Ludeon Studios has announced today that RimWorld, the universally acclaimed space colony simulator, is making its way to consoles. This simulator game has the distinction of being the first and only simulator driven not by gameplay or a script but by an AI-generated story, making each and every day as unpredictable as the last.
Ludeon Studios took to socials to announce the news, which was accompanied by an announcement trailer. The top-down cartoony simulator features everything you’ve come to expect from a colony sim. In RimWorld, Players manage their ragtag crew of colonists and it’s up to them to keep the colonists, safe and cared for. This includes managing defense for the outpost and tending to wounds. The key difference in RimWorld is the focus on interaction and story. An AI helps generate a story at random, including different events and happenings. A lightning storm, an encounter with pirates, and other happenings all factor into crafting a story for players, and players choose their path within that story. Players tailor their experiences to how they want to play. One AI can create a relaxing story Another AI can raise the stakes. In RimWorld, each colonist has their own role to play, but will also interact with each other. In RimWorld, each colonist is completely different. There may be the occasional battle-hardened soldier, but for the most part, the colonists are everyday people. Nurses, noblemen, firefighters, accountants, and more are thrust into a situation to work together. This leads to a sharing of ideas and talents, which may be beneficial or detrimental to an outpost. With an entire planet to explore, the fun never ends in RimWorld.
RimWorld was released on Steam on October 17th, 2018, and has since continued to receive both strong support and acclaim. As of this posting, RimWorld has received the coveted Overwhelmingly Positive rating on steam, with 111,722 user reviews as of this posting. One user even calls it “spicy Oregon Trail” a reference to the groundbreaking education video game, developed in 1971. For the console release, the team has meticulously and patiently optimized their port of RimWorld, maximizing the User Interface and controls for use with controllers.
RimWorld’s arrival to consoles could not come at a better time, as many titles are delayed or pushed back to sometime in 2023. This gives RimWorld an opportunity to find a massive new audience. Some may question why a port would even be needed, given the availability of gaming PC and the Steamdeck, but there are those that stick closely to consoles and now they will have the ability to play RimWorld. An additional observation is the lack of a Nintendo Switch port at the time of the announcement, though I am sure that the idea is being explored, if not already being worked on, especially with the potential to use the touchscreen.
RimWorld: Console Edition arrives July 29th for PlayStation 4/5 and Xbox Series X/S.
