Today we’re pleased to announce that an official online adaptation of Axis & Allies is finally here and it is called Axis & Allies Online.

Axis & Allies Online will be based on Axis & Allies 1942 Second Edition with a few minor adjustments to streamline online play. It will be available for purchase on Steam for $19.99 USD for Windows, MacOS, and Linux. Early access to the game is coming very soon.

The game developer of Axis & Allies Online is Beamdog, a Canadian video game developer out of Edmonton, Alberta. Beamdog is known for reviving and updating classic Dungeons & Dragons video games such as Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, and Planscape: Torment.

I spoke with the team late last week and after almost 2 years of development, they’re excited they can finally talk about the game, get it out into the world, and gather feedback from you, the Axis & Allies community. Trent Oster, CEO of Beamdog, is a long time Axis & Allies fan and started playing in the early 90s. One important thing that Trent said is:

“This is a multi-year thing for us. We’re excited about it and want to roll it forward and do a lot of fun things with it.”

We’ll have more about our conversation with the Beamdog team later but the important thing to note is that they are committed to Axis & Allies Online for the long haul and Beamdog’s record with their current line-up of games is testament to that.

I also had a chance to play a couple of games of Axis & Allies Online. As mentioned above there are a couple of changes to streamline the game for “asynchronous” play. This means that a player does their turn completely without the involvement of other players. As a result:

Defenders do not choose their casualties and order of loss (OOL) is based on IPC value of the unit. The exception is battleships, where the first hit is taken on the battleship in a naval battle.

You are not allowed to use transports nor aircraft carriers of friendly powers. For instance, the USA cannot fly a fighter to defend that newly built air craft carrier in sea zone 7. Note : this rule was first introduced in Axis & Allies & Zombies and we speculate that it will carry on to any new versions of the game.

fly a fighter to defend that newly built air craft carrier in sea zone 7. : this rule was first introduced in Axis & Allies & Zombies and we speculate that it will carry on to any new versions of the game.

The game also includes some other useful features like tutorials, map notes (leave messages for yourself or teammates), and a lightweight (not currently exportable) log of the game play. The map and graphics in the game look great and are reminiscent of the board game. The game plays smoothly and the AI is fast and will be updated over time to get better and better. I’m certain the Beamdog team will be interested in your feedback on how to make the AI better.

There are two modes of play: Local and Online. For Local, you can select “Pass and Play” for multiple humans or “Single Player” where you can play against an AI. For Online games you can play with 2-5 humans and even include an AI player if you so chose.

We will have more details about the game in the coming weeks so please stay tuned! In the meantime, check out these links:

For further discussion and feedback, we have a new forum category for Axis & Allies Online.

See below for the full press release for Axis & Allies Online: