Empire of the Ants is certainly not a game we expected to be announced for the PS5, but now we’ve seen it in action, we’re intrigued. The Microids outing – officially due out in 2024 – promises to take you on an “extraordinary journey through the infinitesimally small” as you “guide your colony towards a brighter future”.

The blurb explains: “As the Ant Savior, your mission is to lead your people, rebuild their home, ensure their safety, prosperity, and conquer new territories across changing seasons. Explore, strategise, confront, and engage in diplomacy to triumph over the myriad challenges that lie ahead.” To us it looks a little like Pikmin – albeit much more photorealistic, as it’s running in Unreal Engine 5.

Interestingly, this is based on a French novel by Bernard Werber, which is unexpected source material. We’re not overly familiar with the original work so we can’t comment further on that, but there is an old PC-based real-time strategy release based on the same content, so this isn’t the first time it’s been adapted into a video game.

[source youtube.com]