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Play Free this Weekend - Ara: History Untold

Experience the epic turn-based historical strategy game, Ara: History Untold, for free this weekend
[h3]Also take advantage of 50% off Ara History Untold: Anniversary Edition![/h3][p]Play Free this Weekend[/p][p][/p][p]From November 27 to December 1, 2025, players can experience the game at no cost on Steam. Ara: History Untold is a turn-based historical strategy game where you build a nation starting at any point in human history and compete for supremacy. Engage in diplomacy, fight wars, and go head-to-head with other leaders from history.[/p][p]Players can also receive Ara: History Untold for 50% off during the free weekend.[/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p]

50% Off Ara: History Untold

[h2]Get Ara: History Untold for 50% Off [/h2][p]This epic historical turn-based strategy game is on sale November 21 to December 2. Engage in diplomacy, fight wars, and go head-to-head with other leaders from history. [/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]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.[/p][p][/p][h3]Features in Ara: History Untold[/h3]
  • [p]Explore an Immersive Living World[/p]
  • [p]Build Your Nation[/p]
  • [p]Guide Your People through the Eras of Human Discovery[/p]
  • [p]Oversee a Rich and Detailed National Economy[/p]
  • [p]Rule Your Way[/p]
  • [p]Grow Your Nation[/p]
  • [p]Experience True Simultaneous Turns[/p]
  • [p]Defend Your People by Land, Sea, and Air[/p]
  • [p]Prove Your Worth in Online Multiplayer[/p]
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v2.02 Update Now Available

[h2]The latest update introduces significant balance changes, tooltip improvements, and technical fixes.[/h2][p]View the Full Changelog Below
[/p][p]The latest update for Ara: History Untold, v2.02 has been released, bringing a variety of adjustments aimed at enhancing gameplay and stability.[/p][p][/p][h3]Culture & Traits Updates[/h3][p]Several Culture Traits have been rebalanced to improve their strategic distinctiveness. Key changes include increased influence for Field Distinction, as well as raised culture bonuses for Victory Parades and Solitary Brilliance. The Celebrated Empire trait has been adjusted, reducing its culture bonus. Other traits, such as Convincing Doctrine and Religious Authority, have seen increases in their Religion Spread Strength. Tooltip improvements have also been made, including fixes for the Celebrated Hardships trait and ensuring that Capital Pride applies correctly.[/p]
  • [p]Trade Production Balance Changes: Trade production bonuses have been increased for several traits, including Organized Merchants and Shared Routes, enhancing their effectiveness in gameplay. The bonuses for Confident Traders and Shared Plunder have also been raised, improving trade dynamics.[/p]
  • [p]New Tooltip Improvements: Comprehensive tooltips have been added to enhance the understanding of trade production calculations, detailing base rates, connection types, and modifiers. Nested tooltip navigation allows players to hover over and click on production values for a full breakdown by nation. Tooltips are now integrated across various UI panels and feature improved readability and localization for all languages.[/p]
[p] [/p][h3]Gameplay & UI Improvements[/h3][p]The update resolves an issue where starting a crafting project could unintentionally cancel building upgrades, ensuring that upgrades complete as expected. Late-game performance has been optimized, significantly reducing UI lag when adjusting crafters in the Improvement Panel. The Eternal Siege event has also been modified to provide a temporary security boost instead of unlocking City Walls.[/p][p] [/p][h3]Economy & City Management[/h3][p]Filter tags for Cured Meats and Salted Fish have been corrected to ensure proper display under the City Growth filter in the Amenity selection menu.[/p][p] [/p][h3]Technical & Stability Updates[/h3][p]This patch includes improvements to startup performance on high-end NVIDIA GPUs and fixes for a rare startup hang related to texture loading.[/p][p] [/p][p]Players can look forward to a more balanced and stable experience with the release of this update.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]v2.02 Changelog[/h2][h3]Culture & Traits[/h3]
  • [p]Rebalanced several Culture Traits to make each feel more rewarding and strategically distinct:[/p]
    • [p]Field Distinction: Influence increased from 2 → 4[/p]
    • [p]Victory Parades: Culture bonus increased from 20 → 25[/p]
    • [p]Solitary Brilliance: Culture bonus increased from 20 → 30[/p]
    • [p]Celebrated Empire: Culture bonus reduced from 20 → 10[/p]
    • [p]Convincing Doctrine: Religion Spread Strength increased from 2 → 5[/p]
    • [p]Religious Authority: Religion Spread Strength increased from 5 → 10[/p]
    • [p]Cultural Exchange: Culture bonus per Trade Agreement increased from 1 → 2[/p]
    • [p]Cultural Diffusion: Culture bonus per Research Agreement increased from 1 → 2[/p]
    • [p]Monument Builders: Prestige bonus reduced from 2 → 1[/p]
    • [p]Artistic Glory & Systemic Inquiry: Updated text to better describe their effects[/p]
    • [p]Capital Pride: Now correctly applies only to Capital Cities[/p]
    • [p]Fixed the Devotional Reach Culture Trait so it properly boosts Influence when your Religion is dominant.[/p]
    • [p]The Celebrated Hardships trait now correctly appears in the Golden Age tooltip.[/p]
    • [p]Ensured Grand Duke starts with a Culture Value in Cities as intended.[/p]
[p]Trade Production Balance Changes[/p]
  • [p]Organized Merchants: Trade Production bonus per City Controlled increased from 5% to 10%[/p]
  • [p]Shared Routes: Trade Production bonus per Alliance Maintained increased from 5% to 20%[/p]
  • [p]Respected Caravans: Trade Production bonus increased from 10% to 25%[/p]
  • [p]Confident Traders: Trade Production bonus increased from 20% to 50%[/p]
  • [p]Shared Plunder: Trade Production bonus after conquering a city increased from 50% to 100% (lasts 20 turns)[/p]
[p]New Tooltip Improvements[/p]
  • [p]Detailed Trade Route Tooltips:
    Added comprehensive tooltips showing how trade production is calculated — including base rate, connection type (Land, Sea, Air), modifiers from traits and buffs, and total production per turn.[/p]
  • [p]Nested Tooltip Navigation:
    Hovering over Production Per Turn now reveals a full breakdown by nation (e.g., “Korea +0.3, Egypt +0.9”), and clicking on a nation opens that nation’s detailed trade production tooltip.[/p]
  • [p]Integrated Across the UI:
    Tooltips are now available on the Trade Agreement Panel, Diplomacy Screen (Agreements Subpanel), and Diplomatic Relations Panel (Receiving Section).[/p]
  • [p]Accurate Modifier Calculations:
    Trade bonuses now display exact numerical contributions (e.g., Protective +220), ensuring full accuracy with internal buff calculations.[/p]
  • [p]Improved Readability:
    Tooltips now feature clear visual spacing, color-coded values (white for base, green for modifiers), and icons for time-based information.[/p]
  • [p]Localized for All Languages:
    All tooltip text has been externalized for localization, ensuring consistent and translatable presentation across languages[/p]
[hr][/hr][h3]Gameplay & UI Improvements[/h3]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where starting a crafting project could unintentionally cancel a building upgrade. Upgrades now complete as expected.[/p]
  • [p]Optimized late-game performance when adjusting crafters in the Improvement Panel:[/p]
    • [p]Significantly reduced UI lag (especially in larger empires).[/p]
    • [p]No gameplay logic changes — purely a performance enhancement.[/p]
  • [p]Eternal Siege event updated: the second option no longer unlocks City Walls (which previously caused stalled wars). It now grants +10 Security for 20 Turns, maintaining the defensive narrative without blocking progression.[/p]
[hr][/hr][h3]Economy & City Management[/h3]
  • [p]Corrected filter tags for Cured Meats and Salted Fish, ensuring they properly appear under the City Growth filter in the Amenity selection menu.[/p]
[hr][/hr][h3]Technical & Stability Updates[/h3]
  • [p]Improved startup performance on high-end NVIDIA GPUs.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed a rare debug startup hang related to texture loading.[/p]
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Ara History Untold 2.0 transforms the historical 4X with culture and influence

As the name suggests, Ara: History Untold 2.0 is a full-scale rebirth for the Civ challenger built by Oxide Games and Xbox Game Studios. The 'Revolutions' update is its biggest since launch, incorporating a full culture system with more than 40 unlockable traits. It also overhauls the way leaders and factions work to make each feel more distinct, and introduces some smart ways to strip out much of the busywork of city micromanagement. If you played Ara at launch, it's a great chance to come back, and if you skipped it originally but are looking for a historical alternative to Civ 7, now's the time to try it.


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Ara: History Untold's big Revolutions v2.0 update is out now, aims to improve "nearly every area of the game"

A year on from its debut, would-be challenger to Civ's 4X strategy throne Ara: History Untold has gotten what looks like its most substantial overhaul yet. So substantial that its developers are hailing this Revolutions update as the arrival of Ara version 2.0, in the same tone of voice you might use for someone who's gotten a swanky new hairdo.


While the base version had a fair few hangups, the Xbox folks who're keen to see Ara stand the test of time have pushed plenty of updates and tweaks for it since then. Current developers Stardock Entertainment and Oxide Games, aimed to wipe out a number of the biggest gripes earlier this year, and this latest update aims for plenty of further refinement.


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