The original Fantasy General saw release in 1996, the third installment in Strategic Simulations’ Five Star General series. It may have been more than two decades later, but on September 5, 2019, Fantasy General II arrived to the joy of old-school strategy gamers everywhere, all made possible thanks to the efforts of developer Owned by Gravity and publisher Slitherine. But how did the revival of this classic strategy title come to be? We recently chatted with Jan Wagner, managing director of Owned by Gravity, to learn more.

This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the beloved fantasy themed puzzle-platforming Trine franchise, and what better way to celebrate than with the release of Trine 4? Developer Frozenbyte is returning the series to its roots after 2015's Trine 3, a game that didn't quite capture the magic of previous entries in the franchise, in part due to the game's shift to 3D environments for the first time and a story that ended on an unexpected cliffhanger.

Thankfully, Trine 4 looks to be a dream come true for fans and is shaping up to be the most ambitious, visually impressive, and complex adventure in the series yet. Frozenbyte marketing manager Kai Tuovinen recently took the time to answer some questions on what both new players and franchise fans can expect when Trine 4 releases on October 3, and how lessons learned during the development of Trine 3 affected the game's development. 

Thorium Entertainment's UnderMine is a new roguelike looking to go the distance, one where players take on the role of a peasant tasked with exploring the deep, dark, procedurally generated depths of a mysterious and monster-infested mine.

Developers Derek Johnson and Clint Tasker, the two creators behind UnderMine, hope players are up to the challenge. The two are former AAA game developers gone indie, and they have big hopes for what UnderMine could become. We recently chatted with Derek and Clint prior to UnderMine's Steam Early Access release to learn more about making the jump to indie game development, the genesis of UnderMine, being featured in Microsoft's E3 press briefing, and more.   

The folks at Grinding Gear Games always have something entirely new up their sleeves. Whether it’s infiltrating a criminal syndicate, battling ancient armies, or delving deep into the hollows of the earth, Path of Exile is always reinventing itself with every major update, keeping players on their toes and coming back for more.

With that in mind, here’s two phrases you probably didn’t expect to hear together: Path of Exile and tower defense. Yes, GGG has done it again with their upcoming challenge league, called Blight, and it’s unlike anything that’s come to Path of Exile before.

If you’ve glanced at the most played games on Twitch in the past few months, you’ve likely noticed a few unfamiliar titles rising to the top of the ranks. Team Fight Tactics? Dota Underlords? What is all this stuff? In short: it’s auto chess, and it’s gaming’s newest genre.

If you actually attempted to watch a stream of one of the above games being played, chances are you became even more confused. At any given moment there’s a ton of action happening on screen at once, but no clear reason as to how or why. But worry not. Auto chess games certainly look confusing on the surface, but once you have a basic understanding of what makes the genre tick, it will all fall into place.

Dauntless, the free-to-play Monster Hunter-esque co-op action game from developer Phoenix Labs, recently blasted onto consoles and the Epic Games Store to huge success. 

With more than six million players playing shortly after launch and a recently announced Nintendo Switch version on the way, we chatted with Dauntless producer Chris Fox and Phoenix Labs public relations manager Andy Burt to learn more about the inspirations behind Dauntless, how a Behemoth is made, what to expect in the future, how cross-play came to be, and more.

Path of Exile has always been about defeating huge crowds of enemies, with players using an impressive assortment of spells and weapons to tear through everything in their way.

In Path of Exile: Legion, the game’s upcoming update, you’ll be able to do even more hacking and slashing through enemy hordes, but this time around there’s a twist — you’ll get a say in how many, and what kind of enemies specifically, you want to cut down. Not only that, but the way you actually hack and slash will be vastly improved as well, thanks to this update introducing a long awaited melee system overhaul. Here's what we learned from a recent preview, courtesy of developer Grinding Gear Games.

As part of Mental Health Awareness Month, we recently chatted with Stack Up’s Overwatch Program Manager Mat Bergendahl to learn what was new with the military-focused gaming charity.

As it turns out — plenty. Not only did Stack Up recently receive a grant from the CDC that will allow the charity to train more volunteers as part of its StOP suicide prevention initiative, but the group is also gearing up for its biggest fundraising event of the year, Call to Arms, which will see various streamers playing games and raising money for Stack Up’s cause throughout the month.

Sea of Thieves, the shared world, sandbox pirate adventure from developer Rare, turned one-year-old on March 20. To celebrate, Rare is putting together one heck of a birthday bash. Coined the "Anniversary Update" and releasing on April 30, it will be the biggest addition of new content to Sea of Thieves yet, adding long-requested story missions in the form of Tall Tales, a new, action-packed competitive mode called The Arena, and features like fishing and cooking.

We chatted with Sea of Thieves executive producer Joe Neate to talk not only about the upcoming update, but also about lessons the team learned from launch a year ago and where the game might go in the future.

GTFO made a big splash at 2017's The Game Awards with a reveal trailer that promised a captivating and intense four-player survival-horror experience set for release in 2018. That release date didn't come to pass, and now developer 10 Chambers Collective has announced GTFO will be undergoing a series of alpha and beta tests leading up to the game's eventual Steam Early Access launch.

To learn more about the decision to launch into Early Access and more about the game in general, we recently chatted with 10 Chambers Collective's Simon Viklund.

Sporting a new engine, big new features and even bigger ambition, Insurgency: Sandstorm, the sequel to the mod-turned-indie FPS hit Insurgency from developer New World Interactive, released at the end of last year to critical acclaim.

Now, with more than 500,000 players having played the tactical FPS and hot on the heels of the game’s first major content update, we spoke with New World Interactive community manager Alex Blonski to learn more about listening to player feedback, plans for the future, the newfound popularity of tactical shooters, whether or not Insurgency: Sandstorm might ever go into battle royale territory, and much, much more.

Releasing on March 9 for PC, Path of Exile’s newest challenge league, Synthesis, will see players crafting deadly dungeons using memory fragments while also adding new ways to modify and improve loot. Here’s what we learned in a recent preview from Grinding Gears Games.

After leading design on the critically acclaimed Civilization V, Jon Shafer went indie. The result is the recently released At the Gates, a 4X strategy game focused on the final days of the Roman Empire. We recently spoke with Shafer on how At the Gates came together, how he broke into the game industry at a young age, and his advice for indie developers struggling to make it to the finish line.

It seems like every year is better than the next when it comes to the video game industry, and 2019 is looking to be no exception. This coming year will see the return of storied game franchises like Devil May Cry, Gears of War, and Metroid Prime, as well as see the birth of brand games to get lost in like The Outer Worlds, Anthem, and many, many more. 

There are a ton of games to be excited about, so while it may be difficult to narrow it down to just a few, the Gamepedia editorial team has done just that. Read on to see what games we can't wait to play in 2019, and go ahead and buckle in, because it's going to be a fantastic year for gaming.