War has returned to the galaxy.
In the early hours on Friday 10 December 2021, Blackbird Interactive showed off its first Homeworld 3 first-look gameplay trailer at The Game Awards 2021. Shortly after the reveal trailer, Gearbox Publishing wrote a blog post regarding the premise of Homeworld 3:
Homeworld 3's campaign is set in a galaxy that has enjoyed an age of abundance thanks to the Hyperspace Gate Network, with the cycles of peace and war having come and gone. The gates themselves are now catastrophically failing and Karan, who has passed into myth and religious idolatry, is the key to the mystery threatening the entire galaxy's future.
The wholly unique strategic gameplay of the Homeworld series also returns at an even larger scale as players engage in epic battles fought across open space as well as the 3D terrain of hulking space derelicts called megaliths - the crumbling remains of an ancient civilisation where the player can funnel foes into a brilliant ambush or hide their fleet from powerful enemies.
Developed for powerful modern hardware, Homeworld 3, will not just be a visual treat for fans, with all new ship designs and settings, but will also add key gameplay features that continue to deepen the series' enthralling strategy gameplay.
Fully simulated ballistics make line of sight and cover critical strategic considerations. Your fleet persists from mission to mission. Scars on your ships linger. Strike craft pilots and capital ship captains pass along critical information through battlefield chatter.
In addition to conquering the game's campaign, players can challenge each other to intense 1v1, free-for-all or team battles, or tag team in an all-new co-op mode with a roguelike twist. Homeworld 3 will be the deepest and most satisfying gameplay experience in the series yet.
The inspiration behind the Homeworld 3 trailer
Via the Fig campaign update page for Homeworld 3, Rob Cunningham shared a message to the Homeworld community expressing what the development of Homeworld 3 meant to him and his team:
I’ve said before that Homeworld 3 is a love letter to the fans. To you all.” started Rob Cunningham, continuing “A few months ago, I received a letter from a fan in New Zealand. He expressed how much the game meant to him and the lasting impact it had. In the letter, he included a photo of himself surrounded by his Homeworld collection. His words really touched me.
When I sat down to write the script for The Game Awards trailer, I printed out that photo and taped it to my monitor. I played Paul’s Adagio and stared at the photo of this guy I’ve never met. To me, he represented every fan, and every grown-up kid that loved that world.
It instantly became clear to me that this trailer was for that guy. What would matter to him? What would he want to see? How will this thing reach him? It helped me to focus. To imagine writing it just for him. Personally.
It’s impossible to put into words what you, the Homeworld community, mean to me and the Blackbird team. You’re in every conversation and decision we make. We can’t wait to release even more details about Homeworld 3 with you on the road to launch next year. There are so many exciting things to share!
When is Homeworld 3 going to be released?
Homeworld 3 is set to release in the final quarter of 2022 on Steam and Epic Games Store, almost 20 years after the release of Homeworld 2 and 22 years after Homeworld. Deserts of Kharak was the last game in the series (a prequel to Homeworld) to be released in 2019.
We'll keep posted on more news from the Homeworld 3 universe.