Commandos: Origins delayed to 2025 for more polish and AI behavior enhancements

Kalypso Media announced its plans to revive the age old Commandos franchise back in 2018, and by 2023, it had a complete reveal ready for fans. With Claymore Game Studios at the helm, the real-time tactics experience was returning with the name Commandos: Origins, bringing back the original squad and modernized gameplay for current-gen platforms. However, its original 2024 launch window is no longer attached to it.

Announced today, Commandos: Origins is now coming in March, 2025.

"Your thoughtful feedback during the Playtests and Demo of Commandos: Origins has helped us immensely and we are getting ready to tackle many of your points, including performance optimization, AI behaviour, and voice-overs, just to name a few," the studio explains in an update post. "We know you have all been patiently waiting to embark on new Commandos missions, but we believe this is the best decision for the game, the team and for YOU, the players."

While thanking players for its feedback, the studio also published a deep dive into what exactly it's doing to make sure the game is ready for launch next year.

Below are the nine highlighted areas that received the most feedback, and how those elements are being improved upon by the developer:

• 1) Performance Optimization
  • The overall game performance is a top priority as we push towards launch. We’ve heard your concerns regarding the performance and the gameplay feeling clunky in some instances as a result of this, especially in the demo. Improving optimization to get a fluid gameplay experience is crucial and we’re committed to refining the performance to guarantee a seamless and immersive experience.

• 2) Enhanced AI Behaviour
  • Players have reported several instances where the AI did not react as expected, disrupting the flow of gameplay and player immersion. Addressing this is at the forefront of our plans, and we’re making improvements to ensure that AI interactions feel realistic and dynamic.

• 3) Revamped Voice-Overs
  • Your feedback regarding the voice-overs, especially the intensity of the German voices, hasn’t gone unnoticed. The current game versions all included temporary voiceovers. We’re continuing to record and refine the dialogue, and the release version will feature finalised voice lines in English, German, French, Spanish, and Chinese.

• 4) Adjusting Controls and adding Customization Options
  • Control layout was another area of feedback, with some players commenting about the default scheme not being intuitive enough. We are re-evaluating the keybindings to reflect your feedback and, while we may not be able to fulfil every individual request, there will be 3 different control schemes to choose from and, for PC, we’re making custom key-binding available so you can adjust the controls to your liking.

• 5) Modernized Loot System will take over Inventory System
  • Starting in the Closed Alpha, players shared that they miss collecting ‘loot’ and having a backpack with an inventory system in place. This feature would add depth and more options to gameplay. Following this feedback, we went back into discussions and research for potential approaches.
  • After careful consideration, we’ve opted for a modernized loot system that aligns with our vision of staying true to the Commandos series’ core, prioritizing stealth rather than giving the player the ability to just blast into enemy territory. What does this mean in Commandos: Origins? Some enemies will drop loot – like ammunition, collectibles and uniforms, when they are knocked out or killed. Loot can also be found in your surroundings. Once you pick up an item, this is directly available for the selected Commando via his abilities without needing an additional inventory (i.e. backpack).

• 6) Non-Lethal Combat Options
  • Many players were asking about non-lethal combat choices in the game – we are happy to confirm that this will be implemented into the game upon release! You will be able to knock-out enemies temporarily, adding an extra layer of strategic depth to gameplay.

• 7) Music
  • The iconic music from previous games is close to many fans’ hearts, and some have requested we use the same soundtrack or the same composer, Mateo Pascual. While we deeply respect Pascual’s legacy, we’re also eager to bring something new with the talented team at Dynamedion. Our hope is to blend tradition with innovation, creating a soundtrack that builds on Pascual’s influence while bringing fresh elements to Commandos: Origins.
  • Check out a brief preview of our title theme recorded by the Budapest Art Orchestra here:

• 8) Expansive Map-Design
  • Map-size has been a feedback category that demo players have particularly focused on – along with the linear design. Rest assured the hand-crafted demo mission was just a taste of the core gameplay. The full game will feature larger, more open maps with plenty of opportunities for different approaches, ensuring a multi-layered mission experience.

• 9) Refining User Interface (UI) & User Experience (UX)
  • Your attention to UI and UX details has been incredibly helpful. While we will stick to the overall design, many of your suggestion are now on our list – currently we are testing and implementing more tooltips and hints to increase transparency and accessibility.

Commandos: Origins is now coming out on PC, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4 in March, 2025. It will also be available day-one across Xbox and PC Game Pass subscription services of Microsoft.