Paradox has unveiled Afterworld, its latest grand strategy game and the first to feature an entirely new setting in over ten years. Following a series of sequels like Crusader Kings 3, Victoria 4, and Europa Universalis 5, Afterworld shifts its focus to a post-apocalyptic North America. Players will guide a small group of survivors through a procedurally generated landscape, aiming to transform them into a continent-spanning empire.
The game's premise begins with scavenging for essential resources such as food, water, and shelter. As the survivor group grows and evolves, players will rediscover lost technologies and civilizational methods. The development of new skills and the unlocking of technologies are dynamically tied to exploration and discovered artifacts. Players will also establish convoys and supply lines, engage with rival factions through trade or conflict, and navigate complex societal challenges.
Afterworld is described by Paradox as a "story rich" experience, offering players various origin stories for their starting group, such as survivors from a failed nuclear bunker or nomadic groups seeking a deity. The game incorporates strategic and moral dilemmas that can have lasting consequences across generations. These choices may involve rationing resources, dealing with the emergence of new religions, or encountering "mutated and augmented" individuals. The narrative may also introduce immortal leaders from the pre-collapse era, each with their own claims to power.
As territories become populated and resources dwindle, players will be faced with the need to forge alliances or engage in warfare to secure remaining assets. Paradox warns that "a second collapse is always one bad decision away."
In addition to its single-player campaign, Afterworld will feature both co-op and competitive multiplayer modes. The publisher has not yet provided a release date for the game on Steam.