EGOSOFT and Deep Silver announce X Rebirth

Publisher Deep Silver and developer Egosoft today announced the latest game set in the X Universe, set to transport the multi-award-winning series to another dimension with radically new game design and top notch graphics.

The space simulation X Rebirth heralds more than just an additional chapter within the X series, it is a fresh beginning bringing with it a number of gameplay innovations without compromising its successful origins.

Watch the X Rebirth Reveal Trailer here

In the distant future, the X universe faces a period of profound and irrevocable change. While the universe stumbles towards an uncertain future, countless adventures await as new enemies rise in search of power.

Enter a young adventurer and his unlikely female ally traveling in an old, battered ship with a glorious past - two people alone against the galaxy, playing a key part in the events to come.

The fate of the universe rests in the hands of the player...

X Rebirth represents a spectacular new beginning for the X series, offering loyal fans and newcomers alike a vast, vivid and extremely detailed universe to explore throughout the game.

Varied gameplay elements such as action-packed space combat, detailed trading mechanics and high-speed space exploration with fast travel allow players to experience a truly unique space saga that will keep them hooked for dozens of hours.

X Rebirth features a whole new user experience - it is easier than ever to start with, and remains as deep as fans expect it.

X Rebirth for PC is expected to be released in the fourth quarter of 2011.

A word from the team

OK now that was the official part and you finally know what "TNBT" really will be.
But to answer at least a few of the many questions that you may have right now, here's a little interview with Bernd Lehahn about X Rebirth.

Q: Why another X game? What happened to the "end of the X trilogy" statement?

A: Well that is still true. At least partially ;)
We worked on the old X games from 1996 until 2007. That was 11 years of development and 11 years mostly filled with adding features.
Adding features is pretty cool, as you have this solid foundation. You never have to start from scratch. We replaced the graphics engine twice, and we made many other big changes to the technology, but we were never at a point where nothing would work. Thats a very luxurious position for a game developer to be in.

BUT (and it's a big but), adding features to an existing game design has limits. Especially when we talk about the actual gameplay design. Adding so many features that were not originally planned for was a bit like building a higher and higher tower. You run into problems. Problems like a user interface that gets more and more complex and that's rarely a good thing.

So in 2007 we decided we need to cut off that legacy and do a fresh start.

"We had lots of great ideas how we could achieve many of the things that the X Universe stands for but in a much more elegant and designed fashion."

So we did. We threw away the cosy comfortable luxury of having a platform to build on and started with NOTHING, all for the price of doing things right :)

Now we're in 2011. Four years (again) of development of TNBT (the next big thing) as you guys knew it. The closer we came to the release of the game, the more we realised that the spirit of this new game, the ideas that drive the design still share a lot with the X series of the past: TRADE, FIGHT, BUILD, THINK are still of course all true. Freedom to do what you want in a living and breathing universe... CHECK! That's what also X Rebirth will stand for.

So we decided that despite all these cool new gameplay ideas and designs, this new game will play in our well-established universe. But with a twist... Many twists actually. ;-)


Q: So what are these new gameplay ideas exactly?

A: Unfortunately I am not yet allowed to go into much detail here YET, but let me feed you some of the marketing buzz words. Unlike typical marketing statements these actually have a meaning.

• It gets personal
• It gets fast
• It gets big
• It gets easy... at first

For now you will have to use your imagination, but stay tuned: It won't be long and we will be giving out more information :)