Nordlicht Games at gamescom 2026

Academies of War:
The North Ignites

A story-driven tactical RPG where academy life, battlefield strategy and character relationships shape the same campaign.

Meet us at

gamescom 2026

Business Area Hall 4.1

We are looking for a publishing, investment or strategic funding partner to help take the project from founder-led prototype development into full production.

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Academies of War promotional cast artwork

Development note

Key art above is pitch artwork. In-engine gameplay footage from the current prototype is in the trailer below.

The Project

Nordlicht Games is building Academies of War: The North Ignites, a premium PC-first tactical RPG in playable prototype on Unreal Engine 5. Turn-based squad command, direct third-person battlefield control and academy life run through one connected campaign.

We are at gamescom 2026 to meet publishing, investment and strategic funding partners who can take the project from founder-led prototype into full production.

See the Game in Action

100% In-Engine Gameplay Work in Progress

Academies of War: The North Ignites is a story-driven tactical RPG combining turn-based command with direct third-person battlefield control, academy life and character bonds.

The footage shown above is captured from the current playable Unreal Engine prototype.

Currently seeking publishing and funding partners.

Interested in Academies of War?

Let’s talk at gamescom 2026.

Arrange a Meeting

For Publishers & Funding Partners

The Campaign Brief

A concise view of the game, the production plan and the funding structure behind Academies of War: The North Ignites.

Currently seeking

Publishing, investment or strategic funding

Game Overview

Lead the academy. Shape the war.

Academies of War: The North Ignites is a premium PC-first tactical RPG built around a persistent squad of named war academy cadets.

Players command their squad in turn-based battles with direct third-person positioning, cover, specialized combat roles, skills and mission objectives.

Between operations, players return to the academy to train cadets, develop equipment, manage the squad and build relationships. What happens in battle affects academy life, and the relationships built at the academy influence both combat and story.

Strategy wins the mission. Relationships make victory matter.

Genre

Story-driven Tactical RPG

Platform

PC / Steam first

Engine

Unreal Engine 5

Current Stage

Prototype / Pre-Production

Gamescom 2027 Target

Polished Playable Vertical Slice

PC Launch Target

March 2029

Core Pillars

Three pillars of command

Battlefield decisions carry into academy life, while relationships and preparation reshape the next operation.

Interactive Storytelling

A military world shaped by faction tension, academy rivalries, political choices and the return of the Hellborn threat.

Tactical Strategy Combat

Turn-based battles with direct positioning, cover, squad roles, skills, objectives and battlefield pressure.

III

Character Growth

Rapport, personal arcs, injuries, support scenes and mechanical progression create long-term attachment to the squad.

Core Gameplay Loop

One connected loop, not two separate modes

01Briefing
Mission context, objectives and story setup.
02Squad Setup
Pick cadets, roles and loadouts for the operation.
03Battle
Turn-based combat with positioning, cover and skills.
04Rewards
Experience, resources and mission consequences.
05Academy Moment
Conversations, support scenes and squad recovery.
06Upgrade
Training, skills, equipment and research.
07Next Mission
A stronger, closer squad heads back out.

Every mission develops the squad mechanically, narratively and emotionally.

The Academy

The home base between operations

The academy is not simply a menu between missions. It is the strategic and narrative home of the game.

Barracks

Squad management, rapport and support scenes.

Training Fields

Skills, stats and class development.

R&D

Weapons, armor and support technology.

Armory

Equipment, items and loadouts.

Classrooms

Tactics, passives and doctrine upgrades.

Characters & Rapport

A squad players remember

Authored Cadets

Every squad member is an authored character with their own personality, background, combat role and personal arc.

Rapport

Rapport develops through conversations, story events and fighting together.

Shared Benefits

Relationships unlock support scenes, combat bonuses and unique abilities.

Injuries, Not Erasure

Cadets can be injured, creating consequences without permanently removing the characters players have grown attached to.

Prototype Status

Current Prototype

Playable in the current Unreal Engine 5 build. Every system below is in active development and not yet final.

Direct third-person character control during tactical turns
Tactical Command Mode
Turn-based squad combat
CP and MP turn economy
Direct aiming and shooting
Deployment system
Enemy Turn
Role-based enemy AI
Suppression mechanics
Battlefield intelligence / enemy visibility
Mission briefing foundations
Dialogue system foundations
Gear and progression foundations

Development Status

From prototype to launch

The plan below runs from the current prototype through the gamescom 2027 vertical slice to the PC launch window.

2026

Prototype development, core systems, gamescom 2026 and partner financing discussions.
Sep 2026 to Mar 2027

Company formation, private / publisher financing, German federal funding process, recruiting preparation and founder-led pre-production.
Apr to Aug 2027

Production Phase I, team ramp-up, production pipelines and polished gamescom playable vertical slice.
Oct 2027 to Sep 2028

Production Phase II, full campaign production, characters, environments, systems completion, narrative implementation and continuous testing.
Oct 2028 to Feb 2029

Polish, QA, localization, optimization, balancing and release preparation.
Mar 2029

PC / Steam launch target.

Funding & Production Plan

What we are raising

€675,000

Private / Publishing Funding Sought

Split into production financing and a separate company formation tranche.

€650,000

Production Financing

Supports the private half of the planned €1.3M core production budget. The funding enables Nordlicht Games to transition from founder-led prototype development into parallel production pipelines for:

Gameplay engineering
AI
Character production
Animation
Environment production
UI/UX
QA
Audio and VFX
Production support
Marketing and business development

€25,000

Formation & Capitalization

A separate formation tranche supporting the establishment and capitalization of Nordlicht Games as a German limited liability company before the main production financing is deployed.

Held separately from the €1.3M core production budget.

€650,000 German Federal Games Funding Planned, Subject to Eligibility and Approval

Nordlicht Games plans to apply for an additional €650,000 through the German federal games funding program, subject to eligibility and approval. The financing structure is therefore:

€650,000

Private / Publishing Production Financing

€650,000

German Federal Games Funding

€1.3M

Core Production Budget

Plus the separate €25,000 Formation & Capitalization tranche, bringing total planned available funding to

€1.325M

The €25,000 formation tranche is not part of the €1.3M core production budget.

Production Period

April 2027 – March 2029

gamescom 2027 Target

Playable Vertical Slice

PC / Steam Launch Target

March 2029

Why the additional funding matters

The additional funding is not intended to increase the scope of Academies of War.

It allows Nordlicht Games to build the specialist production team required to deliver the game we have already scoped.

The funding reduces key-person dependency and allows programming, AI, character production, animation, environments, UI/UX and quality assurance to operate as parallel production pipelines rather than relying primarily on the founders.

This provides the production capacity required to deliver a polished vertical slice and subsequently a commercially launch-ready PC title.

Partnership

What We Are Looking For

At gamescom 2026, Nordlicht Games is looking to meet:

Publishers

Game investors

Strategic funding partners

Potential long-term development partners

We are especially interested in partners who understand premium PC games, tactical RPGs, character-driven games and long-term IP development.

If Academies of War sounds like a project that could fit your portfolio, we would be happy to show you what we are building and discuss where we want to take it next.

Pitch Materials