Indie developer Respair Games has announced Age of Respair, a new spiritual successor to the classic medieval strategy game Stronghold, capturing its spirit but also getting built in Unreal Engine 5.

Age of Respair is being developed by two veteran developers from both Saber Interactive and The Coalition with a team of freelancers helping as they go. A release is set for 2025 and the game is in development for PC (via Steam).

Here’s a rundown on the game, plus its reveal trailer:

Age of Respair is a medieval castle-building strategy game, combining real-time strategy (RTS) and city-building mechanics. Inspired by Original Stronghold and Stronghold Crusader, players will gather resources, manage production chains, build massive fortresses, and prepare armies for intense siege warfare. Featuring huge maps, fog of war, building upgrades, and other improvements.

Features

• Spiritual Successor to Stronghold: A modern take on the beloved classic, balancing city-building with RTS.

• Massive Maps, Massive Castles, Massive Armies: Explore a large world, build a huge castle and gather a large army.

• Castle Siege Warfare: Build and defend your castle while launching sieges on enemy castles.

• Resource Management & Production Chains: Efficiently manage resources to keep your kingdom thriving and your army strong.

• Population Happiness: Keep your citizens content by balancing resources, taxes, and entertainment to maintain productivity.

• Building Upgrades: Start with basic buildings and upgrade them to improve efficiency.

• Campaign & Skirmish Modes: Play through a narrative-driven campaign or test your strategy in one-off battles against AI.