Ara is a turn-based history game.

Microsoft unveils Ara: History Untold turn-based strategy game

Microsoft has a new history game, but it’s not an Age of Empires title. Instead, it’s called Ara: History Untold. It’s turn-based strategy game.

It’s asking the question of how you would lead your subjects if you were in charge of a civilization, and you could determine the course of history. It looks like the cinematics of an Age of Empires title. We didn’t see much gameplay, but the game is expected to be out in the next 12 months. It’s about the “history that could have been if you were its architect.” How would you reshape the world and what stories would you tell? How would you lead your subjects in this new world? It sounds a lot like user-generated content to me, as it says, “It’s your world now.”

The company made the announcement at its Xbox and Bethesda Game Showcase today. It is coming from Oxide Games and Xbox Game Studios.

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.