Fans of the 4X genre of strategy games don’t miss much. They kinda can’t. Missing the smallest detail could ruin an entire week’s worth of planning a military assault, diplomatic tie or economic collapse. That’s why we’ve decided to break from our typical editing traditions for convention coverage and provide the most raw, uncut and unedited content for Master of Orion. Yeah, we’ve left in ample amounts of shaky cam, teenage boy-to-girl awkward turtle pauses and even a mic pop or two. Believe us, it’ll be worth it to hear Director of Global Operations Jacob Buecler gush over remastering a once-dead franchise. After all, with a private room and eons of time to pick Jacob’s brain, why would we not share every possible moment?

Perhaps having already run a sneak peek had something to do with the off-the-cuff style.





WG Labs, part of Wargaming.net, is bringing the venerable franchise up to date this year, which, probably not coincidentally, falls in line with the 20th anniversary of the franchise. Master of Orion entered the third early access phase during PAX East bringing them game’s end condition and races to completion. Jacob and iTZKooPA discuss these milestones, how the company has continued to tease nostalgia while modernizing game design, and the genre’s slow revival from the doldrums.