Image & Form announce SteamWorld Heist

Image & Form have announced their latest game set in the SteamWorld universe, but it's not a direct sequel to the popular SteamWorld Dig. Instead they are going to space with the franchise in SteamWorld Heist.

"Heist isn't a sequel to SteamWorld Dig," says CEO Brjann Sigurgeirsson. "It's set in the same world and the cowbots are still the heroes. But a lot has happened to SteamWorld since then, and we want to make a game that is radically different. Partly because we really wanted to make a turn-based strategy game, but also because it felt like a clever move. The obvious follow-up would've been Dig 2; we wanted to surprise instead."

SteamWorld Heist comes with a novel mix of turn-based strategy and scavenging gameplay and while there is no confirmation of it at this point we're hoping for a randomly generated element that SteamWorld Dig lacked. Here's an excerpt that sets the stage for the game:

"Taking place some time after SteamWorld Dig, a cataclysmic event has shattered the planet and forced its population into steam-driven spaceships. It's a robot-eat-robot world out there, and water is desperately hard to come by. Heisting other ships and bases - bad guys fortunately, the lot of them - is their only way to remain in operation."

No platforms have been announced at this point, but having gone from Nintendo 3DS to PS Vita, PC, PS4 and Wii U with SteamWorld Dig - it's really anyone's guess. SteamWorld Heist is targeted for release in the spring of 2015.