We’re pleased to announce that we have finally launched an official Stronghold Discord server! Owned and operated by staff at Firefly Studios, the Stronghold Discord is designed to bring you exclusive Stronghold content, competitions and giveaways. Join the Discord and pick your team for access to the Stronghold: Warlords metagame and other exclusive community activity between now and launch in 2020. Designed to be a home for castle lovers everywhere, the Discord can also be used to team up for some classic Stronghold multiplayer, share your greatest custom maps, post terrible Stronghold memes and quote our beloved Scribe until the early hours of the morning.
Warlords Alpha Gameplay
Our first ever playable demo of Stronghold: Warlords made it across the world this month as we flew from Gamescom to PAX West, finally letting fans get their first hands-on experience with the game courtesy of our hardworking developers. Stronghold players of all ages and experience levels gathered at our booths to try out the new Warlords system, gunpowder-fuelled siege equipment, East Asian units and devious castle traps!
Why only allow the lucky few who were fortunate enough to be at these massive shows the chance to see our brand new Stronghold in action? Good question! Off the back of the warm player reception we received in both Cologne and Seattle we thought it would be a great idea to let the entire Stronghold community feast their eyes on the Warlords System and our Alpha demo in action! In the demo Firefly’s very own Aaron Hayden walks us through the titular Warlords System, also showcasing new buildings, units, siege equipment and castle defences as we present the first ‘vertical slice’ demo of Stronghold: Warlords.
PAX Gameplay Trailer
Playable for the first time ever stateside at PAX West 2019, Stronghold: Warlords is the latest in Firefly Studios’ classic ‘castle sim’ series. Today we reveal the first ever Warlords gameplay taken direct from our PAX alpha demo, in a brand new gameplay trailer that hints at the power and depth of the new Warlords system. Watch our latest trailer now for an early look at some of the new units, siege weapons and castle defences coming to Stronghold in 2020!
In Stronghold: Warlords victory is decided by players who effectively target and recruit AI Warlords in each mission or map. By recruiting specific Warlords at the right time players can send themselves extra resources, buff their army, launch sieges from Warlord castles or even team up for a pincer attack! By unlocking more powerful castles, armies and abilities each Warlord has the potential to disrupt the flow of battle and turn the tide in your favour.
Online Round Up 2 (ft. New Romans Alpha!)
This week Nick’s back with another Firefly Studios’ Online Round Up, featuring new updates from Romans: Age of Caesar and Stronghold Kingdoms. This episode takes you through the latest and greatest from our online titles as Alpha 2 comes to Romans bearing a multitude of online city building gifts, while Stronghold Kingdoms receives new tournaments and worlds. Among a range of improvements and optimisations made since Alpha 1, Romans is now equipped with an extended Empire Map, Forum relocation, multi-city capabilities, quest lines and Advisers. All this makes for new co-op grand strategy possibilities and a much easier to understand experience for new senators.
In addition to weekly tournaments occupying our resourceful Lords and Ladies, Stronghold Kingdoms gets a whole host of new worlds to begin fresh adventures with friends and foes alike. There have also been community requested changes as things get more competitive on Heretic worlds and we’re introducing brand new AI castle types to boot! If these updates sound like reason enough to get conquering in our online titles you can register for Alpha 2 using the link above or download Stronghold Kingdoms for free now on PC, Mac and mobile.
Stronghold Showcase – Episode 7
While you wait for the next entry in the Stronghold series Aaron delivers another five choice custom maps in our latest episode of Stronghold Showcase. Returning to completely original player maps and scenarios after our recent forays into Middle Earth and Westeros in previous episodes, this week’s Showcase once again delivers the medieval goods. From feudal urban warfare and holiday resorts to the Black Sea and monkey eating islands, there’s something for everyone regardless of which Stronghold game you load up this weekend:
Henn Dommen (By Unikunok)
Requiem (By The Dragonheart)
The Black Sea (By Dovahkiin)
Cold Harbour (By The Geko)
Monkey Eating Island (By kevinsogo)
Do you have a multiplayer battlefield, siege scenario or cosmetic map you think deserves to be in a future Showcase? Then comment and let us know! We’re constantly on the lookout for cool fan-created content and love spotlighting lesser-known creations that go under the radar, so show us your moves!
100 Quick Questions
We’re back again with brand new Stronghold: Warlords content! This week we answer more than one hundred quick-fire community questions from you about our latest mainline castle sim with the help of Senior Coder Matt Smith. Watch as Matt and Nick run through some of your most pressing concerns and queries around Warlords, including but not limited to… The Warlords system, graphical upgrades, the official soundtrack, new unit abilities, siege engines, the possibility of a beta, 2D, 3D, 2.5D, release dates, characters, campaigns and much more!
All questions have been taken from our comment section here on YouTube, but also from Facebook, Twitter, Discord and Reddit as we keep an ear to the ground for all feedback as development continues. If you have a question you don’t see answered here make sure you drop it in the comment section below and you too could end up featured in a future Q&A or video down the line. As announced last week we’re aiming to release two Stronghold: Warlords videos monthly from now until release next year. So if you’d like to be first to see future trailers, new instalments in our Feature Spotlight series, dev updates and everything else related to our exciting new venture into China, Mongolia and Japan make sure you’re subscribed here on YouTube!
Behind the Studio (2019) – Part 1
This week premiering our brand new Behind the Studio series, Aaron invites you behind the game dev curtain to walk through Firefly Studios’ plans for both Stronghold: Warlords and Romans: Age of Caesar in 2019 and beyond. Find out how to stay up to date on everything Firefly Studios including where to get the latest information on Stronghold and Romans, our latest community videos and of course all the trailers, interviews and livestreams your strategy gamer heart desires. So if you want to stay in the loop on our game dev adventures make sure you are subscribed to us here on YouTube for weekly updates on our titles and studio developments.
Data Breach
This is a post to make you aware of an issue that might involve your Stronghold Kingdoms account information. We understand that your privacy and security is of the utmost importance, and we want you to know that we take the responsibility to safeguard your personal data very seriously.
Stronghold: Warlords – Feature Spotlight
In terms of features Stronghold: Warlords is being designed in many ways as a ‘greatest hits’ compilation. That said just because we’re bringing back plenty of fan favourite units and options doesn’t mean certain core Stronghold elements can’t be improved upon. Today we delve into fan requested troop and wall changes that have been on our radar for some time now in our first ever Feature Spotlight.
Returning to the classic 2D-style wall placement has been a goal of our 3D games for years now and with Warlords we feel closer than ever. Taking advantage of 3D to introduce proper unit displacement and collision has also been a goal for some time. Each of these improvements are coming in Stronghold: Warlords, along with a whole host of changes requested by the community.
After the positive reception to our previous Warlords video we’ve also decided to turn these Feature Spotlights into a full series! Over the next few months we’ll be using each episode to explore key systems and features in the game, some classic Stronghold and others completely new. Whatever part of the game interests you most there will be a Feature Spotlight for it and we’ll be paying close attention to the comments below for any suggestions you might have.
Stronghold Summer Sale
The Stronghold Steam Summer Sale returns and with it the continuing adventures of Dunk Slater in a full narrative sequel to last year’s Summer Sale video! Now working a dead-end job at his father’s factory, Dunk’s adventures with Sir William and the Ice Queen seem all but distant memories. But something is stirring at Valve HQ… Join Dunk as he returns once more to the lands of classic ‘castle sim’ action, with discounts on all Stronghold games on Steam!
With up to 90% off the Stronghold series and Crusader HD available for less than a cup of coffee, you’d have to be as dim as Dunk to let these deals escape you. If you already own these Strongholds feel free to leave a review for your favourite title and Wishlist our latest game in the series.