Turn-Based Games at E3

Computer Games Magazine has a brief summary of the turn-based strategy games to be unveiled at E3 2005. All sequels, though.

I guess this makes sense. The real-time strategy subgenre has been improved to the point that there are so many game design options out there that you would be swimming against a strong tide to release a turn-based strategy game (wargames excluded). The growing popularity of multiplayer games means that there is also little interest in developing games that require you to wait until all of your opponents have emailed their turns.

I'm most excited in Civ 4, but the announcement of a sequel to Galactic Civlizations is great news. The resurrection of the Jagged Alliance series is good news, as well.

But the ever slimmer pickings each year reveal how far the turn-based 4X game has fallen. Paradox has proven that 4X can be done in real-time and Black Seas' Knights of Honor is a real-time 4X game that moves at the leisurely pace of turn-based games. So long as Civ is a cash cow for Firaxis, turn-based games will never die. But they may fade into irrelevance as a subgenre.