Gearbox announces Homeworld 3 at PAX West

Earlier this month, Gearbox teased a special Homeworld announcement coming during its show at PAX West. Today that announcement was made, and it's one I've been waiting for: Homeworld 3 is happening.

Homeworld 3 is being developed by Blackbird Interactive, a studio headed by veterans of the original games whose previous project was the 2016 Homeworld prequel Deserts of Kharak. The new game is still very early in pre-production, and will be supported by a crowdfunding campaign on Fig with a goal of just $1—Gearbox said the point is to enable fans "to invest and participate in the success of the title," and also help set its priorities through a backers-only survey on features, priorities, and collector's edition contents.

The trailer is purely cinematic, but even so I think it's very encouraging. It looks right and it sounds right: The music, voices, muffled ambient audio, and those distinctive engine trailers are straight out of the original Homeworld (in some cases literally, I think) and Blackbird CEO Rob Cunningham said the new game "will capture the mood and tone of Homeworld and deliver it in an exactly expected and juicy, lovely way."

Homeworld 3 is currently targeted for release in late 2022. The Fig campaign runs for 30 days—the pitch video is below.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.