The Evolution Championship Series ownership has officially changed again, with Saudi-owned RTS now taking full control of EVO. The update confirms that former co-owner NODWIN Gaming has exited, leaving RTS as the sole owner of the world’s largest fighting game tournament brand.

For the fighting game community, this is not just a business reshuffle. EVO’s ownership has been a sensitive topic for several years, especially as Saudi investment in global esports continues to grow.

How RTS Became The Sole Owner Of EVO

RTS, a talent management and brand consulting company originally co-founded by streamer Pokimane, has been involved with EVO since 2021. That year, Sony Interactive Entertainment partnered with RTS to acquire the tournament series, sparking early concerns about how first-party platform ownership might affect game line-ups.

In August 2025, NODWIN Gaming acquired Sony’s stake, becoming a majority shareholder alongside RTS. At the time, NODWIN publicly stated it would honour EVO’s legacy while expanding opportunities for a new generation of players.

Shortly after, Saudi-backed Qiddiya Investment Company entered the picture. Qiddiya had already invested in RTS and announced plans to remain an EVO partner through 2027. Within a month, however, Qiddiya fully acquired RTS. That move effectively placed EVO under Saudi ownership.

Now, with NODWIN fully exiting its ownership position, RTS holds complete control of EVO. NODWIN will reportedly continue assisting with marketing support, and some leadership figures are expected to remain involved operationally, but decision-making authority sits with RTS.

Official Statements From RTS Leadership

RTS CEO Stuart Saw addressed the change in a public statement, saying the company is proud of its five-year legacy with EVO and intends to continue investing in the fighting game community. He emphasised working closely with developers and empowering community members, signalling that the brand’s direction will remain focused on competitive integrity and global partnerships.

Earlier, Qiddiya’s Chief Strategy Officer Muhannad Aldawood described the acquisition as a milestone that would set new heights for EVO and align with the aspirations of the FGC.

From a structural standpoint, this means RTS now oversees the Evolution Championship Series brand, event production, partnerships, and long-term expansion plans without external ownership constraints.

Community Reaction And Ongoing Controversy

The reaction from parts of the fighting game community has been openly critical. Discussions across forums like r/Fighters have seen some fans calling for renewed focus on grassroots local tournaments instead of major tentpole events.

Criticism largely centres on Saudi Arabia’s human rights record and the involvement of the Public Investment Fund, which backs Qiddiya’s broader entertainment and gaming initiatives. Some prominent community figures, including content creators and commentators, have previously stated they would not attend EVO once Saudi involvement became clear.

Concerns have also been raised about LGBTQ+ player safety and inclusivity, given the country’s legal and social climate. These discussions have been ongoing since Qiddiya’s initial investment in RTS became public knowledge.

What This Could Mean For EVO’s Future

With RTS now fully in control, speculation has naturally turned to how EVO might evolve. One question resurfacing is whether Super Smash Bros. could return to the main stage.

Back in 2021, Sony’s involvement raised concerns about cross-platform representation, and Nintendo later pulled Smash from EVO 2022. While no official statement links that decision solely to Sony’s ownership, many in the community have long speculated that platform politics played a role.

Now that Sony is completely out of the picture, some fans believe the door could reopen for Super Smash Bros. Melee and Ultimate to return. At this stage, there is no confirmation either way.

Beyond Smash, full Saudi-backed ownership could mean greater international expansion. Saudi Arabia has already increased its footprint in esports through acquisitions and partnerships, including ESL and large-scale events such as the Esports World Cup in Riyadh. EVO could potentially become part of a broader, interconnected global circuit.

EVO’s Identity Under New Ownership

RTS has publicly promised to preserve EVO’s values and identity. Whether that reassurance satisfies the wider community remains to be seen.

EVO Japan and EVO Las Vegas are both approaching in the coming months, which will likely serve as the first real test of how this new ownership structure plays out in practice. For now, the Evolution Championship Series continues under RTS leadership, but the conversation around its future is far from settled.

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Capes caught my attention by reminding me right away of two of my favourite obscure media.

The first is Atlas Reactor. One of my favourite games ever before the servers went down, the heroes and their abilities in both games blend turn based combat with unique character abilities… Also Doctrine, the grizzled mentor character in Capes, looks, speaks and acts like Lockwood from Atlas Reactor.

Second, Worm. A webserial by Wildbow that gained my attention because they also call their superpowered individuals ‘Capes’, but similar themes of imperfect heroes trying to hold back the tides of grimdark forces attempting to bring down their world quickly stood out. Doctrine even has a visible super suit peaking out from the tattered jacket he wears as a sign of things that were.

Cape’s title screen is a graveyard looking out over a city lit by the dying sun. Half completed statues of heroic figures tower over buildings in the distance; heroes literally waiting to be built, a sign of your coming struggles.

It’s a grid based tactical game where you control a squad of superheroes, developed by Spitfire Interactive and published by Daedalic… the same guys behind the excellent Shadow Tactics games, which is a good start.

We are treated to a cutscene explaining our backstory.

King city used to be a place where heroes kept the peace until they were overthrown by the nebulously evil organisation known only as ‘The Company’.

We get two types of cutscenes. Those rendered in the in-game engine, and comic style panelling where character portraits are lined up on whatever side of the screen lines up with their place in the conversation.

Capes wears its comic book inspiration on its sleeve. Even the menu select options are little comic panels. The characters have bombastic dialogue that tries and sometimes even succeeds in bringing the ham.

Then our caped crusaders find a blood soaked torture warehouse where the company has been experimenting on captured Capes and the tone is flipped. Jury’s out on whether that counts as a planned tonal shift or a jarring one.

Gameplay wise, combat cleaves closer to Atlas Reactor than something like X-COM.

There are no dice rolls, no missed shots or odds to stun. You can see the movement and attack range of every enemy at the start of your turn and know exactly who can threaten who. Couple that with the fact that none of your superhuman soldiers has an ability as banal as ‘shoot the other guy’ and Capes becomes more of a puzzle game than a tactical squad game. It’s all about leveraging the unique ways your Capes can alter the battlefield and combo their abilities with other teammates.

I would like to see more verticality. There are only a few levels that make use of different heights for your teleporting Super to really get your money’s worth from their superior mobility but it’s never much.

I was playing on the middle of three difficulty levels and never came close to losing a mission. Unless things in the late game get significantly harder, simply finishing the mission will not be difficult.

Things become refreshingly harder when trying to complete all challenges on a mission. There are a selection of targets tailored for each mission, things like: use X character’s ultimate, or disarm five enemies. Getting all of these challenges in the same run nets you a bonus ‘all in one’ challenge. Winning these nets you points to upgrade your Capes, meaning it’s a good idea to go back and do old missions for the points to keep your Capes in fighting form.

If Capes has one glaring area where it really drops the ball, it would have to be sound.

Dialogue could use a go over by a writer or five, make those words sound like something an actual human would say. Then delivery needs work… a lot of work.

I can hear the talent in the voice cast, but I can’t help but feel like they may have been reading their lines from different rooms with zero context.

As an example, you can disarm enemies with certain moves. When a goon drops his weapon, he will sometimes shout “my weapon!”

Except rather than sounding like he had dropped a weapon (“Oh no, my weapon!”) he sounds more like he’s pointing out which one is his (“That’s your weapon, this is my weapon!).

William Roberts as Doctrine is the best of the cast so far, but that’s really not saying much.

Music is also too bland to get more than a sentence in this review; it serves, I suppose.

In the end how do I rate Capes?

I personally had a lot of fun. Figuring out what combos go together really well and seeing your team of ragtag superhero wannabes morph by degrees into the real thing was fun. Sharpen up some of the edges and we could have something brilliant here.

Maybe that’s the X-COM, Worm, Atlas Reactor enjoying part of my brain speaking, but it’s a part I like, so there.

The post Capes (PC) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Publisher Microids and development studio Tower Five have unveiled a new trailer for Empire of the Ants, an upcoming photorealistic real-time strategy game based on Bernard Werber’s work of the same name at this year’s GDC (Game Developers Conference) in San Francisco.

Slated to launch on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC later this year, Empire of the Ants immerses players in a magnificently microscopic forest ecosystem as 103,683rd, an ant sworn to protect their colony no matter the cost.

In Empire of the Ants, use every move to your advantage on the path to world domination. Strategy, exploration, conflict, and alliances with local wildlife species will be essential for your colony’s survival.

Bernard Werber’s novel has captivated millions of readers with its fascinating universe and its reflections on human nature. Microids and Tower Five are proud to offer players the opportunity to discover this universe from a new perspective through this video game adaptation.

Developed by French studio Tower Five with Unreal Engine 5, Empire of the Ants will offer a real-time strategic experience closely inspired by the book series. Players will crawl across a microscopic world of epic proportions to help a colony prosper through their tactical genius.  Good things come in small packages.

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Homeseek is a real-time strategy game from developer Traptics that has more than a tinge of Fallout about it.

We were given preview access to the upcoming game scheduled to release sometime later this year.

Players are responsible for a small number of survivors that have been living underground in a bunker for years after some sort of global apocalypse. Lack of resources forces them to the surface where they must now fend for themselves.

The preview dumped me right into the thick of it with no idea of what to do. I could see some tiny people that I could click on, but couldn’t task them a la Age of Empires. Scattered around were bushes and scrap piles that, when clicked could be assigned survivors to work on.

First though, as per the prompt in the top left corner of the screen, I needed to get the water flowing. After setting up the pumps to draw water from the well I needed to then construct a water storage facility and link it to my extractor. I then did the same with the bushes and food storage facilities.

Operational buildings, scrap piles and food bushes need to be assigned a workforce. The more people assigned (up to the maximum) the better the efficiency.

With people getting sick I needed a medical facility, but first I needed to build a research building. If I was going to explore the surrounding area, I would also need an expedition centre. With these two buildings under construction, I waited.

I soon realised that gratuitous use of the x3 time button is in order once you have assigned all your tasks. It’s good that the game doesn’t run away with itself whilst you are doing things but you don’t really want to be waiting around for a building to be built.

With the research building complete I started researching the medical building. From the newly constructed exploration building, I gathered a team, packed them up with some food, water, and materials, and sent them packing to a nearby point of interest.

I hit the x3 button again.

This time the timer stopped: my exploration team needed attention. It seemed that the team had stumbled across some ruins on their way to their destination. A brief description of their status appeared on the screen asking me if I wanted them to investigate. I did. As exploration teams journey around the world, you are frequently asked for input. Do they attack the scavengers or do they invite them to join the community? That sort of thing. It’s a pretty cool feature. At their destination, the teams usually unlock a bit of technology that can then be researched back at the home base.

There were a few scenarios unlocked that seemed to depict points further along in the game, with new technologies already unlocked. With these, it’s possible to construct complete networks for power, water, and food. In between all this, there are story tasks that one assumes eventually allow the player to progress to the next scenario. Unfortunately, I was only allowed a set amount of time to check out each level. But every time, even though I didn’t always know what I was doing I was left wanting more, which is a good sign.

The visuals look good, with an old-school isometric style that can be zoomed in. The various buildings and equipment are very detailed, all fitting together nicely as your settlement expands.

The game does have a detailed and illustrated in-game manual. I hope that the final game has a more intuitive interactive tutorial rather than expecting players to stop and look up how to do stuff. Not that the game is particularly complex once you have sussed out the game’s mechanics.

For an early look at the game, Homeseek comes across as being remarkably polished and well-refined. I’m looking forward to the final game as I think it will really appeal to fans of Fallout, as well as city builder and 4x / real-time strategy fans.

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AMC Games today announced its upcoming title, The Fabulous Fear Machine, a narrative-driven strategy game for PCs that challenges players to conquer the world through fear.

The newest game from the Madrid-based developer Fictiorama Studios (Do Not Feed the Monkeys), The Fabulous Fear Machine combines an audacious social simulation with pulp horror roleplaying.

Partnering with AMC Games and Fictiorama on the title is AMC Networks’ premium horror streaming service Shudder, whose expertise at spreading fear proved invaluable for the developers.

A single-player, real-time strategy game with a retro horror comic style, The Fabulous Fear Machine casts the player as a newly minted “Master of the Machine.” To pursue their goals, players must generate and spread fear through the careful cultivation of various Legends – those scary stories, urban myths, and conspiracy theories that lurk in the dark corners of the mind.

“AMC Games’ next title brings us back to our horror roots,” said Clayton Neuman, Vice President of Games for AMC. “The Fabulous Fear Machine is the ultimate manifestation of why we tell scary stories. It explores the tales we all grew up hearing as kids, and the thrill we get from sharing them with others. We’re so excited to be partnering with the award-winning developers at Fictiorama and our colleagues and Shudder to deliver for players the power of urban legends… that they may spread and continue to scare the bejeezus out of us all.”

“With this game we’re not just exploring the subject of urban legends as an essential element of culture and folklore all around the world, but also reflecting on the huge power these tales can hold over a population. Working with the horror experts at Shudder and AMC on this process has been a blast,” according to Fictiorama. “Just how deeply are we all influenced by these fables? In The Fabulous Fear Machine, we answer that question by turning scary stories into strategic tools… and then we place them in the hands of players.”

The game’s campaign is structured around distinct chapters that follow the exploits of several new Masters, each with their own ambitions. As the player’s power in a home region grows, missions gain an increasingly grand scale, and the pressure from other characters increases.

The forces of good fight back by reducing Legends to sanitized fairy tales, and randomly occurring social events force players to modify their strategy constantly.

This is the third title from AMC Games, the video game publishing division of AMC Networks. Their first game was 2020’s acclaimed flight passenger simulator Airplane Mode, which meticulously recreated the experience of real-time commercial flight, and they recently released the metal-detecting narrative game The Magnificent Trufflepigs on PC and Nintendo Switch.

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Publisher Super.com and developer PortaPlay announced today a Q1 2020 release date for the upcoming alternate-history World War II (WWII) title, Broken Lines.

Broken Lines, coming to Switch and Windows PC, is a narrative-driven tactics game where a group of soldiers ends up deep behind enemy lines after their plane crashes.

In this alternate version of WWII, enemies are both mysterious military units and the soldiers’ own hopes and fears as they confront the mental and physical horrors of war during their struggle to return to friendly territory. Broken Lines combines a tactical-RPG playstyle with a “pause and play” format. This offers players more fluid and realistic gameplay with the action automatically pausing when new dangers appear, allowing the player to respond to the new tactical situation.

“We partnered with Super.com because we knew they would help us bring Broken Lines to completion and showcase it to a wider audience, and today, we are pleased to announce that partnership is coming to fruition,” said Hans von Knut Skovfoged, Creative Director at PortaPlay. “We believe traditional turn-based strategy gamers will tremendously enjoy Broken Lines, and there’s plenty to love for those that crave a rich story-driven experience and a look at the impact that war has on the human psyche.”

“We’re honored to work with PortaPlay to bring Broken Lines to market,” said Anna Grigoryeva Director of Investment & Publishing at Super.com.“It’s a special game that we expect players will appreciate as something new, and it’s exciting to be part of the product’s launch, ongoing development, and release.”

Broken Lines is a tactical combat game with a heavy focus on character and story that offers a fresh, accessible, and innovative approach to unit control. In the game, players manage a squad of soldiers fighting through Eastern European battlefields on a desperate mission to get back behind friendly lines. As the soldiers make their way through the war-torn landscape, their experiences will continually shape their personalities and their relationships with each other, building up a storyline that reveals the true impact of the horrors of war — and perhaps something more.

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Over a decade ago, a fine real-time strategy game came to Nintendo DS and took the hearts of players by storm.

Lock, a young, brave hero, is the last line of defence of his village against the hordes of Lord Agony, the Clockwork Army. Lock has just learned the skills of an Archineer, a builder of magical, mechanical devices, and with his wide array of customised towers, traps, walls, weapons, and other defences it’s up to you and Lock to stop the Invasion and rise to become the one true hero to protect the whole kingdom.

Lock’s Quest blends real-time strategy gameplay with RPG elements and the classic tower defense formula and combines them with a fully-fledged storyline.

The gameplay is divided into three parts: in the story part, you travel the Kingdom with Lock, talk to NPCs, take quests, get new equipment and experience the story. When enemy forces appear, it’s time to prepare your defensive structures in the build mode: place towers, walls, traps and customise them: add an acid attack to a tower for example, or harden your walls by using stone instead of wood. The third part of gameplay starts when the battle commences: roam the battlefield with Lock, smash enemies, repair towers and walls and use your super attacks wisely. Lock’s Quest will be a premium game, and there will be no microtransactions, ads or loot box gambling.

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BlitWorks and Numantian Games are pleased to announce that the acclaimed RTS They Are Billions.

The BlitWorks team were so addicted to They Are Billions that they themselves became infected. The infection spread like wildfire and soon zombie developers started trying to get the infection across onto Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles.

They worked intensively on the superb RTS to achieve a great performance as well as adapting the game to be played with a controller or added mouse and keyboard support. The swarms finally got what they wanted; They Are Billions will be reaching Xbox One and PlayStation 4 this July (2019).

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Does it smell like bacon in here?!

‘Today, Assemble Entertainment has announced to us at STG that they are teaming up with Kite Games and taking over the publishing rights for S.W.I.N.E. HD Remaster, a brand-new, highly polished version of the classic real-time strategy game S.W.I.N.E. which was originally released in 2001 and developed by StormRegion.

Developer Kite Games, the team behind Sudden Strike 4, have worked with fans to extensively modernize the game to bring big, beautiful bunny-blasting, pig-punching battles to PC.

In S.W.I.N.E. HD Remaster, players may either lead the brutally bloodthirsty pigs to barbaric victory or carefully guide the peaceful rabbits to glorious triumph! Re-experience the truly unique strategy game that defined the childhood of many players in the golden age of gaming.

Slated for a Q2 2019 release, S.W.I.N.E. HD Remaster will be available on Steam, as well as other unannounced digital storefronts.

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Epic Real-Time Strategy battles in a mystical Stone-Age setting is making its way to Steam, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, & Nintendo Switch, arriving on March 28th, 2019.

In a prehistoric world of humans, dinosaurs and magic, three chieftains discover artifacts of the Go’n, an ancient race that went extinct after a big war. With these artifacts in hand, they set out to succeed where the Go’n failed, and change the world forever.

Build your base, train units and lead them to your enemies. Capture ancient Go’n Shrines, draw the power from them and unleash it through devastating spells to gain the upper hand in battle. Hunt dinosaurs or recruit them to supply your army with more numbers. Evolve your tribe with new technology and talents for your Chieftain and claim victory by destroying your enemy completely.

See you on the battlegrounds!

[Adsense-C]

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