The heir to Command and Conquer’s throne for classic real-time strategy is coming out in just a few short months. After a couple of successful beta periods, it looks like Tempest Rising is about to finally go public, filling that Soviet vs Allies-shaped hole in your playing.
Set in an alternate, post-nuclear war timeline, Tempest Rising is a strategy game with a lot of recognizable facets. You have three central factions vying for control, each offering their own pluses and minuses, and much of the emphasis is on base-building.
This, paired with the general aesthetic, evokes the likes of Command and Conquer, Homeworld, and Starcraft, RTS games rooted in a true heyday for the genre. Developer Slipgate Ironworks is reviving some of that ingenuity, and everyone can finally play it in April 2025.
The Tempest Rising release date is set for April 24, 2025 on Steam. At launch, the upcoming PC game will offer two of its three factions, each with a distinct campaign, complete with cutscenes for that total immersion. The campaigns have 11 missions apiece, and it’s implied you can tackle them any number of ways, depending on how you flesh out your forces.
The central conflict comes from strange plant-life known as the tempest that’s sprung up from all the radiation. It’s a new resource, so everyone wants a piece, but investigating may reveal some uncomfortable truths. Besides the single-player storylines, the typical skirmish and custom game modes will be on offer, including multiplayer for when you want to destroy your pals, too.
So Tempest Rising is an early contender for the best multiplayer games of 2025, then. If you want to go deeper, check out our interview with lead designer Brandon Casteel, and our list of best space games has plenty more sci-fi treats in the meantime.
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