Ara: History Untold’s Biggest Update and First DLC Available Today for Xbox PC and Steam
Chicken. Pork. Beef. Bread. Milk. None of these plants or animals existed in the Americas before European contact. Earth’s geography has always been imbalanced, and Ara: History Untold aims to vividly illustrate this asymmetry with the free version 1.4 update and first DLC, Untold Scenarios, available today for Xbox PC and Steam.
Version 1.4 of Xbox Game Studios’ ambitious historical 4X strategy game is the first update designed and developed by strategy and simulation experts Stardock Entertainment, who assumed production leadership in April. The companion DLC highlights what the game can now achieve.
Geography is Destiny
The free update overhauls the game’s map generator, making each randomly generated world more distinct. Meanwhile, the Untold Scenarios DLC features maps with resources positioned realistically, causing societies to evolve very differently. In the Mongol Invasion scenario, you will step into the boots of Genghis Khan, leading the Mongols who, uniquely, cannot found new cities. Without Settlers, you must conquer territory, using specialized technologies and units to dominate the Asian steppes.

Europe at the Crossroads, another scenario, places historical figures into critical positions at the dawn of the Enlightenment. How might history unfold if Caesar, Alexander the Great, and Elizabeth I led 18th-century Europe instead of Louis XIV, William III, and Peter the Great?
Living Strategy
Upon loading version 1.4, you will immediately notice the new Living Strategy view. Previously, Ara featured two modes: the detailed Living World and the icon-based Strategic View. The new Living Strategy mode combines these, clearly showing units scaled on the map to enhance visibility and strategic clarity.
Simulation Meets Strategy
Ara’s Living World has always been a vibrant simulation. Farmers, bakers, and soldiers are individually simulated entities with their own needs and behaviors. Version 1.4 leverages this deep simulation to dramatically reduce micromanagement. You now have the option to let citizens autonomously supply their homes and shops, removing the need for constant manual decisions about resource allocation.

Additionally, computer opponents have significantly improved thanks to Stardock’s experience crafting AI for strategy games like Galactic Civilizations, Fallen Enchantress, and The Political Machine. Opponents now play uniquely based on their traits, employing sophisticated economic and military strategies to challenge you from ancient times through technological singularity.
Prettier, Yet Faster
Oxide’s Nitrous engine has also been enhanced, dramatically improving performance, particularly in late-game scenarios. Smarter culling, optimized shaders, and refined simulations ensure a smoother experience, while visual enhancements make units and cities noticeably sharper and more detailed than ever.

If you’re a fan of history or strategy games, there’s never been a better time to rewrite history. Shape the past, influence the present, and rewrite the future – Ara: History Untold’s free 1.4 Update and Untold Scenarios DLC are available today!
Ara: History Untold is available on Xbox PC, Steam, and with Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Unknown Scenarios DLC is available for $9.99 SRP (base game required to play).
Ara: History Untold Deluxe Edition
Xbox Game Studios
The Deluxe Edition Includes
• Ara: History Untold Base Game
• Exclusive Leader Collection – featuring five exclusive leaders not included in the base game including: Charlemagne, Genghis Khan, Yoo Gwan Soon, Hildegard and Boudicca.
• Modern Leader Skin Set – enhance five Ara: History Untold leaders (Elizabeth I, Genghis Khan, Nefertiti, Sappho and George Washington) with the Modern Leader Skin Set, featuring modern versions of their in-game costumes.
With your pre-order of the Deluxe Edition receive the Gilded Leader Skin Set.
Ara: History Untold Standard Edition
Xbox Game Studios
Ara: History Untold is an evolution in historical grand strategy, featuring beloved classic PC strategy mechanics alongside innovative gameplay like a national crafting economy, true simultaneous turn resolution, a non-linear technology tree, and cloud-backed synchronous/asynchronous multiplayer – all with an expansive and vibrant presentation where you can zoom out from surveying the very edges of your empire all the way down to your citizens living their daily lives. In Ara, there are no pre-set paths to victory, leading to endless possibilities. Your choices will define the world you create, your experience, and your legacy.
Explore an Immersive Living World
Explore a dynamic living world filled with life and charm across sweeping landscapes ranging from tropical jungles to sand-swept deserts as you discover the resources you need to develop your nation. Witness the world come to life in vivid, realistic detail as citizens move throughout the world and react dynamically to times of health and sickness, war and peace, wealth and despair with unique biomes, cultures, and eras representing the diversity of human experience.
Build Your Nation
Serve your people and grow your prestige with numerous Improvements, from forges to libraries, citadels to cathedrals, public parks to industrial factories – as well as a global variety of the greatest architectural Triumphs ever conceived and built by human hands.
Guide your people through the eras of human discovery
Nurture your people’s brilliance and invention as you progress your Nation through twelve unique Technology Eras, making the hard choices about where to focus your Nation’s greatest minds. As you near the end of each Era, you’ll have to decide how fast to push your scientists along the path to the future – at the risk of the present.
Oversee a rich and detailed national economy
Harvest the bounty of the natural world and deploy the labor of your people with a depth-filled National Crafting system. Will you manufacture Amenities – like lavish feasts – to provide your cities and citizens with powerful benefits, or invest in the creation of Equipment – the weapons of war – to prepare your Armies to defend your nation or conquer your rivals? Whatever paths you choose you’ll need to carefully optimize your resources and production to achieve the most efficient systems if you want to outpace your rivals to fortune and lasting glory.
Rule Your Way
Choose from dozens of history’s most influential figures to embody as you reshape the world through your choices. The unique and varied global Leaders and Nations in Ara emphasize a wide variety of different playstyles. Experiment with gameplay-impacting Traits and powerful Leader Abilities drawn from the effect they had on world history. Whether friend or foe, each Leader has a distinct personality based on their historical background that informs their AI behaviors.
Experience True Simultaneous Turns
Every turn each nation's actions and choices resolve simultaneously, leading to suspense, anticipation, unique outcomes, and surprising twists on the classic turn-based formula. The fate of your people will be determined by your decisions and your ability to predict your opponent’s next move, putting your skill as a leader to the ultimate test.
Defend your people by land, sea, and air
Warfare in Ara is presented in the Living World, as thousands of years of military conflict reflect the progress and martial prowess of your people. Develop technologies to advance your weaponry against your rivals, hone your wartime economy and industry to gain the edge, and outthink your opponent’s strategies as maneuvers resolve authentically at once thanks to the power of True Simultaneous Turns.
Prove Your Worth in Online Multiplayer
Combining the speed and surprise of True Simultaneous Turns with the power of the cloud – multiplayer in Ara is fast, seamless, and able to be enjoyed asynchronously with a wide range of options to tailor you and your friend’s experience to the way you want to play together.
A Microsoft Account is required to play online multiplayer.
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