To describe Gas Powered Games' Demigod as a DotA clone is doing a disservice to its target audience. Demigod is DotA for people who think DotA sounds like a division of Homeland Security.

So what is Demigod? Picture a PC RTS where the player controls a single, gigantic hero unit--an RTS/action-RPG hybrid. Each side has an automatically-spawning horde of minor units, with the Demigod's task being to either direct them to a specific location, or impact the battle to the point that your side eventually overtakes the opposing enemy.

As such, Demigods come in two categories: Assassins and Generals. The former are pure warriors, while the latter primarily take command of the minions, ordering them to capture specific control points.

At the beginning of a match, your chosen Demigod begins its life at level one. As you cause havoc, smashing enemy forces and fortresses, your hero unit progresses in level, each milestone granting one point to be spent in a branching talent tree. Talents range from passive bonuses to direct abilities, the skillsets being particular to each Demigod. For instance, the Rook, the game's poster-god, has a talent... Read more

Chris Taylor, designer of classic PC real-time strategy game Total Annihilation and president of Gas Powered Games, thinks that the PC isn't dead, but rather is repositioning itself as a different kind of gaming platform.

"We've pushed the limits of high system requirements, and I think the rate at which people are buying crazy new hardware has slowed," he commented to Gamasutra. "I think we've come out of that turbulent ten years," referring to the ten years since the advent of graphics acceleration hardware in games and its rapid progress since.

Demigod, Gas Powered Games' upcoming RPG

The next Gas Powered Game, Demigod, aims to respect the idea that most game-capable PCs are not high-end. ... Read more

Gas Powered Games has passed in several new screenshots from Demigod, the studio's new RTS-RPG hybrid bound for the PC.

Making use of the Supreme Commander engine, Demigod borrows gameplay elements from Warcraft III's Defense of the Ancients modification, allowing players to control a single hero unit as part of a massive surrounding battle.

Demigod is currently slated to launch February of next year, with a beta test scheduled for late this summer.

Gas Powered Games today released the first official trailer for its RTS-RPG hybrid Demigod on GameSpot.

Using the Supreme Commander engine, Demigod will borrow aspects of gameplay from RTS mods such as Warcraft III's Defense of the Ancients (DotA), allowing players to control a single hero unit within a massive online battle.

Demigod is expected to hit in February 2009 on PC. A beta test is scheduled to begin this summer.

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Gas Powered Games' RTS-RPG hybrid Demigod (PC) has been delayed into 2009 and will be published by digital and retail distributor Stardock, the two companies announced today.

Previously expected to arrive in fall 2008, Demigod was pushed to February 2009 in order to integrate feedback from the forthcoming summer public beta test. The game puts players in control of a massive golem, tasked with destroying an opponents army before the same fate befalls their army.

As with Ironclad Games' Stardock-published RTS Sins of a Solar Empire (PC), Demigod will not sport any type of on-disc copy protection. The companies also noted that the game has been budgeted for "many months of free post-release feature updates."

"Not only do we have a proven retail publisher, but we get to partner with a pioneer in the digital distribution space...a company that totally understands what kind of experience our customer wants and the quality game they demand," said Gas Powered Games founder and CEO Chris Taylor. "The whole proposition is truly refreshing.”

Gas Powered Games' latest project is becoming a little more clear with the release of a few more images.

Using the Supreme Commander engine, Demigod will borrow aspects of gameplay from RTS mods such as Warcraft III's Defense of the Ancients, allowing players to control a single hero unit within a massive online battle.

A release time frame and platform has also been revealed since the initial announcement: Fall 2008, on PC.

Chris Taylor and the team at Gas Powered Games will follow their 2007 RTS Supreme Commander with a take on a popular RTS modification, according to a 1UP report filed today.

The game, called Demigod, is said to at least partly derive its gameplay from Defense of the Ancients, the wildly successful user-created mod for Blizzard's RTS Warcraft III.

As in DotA, players of the multiplayer-focused Demigod will command a single hero unit, which can grow in power based on a leveling structure. Some of the hero units will have the ability to create lesser units and supporting structures, while others will make do with their own super powers.

According to the report, Demigod is being designed as a multiplayer experience, with an "emphasis on co-op play." There will be a singleplayer component, which Gas Powered Games characterized as a "training ground."

Platform and release date projections have yet to be announced.