in the release version.
That makes perfect sense, of course, given that Eugen Systems will be self-publishing a game for the first time. Extra polish is definitely needed — and no, we don’t mean the guys that got invaded in World War 2.
Eugen Systems have also added schedules for the beta testing phase. One phase will run from April 18 to April 23. Even better, the beta will be playable from May 29 until the game’s release on June 20!
There will also be an extra beta testing phase between these dates, and the team will continue to make fixes and updates as time goes by. We’re hoping that more eyes on the product will lead to more bug fixing and tweaks just in time for launch.
On a side note, it almost seems poetic that Steel Division 2 got delayed until June 20. The real-time strategy game will pit the Axis and the Soviet forces battling it out on the Eastern Front. It was around this time decades ago — June 22, 1941 — when the Germans launched Operation Barbarossa. Likewise, it was four years later — June 23, 1944 — when the Soviets counter-attacked via Operation Bagration, dealing their foes the greatest defeat in German military history.
Steel Division 2’s action will actually be based on the events of Operation Bagration. How fitting that the game will release close to the 75th anniversary of the start of that campaign, eh?
You can pre-purchase Steel Division 2 and any of its deluxe editions via Steam here. Looks like we’ll need to wait just a bit more until we start rolling down lush fields on T-34s, comrade.
