Take a Look at Innovative Mechanics and New Features in Airborne Kingdom!

November 29, 2023 – Prepare to embark on an aerial adventure with BAFTA-nominated indie developers The Wandering Band as they fly players to new skies in Airborne Empire. Due out in 2024, the game's first gameplay trailer provides a sneak peek at the innovative mechanics and fresh features being brought to the Airborne games for the first time. 

 

In Airborne Empire, players will adventure through dangerous skies aboard a fledgling flying city, endeavoring to transform it into a bustling metropolis. Like its predecessor Airborne Kingdom, Airborne Empire will challenge players not only to manage limited resources and keep their population happy, but also to master the unique lift, balance, and propulsion mechanics that keep their city aloft. With this new installment in the Airborne series also comes new mechanics, buildings, biomes, and the long-awaited inclusion of combat.

In the trailer, we meet two avian characters, Merchant Pyle and Magistrate Agatha, each a delightful embodiment of the Ghibli-inspired charm and wonder that pervade the game's world. They introduce us to Airborne Empire's pirate enemies and offer the player a quest. The trailer also features clips of the combat and defense mechanics, including a first look at the Defense Tower and Cannon buildings that integrate seamlessly into the series' signature steampunk aesthetic and colony-management gameplay. "Our community helped shape Airborne Kingdom," says studio co-founder Ben Wander about Airborne Empire's predecessor. "Combat was the biggest requested feature of the last game, but I’m also excited about how much richer the world and story will be in Airborne Empire." 

As players adventure through brand-new skies, they'll encounter a variety of biomes in an open world teeming with whimsical characters, dynamic quests, and hidden wonders waiting to be discovered. While aiding the communities below, players will unlock the wisdom to incorporate cutting-edge technologies and counter the looming pirate threat. Research defense upgrades, defend your city, and unravel the world's mysteries all while building your very own Airborne Empire!

"It really sets a different tone – an adventure, like Indiana Jones," says studio co-founder and designer Zach Mumbach. "Call it city-builder meets RPG. It’s really its own thing, and I can’t wait to get players’ hands on it!"

Airborne Empire will arrive on PC and Mac via Steam Early Access in 2024. Visit airborneempire.com for more information, and follow The Wandering Band on Twitter and Instagram for the latest updates.
 

About The Wandering Band

The Wandering Band is an indie games studio focused on creating unique, high-quality interactive experiences that challenge genre boundaries and explore new topics through game mechanics. It was founded by industry veterans Frederik Gareau, Zachary Mumbach, and Ben Wander in 2018. The founders have decades of combined AAA experience, with work spanning multiple hit franchises like Dead Space, Dragon Age, Battlefield, and Star Wars. In 2020, they released their first title Airborne Kingdom, which received a BAFTA nomination for "Best Debut Game."

Article by: Susan N.

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Announcing Airborne Empire to Release by Stray Fawn Studio in 2024!

 

Zurich, Switzerland - June 28th, 2023 - Stray Fawn Studio, the indie game studio behind The Wandering Village, has revealed the second game in their recently established publishing lineup: Airborne Empire, a city builder in which players build, defend, and explore the skies, set to launch into Steam Early Access in 2024.

Stray Fawn Studio first announced its new indie publishing label Stray Fawn Publishing back in March of 2023 along with their first partnered game, Earth of Oryn, which has accumulated over 30,000 wishlists since the announcement of the partnership. With Airborne Empire, developed by the American studio The Wandering Band, another beautiful city-builder is joining the publisher’s lineup.


Airborne Empire, the eagerly anticipated follow-up to the acclaimed flying city builder Airborne Kingdom, has recently been revealed at the GLITCH Future of Play Direct showcase during Summer Game Fest.

Airborne Empire challenges players to build, manage, and grow their own unique city in the skies. They traverse a vast and rich open world full of new dangers, exotic wonders, and many hidden treasures. The unique lift, balance, and propulsion mechanics return, but a new foe has emerged: pirates upend the city’s tranquility, and players must defend their inhabitants – and the kingdoms below! – from destructive attacks. Only clever and daring leaders can grow and protect their homes, seek out and destroy enemy strongholds, and finally reunite the peoples of this world.


While exploring a variety of biomes, players find themselves deep in an open-world full of rich characters, dialogue choices, side-quests, and lost marvels. By helping the peoples below, they gain the knowledge to develop new technologies – including new lift, propulsion, and morale buildings. They’ll also gain access to better tools for defense – and offense – against the pirate threat; defense towers, cannons, and attack planes can be researched, upgraded, and augmented with the tools found by combing the world and unraveling its mysteries.


If players can manage the challenges along this adventure, they’ll find themselves the leaders of a sprawling sky city, with enough prowess to defend against any incoming threats. It shall be the capital of a harmonious empire – the Airborne Empire of legend – reforged under their banners. In 2024, players can finally begin this epic journey!


The game will arrive on PC and Mac via Steam Early Access in 2024.

Stray Fawn Studio

Since its establishment in 2016, Stray Fawn Studio has developed and self-published three games in the simulation and strategy genres. ‘The Wandering Village’, the most recent addition to the studio’s portfolio, has sold over 250,000 copies since its Steam Early Access release in September 2022. According to Philomena Schwab, Stray Fawn Studios Co-Founder and lead of their newly established publishing branch, this was just the push they needed to go into publishing: “I’ve been wanting to do this for many years now, but we never really had the extra resources needed to do so. Now we can finally get started and support other devs on their journey. We’re hoping to create a transparent, understanding publisher where partners can benefit from each other and grow together.”

Stray Fawn has stated that they are open to receiving pitches from developers at pitch@strayfawnstudio.com. While their main focus will be simulation, city-building and strategy games for the time being, pitches of any genre are welcome.

Article by: Susan N.

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