London, United Kingdom - October 9th, 2023 - Castle builders and besiegers rejoice! As part of Steam Next Fest: October Edition and in celebration of nearly 200,000 wishlists, Firefly Studios has released a brand new Stronghold: Definitive Edition demo. Now available on Steam, this demo features never-before-seen-missions - including a first look at the game’s new single player campaign - making it players’ most fully featured look at the game yet.
This final demo showcases Missions 3 and 8 from the original 2001 Stronghold campaign, as well as the third mission from the exclusive new Definitive Edition campaign. In addition to both of the original game’s military and economic campaigns, the ‘Jewel of the North’ campaign will feature returning fan favourite antagonists The Rat and The Snake. Created by Firefly co-founders Simon Bradbury and Eric Ouellette, these new missions will remain true to the spirit of the first game, while introducing new twists on familiar Stronghold gameplay.
To accompany their latest demo release, Firefly Studios also released an in-depth developer diary featuring interviews with veteran series artists Darrin and Niall. With the heightened social awareness of the importance of video game preservation, Firefly are providing a look into the intricate artistic challenges inherent in a project like Stronghold: Definitive Edition:
“Being able to go back to [Stronghold] and updating it in some ways but still keeping the original feel in other ways. That I think is what we really all were shooting for,” explains Senior Graphic Designer Darrin Horbal. Reflecting on the game’s summer reveal, Lead Artist Niall Benzie goes on to explain, “When we first released the trailer and the public demo, I was quite apprehensive on how people might receive the changes, but I do believe we have gone a long way in trying to respect the original art”.
As part of October Next Fest Firefly Studios will also be airing two new livestreams tonight via the game’s Steam page from 8pm GMT, before being uploaded to the official Firefly Studios YouTube channel. First, Firefly Co-founder and series Lead Designer Simon Bradbury will reflect on both the original Stronghold and the upcoming Definitive Edition in a new Campaign Preview by tackling the fiendishly demanding Mission 18! Players’ final battle against The Pig is infamous within the game's community for its uncompromising difficulty, making it a true badge of honour and the perfect choice to play as part of Next Fest.
Second will be a livestream in which Firefly developers answer popular fan questions in a brand new Community Q&A. Will custom maps from the original Stronghold be compatible? Will Stronghold: Definitive Edition offer all original content featured in the first game? How about difficulty levels? Language support? Music? Firefly veterans Dave and Nick will be answering questions, alongside an exclusive first look at Free Build mode gameplay in Stronghold: Definitive Edition. With the task of building an impressive fortress to withstand a mammoth invasion within just 30 minutes, will they survive?
Whether players are curious about major features, bug fixes or smaller quality of life improvements, between this new video and Firefly’s previous community Q&A, Firefly has the series fans covered.
A new Stronghold: Definitive Edition demo is currently playable on Steam as part of the October Next Fest and the full game is available to wishlist, ahead of its November 7th launch date: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2140020/Stronghold_Definitive_Edition/
Press Kit
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About Stronghold: Definitive Edition
Stronghold: Definitive Edition is the ultimate version of the original BAFTA-nominated real-time strategy game. Carefully rebuilt using the source artwork, music, returning voice talent and veteran developers of the first entry in the ‘castle sim’ series, this new definitive edition rebuilds the foundations of Stronghold. With remade artwork, a higher fidelity soundtrack, full Steam multiplayer support, Steam Workshop, modernised gameplay, a new campaign and other community requested features, Stronghold: Definitive Edition releases on November 7th 2023. For the latest on Stronghold: Definitive Edition visit the official website at www.PlayStronghold.com.
About Firefly Studios
Creators of the BAFTA nominated Stronghold series, Firefly Studios is a Devolver Digital games developer with over 20 years of experience publishing historical real-time strategy titles on PC and mobile. Enjoyed worldwide by a community of millions, their games have a dedicated international following and rich legacy in strategy gaming. Founded in 1999 by Simon Bradbury and Eric Ouellette of Caesar and Lords of the Realm fame, the company has brought to market many high profile and commercially successful strategy games. These include the Stronghold series with lifetime sales of more than 11 million and Stronghold Kingdoms, which currently has ten million registered players. Firefly has offices in the UK and US, with around 40 full-time staff. For more information visit their website at www.fireflyworlds.com or follow @fireflyworlds on Twitter.