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22cans, the Peter Molyneux-led studio, has revealed the launch date of the Early Access version of its upcoming game, Masters of Albion. It is a "God game" genre that blends strategy, simulation, town management, and real-time defence. A new trailer accompanied the announcement:

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Albion, a land shaped by the hands of heroes, is at a great turning point in its history. Its lords and luminaries have pulled Albion’s society into a new age of manufacturing and production, a golden era, an industrial revolution. But behind this modernisation lurks a painful past of magic and mayhem, one that threatens to drag Albion back into a dark age of mysticism.

Shape the world from above as a god or step directly into it by possessing heroes, workers, animals and more.

Masters of Albion mixes strategy, simulation, town management, and real-time defence, all woven into a rich narrative-driven world.

“Masters of Albion is the culmination of my life’s work, a game that owes so much to titles like Dungeon Keeper, Black & White, and Fable," Peter Molyneux said in a press release. "It’s a totally unique game that we hope will delight players, a game that brings God Games into the modern gaming landscape and puts the genre firmly back on the map.”

Features of Masters of Albion include:

Build, Create, and Customise

As a god, you have absolute freedom over your towns and villages:

• Design and build every structure
• Hire, house and manage your workforce
• Customise buildings with paint, patterns and embellishments
• Combine building types into unique multi-purpose structures
• No timers or waiting, build instantly and iterate freely

From small workshops to sprawling towns, Albion grows exactly how you decide.

Wield the Power of the God Hand
Command the world with ancient powers:

• Manipulate buildings and objects freely
• Possess and control the living
• Inspire, reward, insult, or punish your people
• Throw giant boulders, spiked balls, exploding barrels or just plain old-fashioned people
• Rain lightning, fire and destruction down upon your enemies
• Shape Albion with absolute authority

Enjoy the freedom that being a god brings, but with great freedom comes great responsibility.

Roam Freely Across Albion
Experience the world from multiple perspectives:

• View Albion from the heavens or possess living beings to explore on foot
• Control heroes, dogs, workers and even chickens
• Complete quests to unlock treasures and secrets
• Delve into dangerous underground cave networks
• Craft weapons and armour for your heroes
• Design the clothes that your workers wear (however bizarre)
• Explore, experiment and uncover the forgotten history of Albion

Defend the Night
When night falls, Albion is no longer safe. Malevolent creatures emerge from the darkness, attacking towns and killing indiscriminately. Survival depends on preparation and decisive action:

• Design, build and arm powerful defensive turrets
• Hire heroes to protect the people
• Escort the vulnerable through the terrors of the night
• Construct walls, choke points, and deadly defences
• Channel enemies into carefully planned kill zones
• Use god powers to strike fear into the undead
• Possess heroes and fight enemies directly in real-time combat

Each night tests your planning, creativity, and resolve.

Key Themes
• Power and responsibility
• Industry versus ancient magic
• Freedom of choice and consequence
• Cosy creativity contrasted with chaos and danger

Masters of Albion releases in Early Access via Steam on April 22nd at 6pm BST. It is available to wishlist on Steam.

SOURCE: GBAtemp Inbox

 

[LoggerMan]

I'm glad Peter is still at it. I still have Goddus on my phone, I still don't understand it.

 

[Segger]

This really seems like it's a spiritual sequel to Black and White 2, I hope they pull it off cause I really loved the first one of those at least.

 

[Maq47]

You guys are savages

Actually, they're being pretty nice considering the circumstances. He's one of few people I have ever heard of that I would straight-up without flinching say that he deserves to be crucified Jesus-style (Trump being number one on that list).

 

[Lumpofcoal]

Mixed feelings. I didn't have a good impression of their previous outing, Godus.

 

[RedBlueGreen]

The Lord of Lies returns

I don't know if he's really that much worse than other studio execs. They're all full of shit. Plenty of times directors at companies like Nintendo lied too.

That being said, this game will 100% suck all kinds of ass, or at best be painfully mediocre.

 

[DuckNoir]

Looks cool, like Skyrim mixed with Age of Empires.

It looks like a black & white game from 2001. its by the same creator, Black & White 3 but under a different name.

 

[Xzi]

Nothing at all interesting or unique shown in the trailer there, so I'm not sure who the "all in-game footage" note is supposed to impress.

wtf do you mean... Hades was EA, along with a lot of other major hits.

Both things are true, there have been a number of great early access success stories, but also a number of early access projects abandoned not even halfway through development. I'd guess this ends up as the latter.

 

[Maximumbeans]

I don't know if he's really that much worse than other studio execs. They're all full of shit. Plenty of times directors at companies like Nintendo lied too.

That being said, this game will 100% suck all kinds of ass, or at best be painfully mediocre.

No, back in the Fable days he was much worse. He made very specific promises about things that just didn’t even come close. That said, by today’s standards, yeah he’s probably closer to the baseline.

To be fair to him, I think modern gaming tech will actually enable him to see things closer to his vision. IMO he always wanted more than anyone could reasonably deliver for the time.

 

[Avalyn]

Looks cool, like Skyrim mixed with Age of Empires.

No, like Dungeon Keeper mixed with Black & White and Fable. Like the man says himself.

 

[LoggerMan]

I wish John Romero had the kind of perseverance that Peter Molyneux has. I bet Romero would have produced a lot of stinkers, but also a few genuinely great games along the way. I guess we are lucky to even get new Doom levels from him.

Post automatically merged: Jan 21, 2026

No, back in the Fable days he was much worse. He made very specific promises about things that just didn’t even come close.

Who is the bigger fool, Peter Molyneux or the fool who believes very specific promises from him.

 

[tranceology3]

it looks pretty much like black and white without the big beasts. oh i really want to have a black and white 3

Yeah but isnt the big difference here vs Black and White is you can take control of the characters in third person?

 

[Maximumbeans]

Who is the bigger fool, Peter Molyneux or the fool who believes very specific promises from him.

Well, these days, the latter. Back then, there wasn't any indication that the things he was promising wouldn't happen.

 

[voddy]

Yeah but isnt the big difference here vs Black and White is you can take control of the characters in third person?

yes - you are right but they took the creatures sadly haha
they were awsome

 

[ProfitTaker_Dave]

Bearing in mind his past over promises. I guess maybe 80%,

Post automatically merged: Jan 24, 2026

I didn't have a good impression of their previous outing, Godus.