Taking the wheel of futuristic, ultra-rugged JCB vehicles, players must explore the alien landscape, mine precious materials, construct large-scale buildings and research new technologies to ensure humanity’s future lies beyond planet Earth. Esteemed astrophysicist, Dr Maggie Lieu, provided advice to Atomicom during the development process, as well as making an in game cameo appearance.

JCB Pioneer: Mars begins as the player awakes from a crash, surrounded by the wreckage of their Lander vehicle amidst falling debris and hurtling winds. Survival is the first goal–the location of oxygen and the establishment of an outpost. As the player slowly begins to establish themselves on Mars, learning to combat the planets fierce and hostile weather patterns, they’ll begin a larger operation of colonisation. Life-support infrastructure is crucial but so to is the mining of natural resources, part of a broader mission to save an ailing Earth.

With esteemed astrophysicist, Dr Maggie Lieu, providing advice to Atomicom during the development process, as well as making an in game cameo appearance, JCB Pioneer: Mars is a hardcore blend of survival and construction gameplay set on the hostile, alien planet. Meteor strikes, dust clouds and electrical storms all threaten the player’s survival and chances of a successful colonisation effort. But equipped with the futuristic, heavy-duty construction and mining vehicles specifically designed by JCB Engineers, every would-be astronaut has a chance of surviving and thriving in the face of extreme planetary challenges.

Atomicom and GamesCo announced that JCB Pioneer: Mars is now available on Steam Early Access.

“JCB Pioneer: Mars brings the harsh reality of the red planet to life with detailed high definition graphics, vehicle physics and weather effects as you prepare Mars for human colonization,” said Andy Santos, Design Director of Atomicom. “Launching with over 20+ hours of content, we are excited to hear the player response that will shape our future development roadmap.”

“At JCB, innovation is in our lifeblood and we are constantly exploring new thinking and JCB Pioneer Mars provides a vision of the tools needed for future space colonisation”, said Worldwide Marketing Director, Michael Plummer. “It’s been an incredible experience for our visionary design team to build a series of futuristic heavy-duty construction and mining vehicles, optimized for exploration and mining on Mars”.