The Legend of Steel Empire is coming to the PS4 and PS5 on October 9, ININ Games has announced. The Nintendo Switch exclusive will make the jump to PlayStation nearly two years following its initial release.
The original Steel Empire was a Sega Genesis arcade shooter released in 1992. Developed by Japanese studio HOT・B, it was ported to the Game Boy Advance in 2004, followed by a 3DS version a decade later. The game also made its way to PC in 2018. Six years later, German publisher ININ Games announced a new edition of the shooter, The Legend of Steel Empire. While based on the 2018 PC remaster, it features a wide variety of additions and improvements that are significant enough to consider it a separate title, hence the new name. The Legend of Steel Empire launched exclusively for the Nintendo Switch in late January 2024.
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The Legend of Steel Empire Coming to PlayStation
Nearly two years later, The Legend of Steel Empire is on the verge of losing its Nintendo Switch exclusive status by debuting on PlayStation. Its PS4 and PS5 ports have just locked down a release date: October 9. In a prepared statement accompanying the announcement, publisher ININ Games cited improved HD visuals, modernized controls, and a dynamic leveling system among the improvements that the remaster brings to the table. All of those were already available on the Switch.
The upcoming release will mark Steel Empire's first appearance on PlayStation consoles. The remaster's single biggest mechanical novelty, the leveling system, was designed to incentivize progression while simultaneously doing a better job at challenging experienced players than the original game did. The more items the player collects, the stronger they will become, but doing so will also result in enemy hordes growing in size and individual strength, with mobs becoming more resilient.
Level scaling is a somewhat contentious mechanic in RPGs. However, for an arcade shooter in the vein of Steel Empire—which is only supposed to get harder as it goes on—it serves as a clever twist on the classic formula without too many downsides. The remaster offers the same seven-stage structure as the original, as well as a dystopian story about a military dictatorship enslaving humanity presented in the form of an old war film.
ININ Games has yet to attach a price tag to the upcoming PlayStation port. Based on the Nintendo Switch version, the game will retail for $24.99 on the PS Store. It is presently unclear whether The Legend of Steel Empire is planned to reach more platforms, such as the Xbox One or Xbox Series X/S, in the future.
