Amplitude Studios announced that they’re delaying the release of highly anticipated strategy game Humankind by several months. It was previously scheduled to release in April. Based on feedback from closed beta players, the new release date is August 17.

The following message was posted by Amplitude Studios developer Spacetroll in the official forums:

Hello everyone!

In the weeks since the Lucy OpenDev, we’ve been reading a lot of feedback. While many players told us they see great potential in Humankind, they also offered a lot of constructive criticism, and often expressed concern if the game could live up to this potential in the time until release.

After taking stock of your feedback, of where we are with the game, and where we want it to be when we release, we have decided to postpone the release until August. We agree with you all, the game will be incredible with a little extra time, and we think we are lucky to have passionate fans like you who support us up in that decision.

At times like these, I am also reminded that we made the right choice when joining SEGA, who has been incredibly supportive of this decision. They believe in Humankind as much as we do, and they have been a great partner in realizing our vision of the game.

As part of their “OpenDev” development process, Amplitude has offered closed beta testing periods for players beginning late last year. Amplitude listed the features and aspects of Humankind they hope to polish and improve in the coming months.

The biggest area in need of improvement is overall pacing and balance, as games were progressing too quickly, with too many available resources. Amplitude also hopes to improve diplomacy, the user interface, and onboarding with in-game video tutorials. The feedback is based on over 26,000 games being played during the OpenDev testing windows.

Another round of testing is scheduled during the game’s original release date of April 22. Follow Amplitude’s Games2Gether website for further details when the time draws near.

Humankind is a 4X turn-based strategy game (think the Civilization series) where you guide your custom civilization across six eras of human history. The winner is based solely on Fame, an overarching score based on multiple factors, including conquest, research, construction, and spirituality. Amplitude Studios is most known for creating compelling 4X strategy games in the sci-fi (Endless Space) and fantasy (Endless Legends) genres.

Humankind is scheduled to released August 17 on PC (Steam, Epic Games Store) and Stadia.


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Eric has been writing for over nine years with bylines at Dicebreaker, Pixelkin, Polygon, PC Gamer, Tabletop Gaming magazine, and more covering movies, TV shows, video games, tabletop games, and tech. He reviews and live streams D&D adventures every week on his YouTube channel. He also makes a mean tuna quesadilla.