After 9 years in development and 3 years in early access, sci-fi grand strategy game from the devs behind XCOM's beloved Long War mod launches in 1.0 to 87% "Very Positive" Steam reviews

A screenshot of strategy game Terra Invicta — (Image credit: Hooded Horse)

It's taken nearly a decade, but Terra Invicta has finally launched on Steam and is enjoying quite a positive reception. This sci-fi strategy game builds on the alien defense concept popularized by XCOM – which makes sense, given the devs' pedigree working on the beloved Long War mod – but it's expanded with faction-driven geopolitical tactics reminiscent of grand strategy games like Crusader Kings. Clearly, that combination is resonating – even if the game's depth and breadth are pushing some potential fans away.

One look at a screenshot for Terra Invicta will probably tell you if it's a game for you: you'll see a lot of political maps, asteroid charts, and spaceship diagrams overlaid with what you might ungenerously describe as Excel spreadsheets. You've got to fend off an alien invasion while dealing with myriad rival factions across the globe and make plans to colonize the rest of the solar system.

Terra Invicta went 1.0 on January 5, and the game's recent Steam reviews sit at a respectable 87% "Very Positive" score. I feel like this review from user Jerolk sums up the response as well as any: "Look, if you ever wanted a grand strategy game like [Europa Universalis 4] and a more aggressive version of Kerbal [Space Program] to have a baby, all wrapped around a massively long campaign where you may not realize you made a mistake until 30 hours later... this is the game for you. For the certain type of gamer, this is it. You know who you are; Go buy it."

Terra Invicta - 1.0 Launch Trailer | Grand Strategy Game - YouTube

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That review, by the way, shows well over 900 hours of playtime on record. Both the positive and negative reviews will warn that if you don't have several dozen hours to burn learning Terra Invicta's intricacies, this probably isn't a game for you. On the flip side, if you've got several hundred hours you want to burn in a massive grand strategy game, this might be just the golden ticket.

Terra Invicta was made by Pavonis Interactive, a studio founded by key members of the dev team behind the Long War mod for XCOM. They began development on Terra Invicta in 2017, ran a $200,000 Kickstarter for it in 2020, and finally launched it into early access in 2022. Clearly, seven years of development has resulted in no absence of depth.

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Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.

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