The Settlers has finally emerged from development hell, and it’s fighting fit

It’s been over a decade since a core game in The Settlers series last made landfall on PC, and during that time the real-time management landscape has arguably changed quite a bit. There have been some great building games that have risen up, and even developer Blue Byte (now Ubisoft Dusseldorf)’s own Anno series has staked a powerful claim to the city-building throne. But this incarnation of The Settlers isn’t so much about connecting to the series’ past as it is about laying down foundations for the future. It’s had a slightly rocky road to launch, suffering several delays and refunded pre-orders after being postponed indefinitely back in 2020, but at long last this reboot of the classic city-building conquest-me-do is finally ready to beat down our door and come barrelling in. It’s launching in full on March 17th, and I’ve been hands on with an early version of the upcoming closed beta build that will be running from January 20th-24th. So settle in, folks. Here’s how it’s shaping up.

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