برچسب: RTS

Underrated John Wick RTS game is about to disappear from Steam forever

Not every game gets its audience right away. Plenty of classics were not commercially successful or critically derided when they first arrived, only to build a reputation through word-of-mouth. John Wick Hex was one such game, a slick and exciting tactics treat that was a pleasantly small-scale offering. But soon, it will disappear from storefronts entirely.

For the unfamiliar, John Wick Hex uses a combination of real-time and turn-based strategy. Instead of set turns, each action is associated with a specific amount of time. Sure, you can sprint across that room in one “turn,” but you’ll open yourself up to multiple rounds of gunfire if you do. You have to time reloads and and melee to create opportunities and prevent injuries. Like the best RTS games, you’ll need both quick thinking and careful strategy to survive.

John Wick Hex was also developed in collaboration with the team behind the films. Lance Reddick and Ian McShane both reprise their roles. The game is drenched in the same slick neon hue that defines John Wick’s visual language.

However, John Wick Hex will soon no longer be available for purchase on any storefront. Publisher Big Fan Games released the following statement,

“John Wick Hex will be removed from sale on all platforms beginning July 17th, 2025.

After July 17th, 2025, existing owners of John Wick Hex will still be able to access the game via their digital libraries (PC/Console) and/or physical copies (Console), however new purchases of John Wick Hex will not be possible, regardless of platform or storefront.”

The statement does not elaborate on why they are removing the game, so that is up to speculation.

You can buy John Wick Hex on Steam for $19.99 until July 17.

If you want more tactical decision-making, check out our list of the best turn-based strategy games. If you are looking for something at a bigger scale, take a look at the best grand strategy games.

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15/07/2025
Rapid-fire RTS game Battle Aces is no more as studio ends development

It’s always heart-breaking to see a promising new multiplayer game scrapped, but it’s even sadder still to see one wrap up development before it even fully launches. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what’s happened to Battle Aces – an RTS game aiming to deliver super-fast 1v1 and 2v2 matches while still boasting plenty of strategic depth. Despite its promising premise, and the fact that it has a former Starcraft dev as a game director, Battle Aces has reached the end of its journey.

The debut project from Uncapped Games, Battle Aces certainly generated a lot of initial interest among RTS game lovers. First, it had David Kim at the helm – a Blizzard veteran who served as senior game designer on Starcraft 2 for roughly a decade. Secondly, it aimed to break new ground by offering more accessible, rapid multiplayer matches versus the lengthy slogs you can often become embroiled in. It’s been playable already thanks to some early betas, and it looked to be coming along nicely. However, Uncapped says that it can’t see a successful route forward for its ambitious project.

“Today, with deep regret, we are announcing that development on Battle Aces has come to an end,” a statement posted by Uncapped reads. “Creating Battle Aces has been tremendously rewarding and we are grateful for the passion and support from our community. Unfortunately, the returns from early testing were not strong enough to support continued development.

“This decision was not made lightly. Battle Aces represented a bold vision — our attempt to reimagine real-time strategy for a new generation. We set out to create something fast, tactical, and approachable, while still delivering the depth that makes RTS special. Every step of the way, from internal playtests to closed betas, we were fueled by your enthusiasm, feedback, and support.”

The statement doesn’t mention what the future holds for the studio. My fear is that layoffs may follow if it doesn’t have enough funding to spin up a new project post-Battle Aces. If it does, then maybe we’ll see a new strategy game from Kim and the team in the future.

It is a real shame that Battle Aces won’t even get a shot in early access, but in a world where ambitious, big-budget multiplayer games can quickly nosedive into an unprofitable state after launching, this appears to just be a case of Uncapped cutting its losses and not taking the gamble. However, there are still plenty of great free PC games out there that you can enjoy right now and that have bright futures ahead.

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24/05/2025
If you’ve avoided Commandos Origins until now, the WW2 RTS just got a lot better

Between Civilization 7, Kaiserpunk, Stellaris, and Commandos Origins itself, I’m still torn between which type of strategy game I like most. 4X is the biggest and bulkiest, but the longer a playthrough goes on, the more you can get lost in the micromanagement. City builders are more focused, and I’m a sucker for good road-building tools, but, by their nature, these games are limited to one type of strategy. So maybe it’s the RTS – challenging but accessible, tactical but faster-paced, the return of Commandos also marks a comeback for one of the genre’s best. Origins may have struggled a little so far, but if you’ve stayed away, the big new update could be enough to win you over.

Tough, intense, and an occasional test of your patience, our own Commandos Origins review explains precisely where the new RTS game shines and where it could use some improvement. Behind Enemy Lines, Commandos 2, and Destination Berlin are all legitimate PC classics – Commandos Origins naturally has a lot of expectation on its shoulders. But alongside our 7/10 rating, the response from players has so far been solid, and the WW2 game has a reputable ‘mostly positive’ rating on Steam.

However, a few key performance issues and problems with crashing have held Origins back. Released on April 9, if you’ve been cautious about playing the strategy game up until now, the new update could assuage your concerns. There are 29 general fixes, alongside 18 fixes that target issues specific to Commandos Origins’ campaign missions. Until now, some of the game’s foliage was inexplicably causing sharp drops in performance and there were cases where the framerate could slow to a crawl.

Those have both been remedied, alongside other “rare” crashes, and a significant problem where using the Marine’s abilities could also send you back to the desktop. The user interface has been tweaked and improved, and there is no longer a problem with broken achievements. It’s a big fix and it arrives just over a week since launch – hopefully, any other issues with Commandos Origins will also be promptly addressed. If you want to give the game a shot, you can get it here.

Otherwise, try some of the best 4X games, or maybe the best grand strategy games out now on PC.

You can follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides. We’ve also got a vibrant community Discord server, where you can chat about this story with members of the team and fellow readers.

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17/04/2025