Masters of Albion: Everything We Know

If you’re thinking that we need more god-like games, you’re in luck. Masters of Albion follows in the footsteps of its spiritual predecessors, Black & White, Dungeon Keeper, and Fable, to bring to you a little of the best of all worlds. The upcoming game has just been revealed at the Gamescom 2024 event. It may still need more baking time in the oven. Yet, the core concept is intriguing. Here’s everything we know about Masters of Albion so far.

What is Masters of Albion?

Masters of Albion is an upcoming open-world god game. But while the game is a god-like game, it’ll also allow you to possess its characters and play the game from a third-person perspective. Based on the announcement and the reveal trailer that came along with it, the upcoming game will combine the gameplay in Black & White and Dungeon Master. Meanwhile, it’ll capture the whimsical nature and, overall, universe of Fable.

The game will have a day and night cycle. In the daytime, you’ll spend time designing, building, and customizing a growing colony. You’ll build down to the nitty gritty of preparing meals for your constituents and assigning them to different roles. You'll get to choose the outfits people wear, the houses they reside in, and the weapons they use. The weapons will come in handy in the night when hostile foes attack your camp. You can assign people to attack foes and defend the camp. But you can also possess them to fight enemies in the third person. 

Story

As Masters of Albion’s Steam store page puts it, the story will be an “epic story of power and consequence.” It’ll be a “rich and deep narrative” that takes into account the choices you make. You’ll progress through the story via quests that test your morality. Whether diplomacy with kings, betrayal by lords, or the mistreatment of people working overtime, the story plans to juggle heavy themes relatable to the real world. For hundreds of years, Albion has been peaceful. However, ancient foes with god-like powers emerge. Elemental power threatens to destroy the fabric that holds your community together. To survive, you uncover the mystery of the wizards. You’ll also fight enemies who attack in the night and conquer a threat that could destroy the world. 

Gameplay

Masters of Albion’s gameplay is split into different sections. 

• Day Cycle: Albion is peaceful in the day, with lush green nature and blissful landscapes. It gives you time to build your camp and put up strong defenses. You’ll design and automate the production of supplies. You’ll also look after your people, providing them with food, clothing, weapons, and armor, as the King desires. As you progress, you’ll earn in-game currency, which you can use to upgrade the camp’s infrastructure. Besides money, you’ll earn favors, which you can use to buy new blocks, product parts, and powers at the Arcanum. The game will feature an intuitive building system that allows you to construct and customize buildings. Meanwhile, you’ll build and repair roads while growing your town’s economy.
• Night Cycle: Every worker must return to their home by nightfall, as fearsome beasts attack the camp when the sun sets. You’ll face different threats, including zombies, werewolves, trolls, and more. They can attack in waves, pushing you to set up the strongest defenses. Whether that’s building turrets, hiring heroes, or upgrading your god-like powers, your strategy will be up to you. God-like powers vary, with lightning, water cannons, and flamethrowers, to name a few.
• Heroes: Heroes defend your camp from enemy attacks. You can customize them, equipping them with powerful weapons and armor. You can also upgrade them as you progress. For a change of pace, you can possess heroes to fight enemies in the third person and explore the world.
• Open World: Albion will feature rich and vibrant environments. It’ll have multiple regions you can head out and explore. During exploration, you can set up new towns, villages, or mines to grow your colony. The open world will have quests and treasures that you can forge out and explore.

Development

22cans is developing Masters of Albion. The same studio will also publish the game. Peter Molyneux founded 22cans and is currently running the studio. He’s developed quite a ton of renowned games, including Dungeon Keeper, Fable, Black & White, Populous, and Godus, to name a few. So, if you’ve pointed out similarities to the Black & White series, you’re spot on. The developer is credited with the god-mode subgenre. But he’s also been tied to scams and cash grabs over the years. Godus was the biggest disappointment, as it launched with bugs and received sparse updates up until it was abandoned. Hopefully, Masters of Albion is a different story and launches as the polished gem it deserves to be.  

Trailer

Masters of Albion’s announcement trailer is out now on YouTube. The trailer, unfortunately, looks rough. The visuals could use a lot more polishing. Meanwhile, the combat looks basic, with a high potential to grow dull over time. Yet Fable’s joy was the ton of jank that wound up being funny. In any case, it’s still early days to determine whether the game will be worth it.

Release Date, Platforms, & Editions

Masters of Albion is coming soon. It’s unsurprising that we have yet to receive confirmation of a release date. After all, Peter Molyneux has only just announced the game at the Gamescom opening night live 2024 event. In the short interview at the event, he reveals that the upcoming game will be coming to PC and consoles. So far, we have official confirmation of a PC release via Steam. Consoles may come later. However, editions remain unconfirmed. Still, you can add the game to your Steam wishlist here to get a notification as soon as it drops. Alternatively, you can follow the official social handle here to keep track of new updates.

So, what’s your take? Will you be grabbing a copy of Masters of Albion when it drops? Let us know over on our socials here.