Innovative Sci-Fi AI Adventure Game Removed From Steam After 12 Years for Early Access Relaunch

Advancements in technology over the years now allow the developers of Bot Colony to finally create the game they envisioned many years ago.

Studio North Side Inc. recently revisited its project Bot Colony, which launched in Steam Early Access back in 2014. This sci-fi adventure was inspired by the science fiction novel Bot Colony, described as a “near-future industrial espionage thriller written by Eugene Joseph. The novel explores the speech capabilities of future robots and introduces a fifth law of robotics: ‘act as humans do.'”

The original Bot Colony is scheduled to be removed from sale on Steam on September 28, as the new version, titled Bot Colony _redux, is expected to launch next month:

While keeping the old game as a sort of historical artifact was interesting, the future is knocking on our door and we want to open it by focusing on the new game we have been working on for several years. It became clear that having two games running in parallel under the exact same name creates confusion in store searches.

Just like in the original, players in Bot Colony _redux will be able to converse with characters and command them. The game concept has a long history, with the creators being “ahead of their time” after starting to explore AI capabilities in video games over 10 years ago.

Today, technology allows them to realize their original vision:

The Bot Colony concept was introduced at GDC in March 2009, and the game was released in early access in 2014. It was ahead of its time; technology simply wasn’t ready for our vision back then. But we never stopped chasing that dream. Now, in 2026, Bot Colony _Redux finally brings it to life: a futuristic sci-fi adventure played using unconstrained speech, conversing with sophisticated characters who respond intelligently, with humor and emotion. This game has something for fans of a wide variety of genres, and players get the freedom to change the story with their own words—every playthrough is unique!

The developers shared that Bot Colony _redux combines advanced AI and voice technologies (Azure STT, ChatGPT, emotional TTS from Elevenlabs) with North Side’s advanced natural language understanding (NLU) system to “take immersion to the next level.”

Bot Colony _redux can be added to your Steam wishlist via the following link. Judging by the description, the game will once again be presented in early access format.

The original Bot Colony Steam page can be found here.

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