The other, cuter big city builder of 2023 finally has a release date

SteamWorld Build, the adorable management sim going toe-to-toe with Cities: Skylines 2 for biggest city builder of the year, has revealed a December 1 release date.

For the uninitiated, SteamWorld Build is the latest entry in the venerable SteamWorld franchise, which centers around a race of ambitious steam-powered robots trying to escape a post-apocalyptic steampunk world. OK, now that I've written that out it doesn't sound nearly so cute, but just watch the release date trailer above and you'll see what I mean.

The SteamWorld franchise goes all the way back to 2010's SteamWorld Tower Defense, a real-time strategy game that was only ever released on the Nintendo DSi. The platformer SteamWorld Dig would later enjoy a much more mainstream and enduring run, first launching on PC, mobile, and 3DS in 2013 but later being ported to PS4, PS Vita, Wii U, Xbox One, Switch, and Stadia.

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A handful of other SteamWorld bangers released in the years since, and now the series is dipping its toes into the city-building genre for the first time, and you can just about guarantee it'll stick the landing.

SteamWorld Build marries your typical city builder features with a subterranean mining component that GamesRadar's Austin Wood found very promising indeed in his hands-on preview from earlier this year. "It's true-blue city builder flow state filtered through one of my favorite series, so SteamWorld Build is flying up my list of most anticipated 2023 releases," Austin wrote.

SteamWorld Build will be available on PC via Steam, Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and Game Pass.

Here are the best city building games you can play today.

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.