505 Games and OtherSide Entertainment announced that the fantasy RPG Underworld Ascendant is on its way. The game originally popped up on Kickstarter a while back, being crowdfunded to the tune of $850,000. The game will now be published by 505 Games for launch on Steam for PC starting in the later half of 2018.

Some of you might be wondering why an indie PC game would need a publisher for Steam, and it has to do with the fact that Valve is now using Steam Direct instead of Greenlight, so to bypass any hurdles many indie devs are just signing on to have their games published by smaller and mid-tier publishers… like with Underworld Ascendant.

The game is a followup to Ultima Underworld, and players will journey back to the Stygian Abyss, where they’ll foster powerful magic, defeat the undead, and create a hero to call their own.

A very brief teaser trailer was released that gives you a small sampling of what to expect, which you can check out below.

Not much to take away from the teaser trailer other than that the game is in 3D, and that it will all be running in real-tiume through the Improvisation Engine. Part of the game’s pitch is that the game will set up the challenge and it’s up to players to craft a solution.

According to Paul Neurath, the CEO of OtherSide Entertainment, even with 505 on board they will still be answering to Kickstarter backers as they move through development, mentioning in the press release…

“We’ve found a great partner in 505 Games; one who really supports and understands indie developers,”. “We also have our fans to thank for helping make this dream a reality. Everyone who backed Underworld Ascendant on KickStarter is an important part of this project and we plan to keep them involved throughout development, sharing early builds and sourcing their feedback to help make this game amazing.”

W edon’t get to see any of the gameplay in action, but they have a year to go before it’s complete. Hopefully we start seeing more of the game much sooner rather than later.

You can keep track of Underworld Ascendant by visiting the Steam store page.