Paradox Insider 2021: Surviving Mars revived with a new developer, new expansion coming later in 2021

Surviving Mars
Surviving Mars (Image credit: Paradox Interactive)

What you need to know

  • Surviving Mars is a city-building survival game set on the titular red planet, developed by Haemimont Games.
  • During Paradox Insider 2021, we learned that Abstraction Games is taking over development of new content.
  • An expansion is coming sometime later in 2021, while Surviving Mars has crossed 5 million players since launch.

Surviving Mars, a space-based survival city-building title, was originally developed by Haemimont Games and published by Paradox Interactive. Today, during the Paradox Insider 2021 showcase, we learned that the development reins have been passed to Abstraction Games, a studio that has worked in a support capacity on different projects like Mass Effect: Legendary Edition.

Looking ahead, a free Tourism Update is coming on March 15 for all players. These include special holidays, hotels and amusement parks and even rover safaris for boosting tourists' satisfaction. Launching the same day is the In-Dome Buildings Pack, something that Paradox Interactive teamed up with modder Silva. Finally, Surviving Mars will be getting a major expansion, which is tentatively slated to arrive later in 2021.

"Since the launch of Surviving Mars: Green Planet, our players have been asking what's next for Surviving Mars. The Tourism Update is just the beginning. The game is in good hands with Abstraction, they're a team of veteran developers with years of experience making AAA titles and are passionate about Surviving Mars," Magnus Lysell, Product Manager for Surviving Mars at Paradox Interactive said.

Additionally, Paradox Interactive confirmed that Surviving Mars has crossed 5 million players since launch. Surviving Mars is currently available in Xbox Game Pass, so you can try it out right now on console or PC if you're subscribed.

Samuel Tolbert
Freelance Writer

Samuel Tolbert is a freelance writer covering gaming news, previews, reviews, interviews and different aspects of the gaming industry, specifically focusing on Xbox and PC gaming on Windows Central. You can find him on Twitter @SamuelTolbert.