After a multitude of delays, mega-scale WW2 RTS Steel Division 2 is out now. Another in Eugen Systems’s line of extra chunky strategy games (including RUSE and the Wargame series), this one steps up from the relatively small maps of the original Steel Division‘s Normandy campaign and into the sprawling plains of Russia. One for the historical grognard crew, which is why we have Tim Stone in the trenches working on a review. We didn’t put him in> the trench – he just won’t leave it. Below, a launch trailer showing off the game zoomed in closer than most will see it.

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World War 2 RTS Steel Division 2 is due to roll out on April 4th, despite messy labour disputes greatly reducing the size of developer Eugen Systems. Owners of the original Steel Division; Normandy 44 are getting some nice treats if they pick up the sequel, including eight exclusive divisions to control, with over 350 units (mostly returning plus a few new ones) split between them. Troubles with the studio aside, it looks like a solid continuation of the large-scale style of real-time strategy that Eugen have built their name on since RUSE. See the release date trailer below.

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Embattled strategy studio Eugen Systems (Wargame, Steel Division) remains at war with itself. As reported by Gamasutra, the company fired six employees on December 19th – almost a quarter of its remaining staff – who were involved in a two-month strike last year over pay disputes. Eugen have now stated the reason for the six were fired was because they “used a professional tool for an inappropriate purpose , denying that the layoffs were related to their involvement in the strike.

The workers have stated through French games union STJV that they were fired under the pretext of having “negatively affected the mood” of the studio, for their use of “insulting language in a… private chat channel.” Their full statement from December 21st (available in English here) says that they believed the firings to be “a preemptive move by management” ahead of a labour tribunal hearing scheduled for March 2019 – a case being brought against Eugen by 15 employees.

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Eugen Systems are ready to resume their European offensive. Steel Division: Normandy 44 was occasionally a bit dry thanks to its multiplayer/skirmish focus, but still one of the most exciting historical real-time strategy games released in years. Today, they announced a sequel – Steel Division 2 – set against the backdrop of Operation Bagration, another 1944 conflict, this one pitting Nazi Germany up against the Soviet Union and Poland. Below, a short but dramatic teaser trailer.

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Employees at Eugen Systems, the French studio behind strategy games including R.U.S.E. and Steel Division: Normandy 44, have ended their strike after seven weeks. After more than a year of disputes with management over alleged problems including unpaid contributions and ignoring conditions of contracts, half of the studio went on strike in February. But negotiations have stalled and the strikers don’t think continuing will change much, so they’re ending the strike and taking the fight to a labour tribunal. (more…)

Tensions remain high between a large percentage of Eugen Systems’ (Steel Division, Wargame) developers and company management, as the strike that we reported on last month shows no sign of ending. In a lengthy statement released (and this time translated from French) via industry union site STJV, the developers involved detailed their growing list of grievances with the company, including the fact that it took two full weeks before management would even talk> to their rebellious staff.

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Even though it never caught on quite as strongly with the multiplayer crowd as the Wargame series, Eugen System‘s Steel Division: Normandy 44 was an easy recommendation, at least according to our resident strategy boffin Tim Stone. Using the same wildly scaleable engine tech first seen in RUSE, Steel Division allowed RTS battles to play out on almost any scale, from ultra-detailed vehicular skirmishes to operational overviews as abstract pieces move across the map, battle-lines shifting around them.

Eugen and publisher Paradox have supported the game well since its original release with a good mix of free and paid addons, despite online player-counts being lower than hoped. Today, the second major DLC pack for the game – Back To Hell – has rolled out, dense with shiny new tanks and scenic European hedgerows just waiting to be bombed into iron filings and ashes.

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As Meat Loaf sang, “Like a bat out of hell, I’ll be promptly returning to hell when the morning comes.” Not one for sticking around to clean up the flat or make a fry-up after a night of partying, Mr Loaf.

Steel Division: Normandy 44, the rather spiffy WWII RTS developed by Wargame and R.U.S.E. studio Eugen, is also going back to hell. The hell of war. The next expansion is due on February 13th, and it adds seven new historical missions, five of which support multiplayer, and four new divisions for use in solo and multiplayer skirmish, with 58 new units. Perhaps most exciting of all, a free update will be released alongside the DLC, as is the Paradox way, and that extends co-op play beyond the Skirmish mode. If I can have a friend alongside me, I might actually be able to win a battle. Perhaps even an entire war.

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There are two wars raging within Steel Division [official site]. While the Axis and Allies are going at it hammer and tongs in the tr s jolie fields and lanes of NW France, behind the scenes ‘Plausibility’ and ‘Populism’ – or ‘Wargame’ and ‘RTS’ if you prefer – are scrapping just as energetically for control of the soul of Eugen’s latest offering. Most of the time the fight is close and the game is great as a result. It’s only when Populism/RTS starts gaining the upper hand something that happens most noticeably during the three short singleplayer campaigns that things go awry for the mostly excellent Steel Division. … [visit site to read more]

April showers filling my gutters, May blossom spangling my hedge, June bugs headbutting my window… Mother Nature seems to have muddled her months this year. I’m not one for idle gossip as you well know> but Mr Valentine at the sweet shop reckons she’s back on the gin. Apparently she reeked of the stuff when she came in for her sherbet lemons on Monday. Just to be on the safe side I recommend everyone stays in this weekend and plays personal computer games about war and aeroplanes. That’s what me and the six FOFPs* below are planning to do.

*Friends of Flare Path … [visit site to read more]