Horu has launched its Kickstarter campaign, with solo developer GlassBeaver seeking funding to finish the assets needed for a playable build of its enormous science-fantasy strategy game. The campaign was announced on 13 November and the PC release is currently planned for Q4 2027, so there is still a fair bit of interstellar admin between here and launch.
Spotted by PC Gamer, Horu combines real-time strategy with empire management and openly takes inspiration from Star Wars: Empire at War. Its big ambition is to keep ground battles and space battles running simultaneously, letting players jump between individual fronts and the wider starmap without waiting for one scrap to finish before another can begin.
According to the official press kit, planetary invasions are designed to involve hundreds of thousands of units, while fleets clash above them. You can command forces directly or hand battles to commanders while concentrating elsewhere, which sounds sensible when your to-do list includes both conquering a planet and keeping the ships above it in one piece.
The drop-zone system is intended to take some of the frantic clicking out of managing those armies. Set objectives before troops arrive and they will land with orders already assigned, including capturing structures or hunting artillery, while the space battle determines whether fresh reinforcements can reach the surface.
There is more to the empire side than colouring in a galactic map, too. Colonies support mining and production, spies can feed rivals false information and research is divided between Tech upgrades for the empire and Genes upgrades for units. Apparently commanding several wars at once was not quite enough paperwork.
GlassBeaver says the crowdfunding campaign will help fund remaining ships, units, animation, sound and music. The Steam page lists Windows PC and Q4 2027, with no final release date or purchase price announced there yet, so that window remains a development target.