Homeworld 3 will get new War Games co-op mode and official mod support at launch

A few months ago, we got the bad news that Homeworld 3, the long-awaited next game in the space-based RTS series, had been delayed from a late 2023 release to February 2024. This week, however, we got two news updates about the game, and both are positive.

The first is that Homeworld 3's developers at Blackbird Interactive are going to launch a new co-op gameplay mode called War Games. The announcement comes with a new trailer showing the new mode in action. Blackbird says this combines RTS gameplay with roguelite elements, with support for one to three players.

Blackbird says:

Commanders will need to manage fleet strength across waves of enemies and claim powerful artifacts that augment ships with each completed objective. Based on the results, players will unlock additional artifacts and starting fleets that keep the challenge fresh.

The second bit of news is that Homeworld 3 will get official mod support at launch. Blackbird is working with mod.io on this feature. The company has previously worked with tons of other game developers and publishers to add mod support, including most recently the Ubisoft historic city sim game Anno 1800.

Mod.io states:

Get ready to create and play mods on your galaxy-spanning mission by creating custom levels and augmenting ships at launch.

Both of the original Homeworld games from Relic became very popular with certain mod makers, some of which made total conversions based on Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and other well-known sci-fi franchises. We suspect that will happen with Homeworld 3 as well.

While we still don't have a specific release day for Homeworld 3, we hope that Blackbird will be able to stick to the current February 2024 timeframe. You can also pre-order a Collector's Edition of the game at Amazon. Priced at $174.99, it includes, among other things, a 14-inch model of the game's main Mothership, along with smaller models of the game's Hiigaran Destroyer, Torpedo Frigate, and three Recon ships in formation.

One more thing: You can still get Blackbird's prequel game, Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak, for free to to keep at the Epic Games Store from now until 11 am Eastern time on August 31.

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