Stardock Entertainment and Oxide Games, in partnership with Xbox Game Studios, have announced Ara: History Untold v2.0, also known as the Revolutions Update. Rolling out first as a Preview on Steam, the full update is set to release on September 24, 2025, on both Steam and Xbox Game Pass for PC.
The Revolutions Update marks one of the biggest overhauls since launch, layering in new systems, units, and quality-of-life improvements—many directly informed by community feedback.
Culture and Influence: A New Path to Power
The headline addition is a new Culture and Influence system. Cities now generate Culture, which in turn creates Influence. This new currency lets players expand territory through claims or adopt cultural traits, providing alternatives to straight-up military conquest.
Influence also unlocks more devious tools. Once players reach the Revolutions technology in the late Renaissance, they gain access to the Agitator unit. These agents can infiltrate nearby foreign regions, stoking rebellion and flipping territory without firing a shot—introducing ideological subversion as a second form of conquest.
Nations With Their Own Military Flavor
Every nation now fields a unique historical unit. Examples include Mongol Horse Archers and Japanese Samurai, giving civilizations a more distinct tactical identity. This system joins the redesign of leaders, each of whom has been reworked with unique mechanics, traits, and abilities, making diplomacy and replayability more varied.
Less Micromanagement, More Strategy
Stardock and Oxide have also shifted production away from micromanaged queues with the new Priority and Quota crafting system. Instead of juggling long lists of build orders, players manage stockpiles and priorities, freeing them up to focus on higher-level strategy.
AI, Maps, and Visuals Get a Makeover
The update also retools the fundamentals:
- Adaptive AI with personality-driven behavior reacts more dynamically to player decisions across diplomacy, warfare, and resource management.
- Map generation now uses realistic resource clustering and exclusivity rules, echoing historical trade and competition.
- A visual and UI refresh adds scalable high-DPI support, better accessibility, and sharper presentation.
Under the hood, engine optimizations promise smoother framerates, faster turns, and reduced CPU usage, all aimed at making the late game less of a slog.
A Fresh Take on History
Brad Wardell, CEO of Stardock and Oxide, framed the new systems as a deliberate push toward “soft power”:
“While military conquest remains the most direct way of expanding one’s territory, we really wanted to give players other means of expanding their control of the world. This is especially true in the late game when the explore and expand parts of the game have reached their maximum.”
Release Details
Ara: History Untold v2.0 – The Revolutions Update is currently available as a Preview on Steam. The final release is scheduled for September 24, 2025, on Steam and Xbox Game Pass for PC.
