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The Waking Deep - No Gods Above Nor Below
A science-fiction real-time strategy game inspired by the classics of the genre, with a range of new ideas and concepts. The conflict between land and naval units, and the ability to reshape the map by building bridges, make for gripping battles.

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Features
Languages:
Interface Full Audio Subtitles
English ✔
German ✔

Coming Soon To Early Access

The developers of this game intend to release as a work in progress, developing with the feedback of players.

Note: Games in Early Access are not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you should wait to see if the game progresses further in development. Learn more

What the developers have to say:

Why Early Access?

“The Waking Deep is playable and has a solid core: two very different factions, skirmishes against the AI, and online multiplayer. But a real-time strategy game lives and dies by its balance, and only real players can truly test that. Just as important to us is learning what matters most to you: which features you want to see first, and what you'd happily wait for. New features will reach you early, while we can still change them based on your feedback, not after they're set in stone. In short, we want to develop the game together with the community and shape our plans around it.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“We intend to release the game mid 2027, end 2027 at the latest. How long Early Access lasts depends on what we learn along the way: how the balance holds up in real matches, which features matter most to you, and how new features change after your feedback. We'll leave Early Access when the game feels ready, not when the calendar says so.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“Our intended direction, which may still change based on feedback:
- A third faction as a counterpoint to the existing two.
- A campaign with story-driven missions.
- Balanced play between all factions, informed by matches of real players.
- A livelier battlefield: unit sounds, death animations, expanded neutral camps.
- More comfort in online play, such as reconnecting and leaderboards, plus formations for marching armies.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“- Two playable factions with distinct playstyles: the humans of the Church of Hope (tanks, infantry, artillery, a navy) and the Deep, which spreads through corruption instead of outposts. Each has its own buildings, units and research.
- Skirmishes against an AI trained through self-play.
- 1v1 multiplayer online through Steam (invite friends, no port forwarding) and over LAN.
- A map generator with five map types, plus five fixed maps.
- Neutral guardian camps, capturable villages, forests that block sight, water and ships.
- Replays to watch matches back, save games, English and German.”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“We intend to raise the price for the full release once the game offers significantly more content. Anyone who buys during Early Access will not pay again.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“We read the Steam discussions and reviews and use them to set priorities, especially for balance and bugs. Every match can be saved as a replay; replays help us a lot to reproduce reported problems. We announce larger changes in Steam news and explain what changed and why.”
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This game is not yet available on Steam

Planned Release Date: Q4 2026

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About This Game

A real-time strategy game of faith, steel and madness


Throughout the twentieth century, mankind was haunted by madness and terror again and again. In the 1930s the militaristic Church of Hope was founded to contain those who had fallen to the madness and to
keep the rest steady. In the late 1950s it largely managed to halt the horror. There was even talk of angels being sighted, but those sightings never repeated and faded into legend.

Ninety years later the madness is rising again. From every corner of the planet come reports of scenes straight out of a horror film. Still isolated, but their number is growing…

The Waking Deep is a classic base-building real-time strategy game. Build a base, claim resources, research technologies and lead your armies to victory, in matches that typically last 15 to 30
minutes.

Command land and sea, and reshape the battlefield

Victory rarely goes to the biggest army. It goes to the commander who uses the terrain best. Every map is shaped by large bodies of water, and how you combine land and naval forces decides the war.
  • Rule the waters: warships can attack enemy supply routes from the coast, claim water rifts for extra income and hold large stretches of the map that land armies cannot reach.
  • Build bridges: lay new crossings over rivers and straits to open a surprise route into the enemy's flank, or link up your own expansions.
  • Destroy bridges: blow up a crossing to cut off an attacking army, protect your base, or strand enemy troops on the far shore. Anyone standing on a bridge when it collapses goes down with it.
  • Fight for chokepoints: bridges, land bridges and hill ramps channel every attack. Hold them, fortify them, or go around them by sea.
Every bridge you build or tear down changes the map for both sides, including the routes your own army relies on.

Two factions that play nothing alike

  • The Humans: tanks, infantry, war machines and a navy, backed by the Church of Hope. Build power plants on geothermal rifts, keep your troops supplied, expand with mobile outposts, and send
    engineers to bridge any stretch of water. Field soldiers, snipers, rocket launchers, chainsaw-armed walkers, the colossal War's End, gunboats, and the Church's own zealots, artillery and shield-bearers.
  • The Deep: ancient horrors risen from the sea. No power plants, no supply lines. Its buildings spread corruption across the land, and corruption is its economy: every rift it swallows
    pays, and every enemy who stands on corrupted ground burns. Its amphibious creatures cross the shoreline at will, its sunken cities rise from open water, and its stone causeways grow wherever its corruption
    reaches. Overwhelm your foes with masses of believers and Deep One hybrids, priests of Dagon and Mother Hydra, the teleporting Mi-Go, shoggoths, and the towering Star-Spawn summoned through a star gate.

AI opponents that learned to play

The AI does not follow scripted build orders. Its decisions about what to build, research and attack were shaped by training: thousands of matches it played against itself, in which the winning strategies
survived. The result is an opponent with its own habits rather than a fixed routine you can learn by heart. It decides where to expand, when to raid your economy instead of attacking head-on, and which units
it needs to counter what its scouts have seen of your army. Trained opponents are available for both factions.

Features

  • Deep tech trees: dozens of research options per faction, from weapon and armor upgrades to abilities that define the faction.
  • Three resources: Energy, scarce Dark Mass from contested pools at the center of the map, and (for the Humans) Supply that has to be kept up or your army starves.
  • Living maps: neutral guardian camps protect valuable resources, villages can be captured for vision, forests block line of sight, and hills give the high ground.
  • Fair, endless maps: a procedural map generator with five map types (central waterway, lakes and rivers, lane network, open plains, islands), all rotationally symmetric, plus five hand-crafted maps.
  • Skirmish against trained AI: play either faction against AI opponents of either faction.
  • Online multiplayer: 1v1 matches against another player over Steam.
  • Replays and save games: every match can be recorded and watched again at up to 8× speed, from either player's perspective.
  • Original soundtrack with music for each faction.
  • Fully localized in English and German.

AI Generated Content Disclosure

The developers describe how their game uses AI Generated Content like this:

Contains AI generated pictures, sprites, sounds and localization.

System Requirements

Windows
macOS
SteamOS + Linux
    Minimum:
    • OS: Windows 10, 64-Bit
    • Processor: Intel Core i3-8100 / AMD Ryzen 3 2200G
    • Memory: 4 GB RAM
    • Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 / AMD Radeon R7 260X / Intel UHD Graphics (11. Generation) or Iris Xe
    • Network: Broadband Internet connection
    • Storage: 500 MB available space
    Recommended:
    • OS: Windows 10/11, 64-Bit
    • Processor: Intel Core i5-8400 / AMD Ryzen 5 2600
    • Memory: 8 GB RAM
    • Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 / AMD Radeon RX 560
    • Network: Broadband Internet connection
    • Storage: 500 MB available space
    Minimum:
    • OS: macOS 11 Big Sur
    • Processor: Apple M1 or Intel Core i5 (2015)
    • Memory: 4 GB RAM
    • Graphics: Apple Silicon, Intel Iris or AMD Radeon Pro
    • Network: Broadband Internet connection
    • Storage: 500 MB available space
    Recommended:
    • OS: macOS 13 Ventura
    • Processor: Apple M1
    • Memory: 8 GB RAM
    • Graphics: Apple Silicon (M1 or newer)
    • Network: Broadband Internet connection
    • Storage: 500 MB available space
* Starting February 15, 2024, the Steam Client will no longer support 32-bit games or macOS 10.14 or lower.
    Minimum:
    • OS: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 64-Bit
    • Processor: Intel Core i3-8100 / AMD Ryzen 3 2200G
    • Memory: 4 GB RAM
    • Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 / AMD Radeon R7 260X / Intel UHD Graphics (11. Generation) or Iris Xe
    • Network: Broadband Internet connection
    • Storage: 500 MB available space
    Recommended:
    • OS: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS / SteamOS 3 64-Bit
    • Processor: Intel Core i5-8400 / AMD Ryzen 5 2600
    • Memory: 8 GB RAM
    • Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 / AMD Radeon RX 560
    • Network: Broadband Internet connection
    • Storage: 500 MB available space