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Back in 2010, we gave the WW2 RTS Ruse an enviable 84% review score, applauding developer Eugen Systems for “doing something novel with one of strategy gaming’s hoariest themes.” Just five years later, it was gone—removed from Steam by publisher Ubisoft due to expiring license rights.
“While we developed and launched Ruse in 2010, the game didn’t officially belong to us,” Eugen wrote in the re-launch announcement. “Sidelined due to distribution constraints, we could do nothing in the subsequent years to help the players who contacted us for assistance or tried to obtain the game. Recently, we received the opportunity to return Ruse to our catalog. This allowed us to re-release this pillar of the RTS genre, with some added extras!”
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I don’t see any specifics on those promised technical updates, aside from the verified Steam Deck support, and to be clear this isn’t a remaster: The re-released Ruse is still a 2010 RTS. But, to repeat what we said earlier (that is, 16 years ago), it’s a very good 2010 RTS.
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The price—$30/£26.49/€30—has sparked a trickle of complaints from people who don’t think a game of that vintage should cost so much, but more importantly, user reviews since the re-release are “overwhelmingly positive”: 197 positive, compared to just two negative. It’s not a huge number, but you have to like that ratio.
You don’t see review charts like this every day:
Also note, speaking of price, that if you own Ruse already, the updates and DLC are yours for free—because again, this isn’t a remaster or anything, it’s just back on sale. Old saves and replays won’t be accessible in the re-released version to prevent crashes, but they’re still there too: If you want to use them, use the “Compatibility Branch” available in the Ruse Steam properties.
How this all came about is unclear at this point, although Eugen Systems is now listed as both the developer and publisher, meaning Ubisoft is completely out of the picture: Given Ubi’s financial woes and restructuring, it doesn’t feel like too much of a leap to assume that Eugen Systems was able to score the rights at a pretty good price. But hey, whatever: The important thing is, Ruse is back on Steam, and that’s very cool indeed.
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