The studio behind S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is back with Cossacks 3

GSC Game World are back in business and their newly announced title is a remake of their classic RTS Cossacks, and it's had one hell of a makeover.

In a lengthy interview with Polygon, Evgeniy Grigorovich - producer of Cossacks 3 - discussed his history with the studio and plans for the new game, that will release "this year, when it’s done".

Talking about the decision to revisit the RTS formula, Grigorovich said "We decided to do a remake of the first Cossacks with all its original gameplay, but also give players updated graphics and a new story. … We really think that many of the players who were too young in 2001 to play Cossacks literally missed out on it and will be impressed by the gameplay of this classic RTS."

The game will include 12 playable nations - expanding to 20 with a post-launch update - with five historical campaigns and "a choice of single-player and multiplayer modes with a flexible setup. For instance, Skirmish is a game against AI on a randomly generated map. At the beginning, the map will be hidden by the fog of war and using small groups of soldiers for scouting will come in handy."

The studio also plans to have full mod support available at launch and will include an editor that's essentially the "same in-house tools the team used to build the game...We will support popular mods, as well as give them official status and provide mod makers with help, making their work better and smoother."

The studio closed back in 2011 with some of the devs forming new studios.

GSC Game World still hold the rights to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise, so depending on the success of Cossacks 3, we might see S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 someday after all.

Check out screenshots for Cossacks 3 below. You can find out more on the official website.