Developer Oxide Games has posted its latest video developer diary for its upcoming grand strategy game Ara: History Untold. This edition is a bit different as the game"s design director Michelle Menard answered a number of questions sent in by the game"s online community.
One question dealt with how community members could play early builds of Ara before release. Oxide does have an Insider Program for the game, but Menard also stated that the team is currently recruiting for something called the External Council. This is a small group of people outside the team that can not only get access to early builds of Ara, but also get conversations with Oxide team members, sometimes on a daily basis. Menard stated that if community members want to be picked to be a part of this External Council, they can "just speak up and say "Hey, I"m interested in joining.""
Another question asked if the game would get a space colonization expansion. Menard stated that the team does have a lot of post-launch content for Ara, and that "we are definitely going to be listening to all your feedback and ideas."
A community member asked if the game would be released on the Xbox as well as the PC. Merand stated that they are concentrating on making the PC version, and that "we really want to make sure right now that we are delivering the highest quality experience" for PC via Steam, Windows, and PC Game Pass. Once that is done, it"s possible the game could expand to other platforms in the future.
Ara: History Untold is currently set for release on the PC sometime in the fall of 2024 via Microsoft"s Xbox Game Studios. As we mentioned, you can join the Ara Insider Program right now for the chance to play pre-release builds for the game and Merard stated that the game"s Technical Alpha 3 will be coming to those Insiders. You can learn more about how to participate on the game"s Steam page.