The Colonists is a settlement sim inspired by Anno and The Settlers, due next month

Frozen Cortex developer and Tokyo 42 publisher Mode 7 Games has announced The Colonists—a settlement building game that echoes the likes of Anno and The Settlers. Developed by Codebyfire, Richard Wallis' one-person Bristol-based studio, the civilisation-crafter will launch into Steam's Early Access initiative in August.

Across a single-player campaign, a free-play mode, competitive multiplayer and co-op, players take control of a robot squad as they attempt to settle on a foreign planet.

In doing so, your team of enterprising automatons will advance from the Stone Age through to the Space Age, building infrastructure and engineering road, train, drone and boat systems—all the while harvesting your new surroundings' natural resources, as per the genre's trademark.

Optimising your networks will allow you to trade with your allies or, naturally, conquer neighbouring civilisations. "Explore, research, manage, tweak and refine to your heart's content," so says publisher Mode 7 in a statement.

Again, The Colonists is due to land on Early Access in August—more information can be found via the game's newly-launched site.