Broken Roads, the long-in-development post-apocalyptic isometric RPG by Australian studio Drop Bear Bytes, finally has a release date.
The game, which has been seen at multiple PAX Aus conventions and covered many times by this masthead, will launch on November 14, 2023, for Steam, Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.
Often loosely described as an “Aussie Fallout,” Broken Roads is an iso RPG set in a post-apocalyptic version of Australia. Rather than give the players a class system that defines their character from the start, Broken Roads features a system of character generation built around their relationship to four distinct philosophies — Humanist, Utilitarian, Machiavellian, and Nihilist — in conjunction with the Moral Compass, the game’s bespoke morality system.
“With Broken Roads, we wanted to make a deep, moving RPG full of a massive web of choices that allow for unprecedented choice in role-playing,” says Craig Ritchie, Game Director at Drop Bear Bytes. “We also wanted to create a fully immersive world based around our native Australia, so a ton of work went into creating an authentic vision of this post-apocalyptic wasteland. Broken Roads may be set in the dusty desert badlands, but we wanted to ensure that it’s also full of compassion, empathy and humanity.”
If you’re thinking to yourself, geez, this sounds familiar, it might be because Emily only put the game in her Local Spotlight column a few weeks ago!
The game will find its way to launch in partnership with publisher Versus Evil. “RPGs are deeply embedded into the Versus Evil DNA, and Broken Roads is among the best we’ve seen,” said Versus Evil General Manager Steve Escalante. “We are pumped to get ready to launch Broken Roads to the masses and are confident it will strike a chord with fans of Disco Elysium and Pillars of Eternity. Enjoy!”
I confess that Escalante’s linking the game to Disco Elysium and Pillars of Eternity strikes me as amusing. Drop Bear Bytes famously had trouble with publishers, many without much RPG experience, wanting them to alter the game to better resemble ZA/UM’s successful masterwork. That the comparison crops up here again, from the very company that brought Pillars of Eternity to the Switch and published its sequel, Deadfire, made me chuckle. If anyone has the authority to close the book on these comparisons once and for all, I reckon it’s probably Versus Evil.
You can play Broken Roads on November 14. You can wishlist it on Steam here, and you can find it on the Xbox Store here. A hearty congratulations to the entire Drop Bear Bytes team. A long road, indeed. We can’t wait to play the finished game at last.
Image: Drop Bear Bytes, Versus Evil
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