In Railway Empire, you will create an elaborate and wide-ranging rail network, purchase over 40 different trains modelled in extraordinary detail, and buy or build railway stations, maintenance buildings, factories and tourist attractions to keep your travel network ahead of the competition. You’ll also need to hire and manage your workforce if you want to ensure an efficient train service, whilst also develop over 300 technologies ranging from mechanical improvements to the trains themselves to workplace infrastructures and advanced amenities as you progress through five eras of technological innovations.

However, you can’t just build and research your way to the top – the competition never sleeps, and to keep your business on track you’ll have to survive against up to three rival tycoons. To get to the top you may have to resort to more cutthroat tactics as you attack and sabotage your opponents through raids and industrial espionage.

Pre-order customers currently enjoying the Railway Empire closed beta can now download the latest update from Steam to test out some newly-introduced features, and are also now welcome to stream the game live for other gamers to enjoy.

Aside from a variety of bug fixes and improvements, the highlight of the new update is the new pause-function, allowing players to get even more strategic by stopping time and planning out their next move in detail, then resuming play to see their strategies unfold. This new addition is available in three distinct variations, designed to make the Railway Empire experience more forgiving or challenging depending on the player’s preference:

• Trainiac – players will not be able to use the pause function, but will receive a bonus to their overall rank at the end of each scenario.
• Normal – the game will automatically pause for certain dialogues in the game, letting players take in all the information without any effect on their ranking.
• Manual – players can pause at any time to plan out strategies in detail, but will receive a penalty on their final ranking.

By pre-purchasing Railway Empire on Steam players will unlock instant access to the (Windows) closed Beta which contains the first two campaign levels and a comprehensive tutorial with more content being added leading to launch. As well as instant Beta access, players who pre-purchase Railway Empire on Steam will also receive an exclusive custom paint job for the ‘Super Hudson’ locomotive, a digital soundtrack (both available at launch) as well as enjoying a 15% discount.

Key Features:

• Exploit the economic opportunities of the United States in an extensive campaign, working your way step by step from coast to coast across this great continent.
• Lead your Railway Empire to success by establishing a comprehensive rail network and optimizing transportation of passengers and goods.
• Master challenges and objectives through a range of scenarios, or create your perfect railway network in construction mode without any financial pressure.
• Over 40 historically accurate locomotives and more than 30 different wagons can be acquired over the course of the game, and must be put to use in the best way in order to take advantage of their strengths and weaknesses.
• Invest in over 300 new technologies across five different eras to progress and maximize the potential of your rail network.
• Compete with up to three rival companies, and even sabotage their efforts with the use of bandits and spies.
• Co-operative and competitive multiplayer for up to four players.

Railway Empire is scheduled to launch for PC and Linux on January 26, 2018 world wide.