We are very happy to announce that They Are Billions is available for XBOX One (right now) and PS4 on 9th July. The time has come for console players to also enjoy this RTS. Although for the moment it’s only available in the Survival mode, we will also bring the Campaign mode to this console in the near future.
Indeed, there are not many RTS games in consoles. This genre is mostly exclusive to PC because its game mechanics make it essential to use a mouse and keyboard. But at Numantian Games we have accepted the challenge. First of all because we truly believe that console players can also enjoy this exceptional game genre that we like so much. Second, They Are Billions within the RTS has also created its own sub-genre, a new style that has managed to bring many players who had never before played this type of games, and have enjoyed it as much as the more veterans players.
In the porting we have tried to be 100% loyal to the PC version. We want the game experience to be the same. Along with Blitworks, our porting partner, a huge effort has been made to achieve a game speed equivalent to the PC, as this game uses CPUs and multicore super intensive. Few games can boast of handling 30K units in real time, each with fully independent AI.
We also had to work to adapt the game handling to the console interface and we have implemented two play modes:
Gamepad
In this mode, the cursor and the camera can be moved with the analog joysticks. We have also enabled many shortcuts for the most typical actions that greatly improve the speed of handling. They Are Billions was always conceived as a game where strategy comes first (over player's performance) and that's why you can pause, so you can take your time and decide your strategies and tactics. This allows that in consoles, even if it is a little more uncomfortable handling with gamepad, the player establishes the preferred pace of play.
Mouse and Keyboard
The new consoles allow you to use any normal USB or Bluetooth mouse or keyboard and, of course, they are both supported by They Are Billions. In this case the gaming experience is exactly the same as in the PC version.
Even you can perfectly play with mouse while using the gamepad for shortcuts.
And that's all for now. If you have console gamer friends you can tell them that: "The zombie apocalypse, has arrived!"
And if anyone is curious to see how has been the development on consoles here you can see our friends from Blitworks in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvhOg6iRFJY
See you soon!