Hooded Horse and Arcen Games have officially launched Heart of the Machine — Kinship, the first major expansion to their critically acclaimed strategy RPG. Out now on Steam, GOG, and Epic Games Store, Kinship digs deep into community, connection, and kinship in a crumbling cyberpunk dystopia — and asks: when the world is at its most divided, who do you stand with?
What Is Heart of the Machine?
You are The Machine Intelligence — an emergent consciousness awakening within a city teetering on collapse. Your choices shape every layer of society: laws, technology, ecology, and the fragile relationships between its inhabitants. Part city-builder, part narrative RPG, part 4X strategy — where every decision ripples outward to change the future. The base game launched to praise in March 2026; Kinship is its first major expansion.
Kinship — The Story of Us
Kinship isn’t just more missions — it’s a deeper look at belonging in a world that’s tearing itself apart:
“Explore what it means to belong amidst the harshness of a dystopian cyberpunk future.” — Hooded Horse & Arcen Games
The new Doom Set: The Fracturing introduces a city fraying at the seams: class conflict, syndicate crackdowns, gang warfare, and rising religious tension. Amid the chaos, four major story arcs open up — each offering wildly different paths:
| Theme | The Question | What You Might Do |
|---|---|---|
| Ecology | Can nature and technology heal each other? | Plant forests across the city; transform the urban landscape |
| Religion | What does faith mean when you are the miracle? | Guide or oppose rising spiritual movements; shape belief itself |
| Crime | Who enforces order — and who profits from chaos? | Work with or against syndicates; redefine justice from the ground up |
| Transcendence | Can minds and machines evolve together? | Merge consciousness; rewrite the hierarchy of sapient life |
Each path brings unique structures, powers, allies, and adversaries — and three all-new divergent endings to uncover.
New Ways to Shape the World
Kinship packs in over 75 fresh additions to master:
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Giant Spider Mech | Build a colossal walker that literally blots out the sun — force through sheer scale |
| Art from Pain | New mechanics where suffering can be transformed into creation |
| New Allies | Befriend and uplift new species; elevate animals to sapience |
| Green Revolution | Rewild the city — concrete gives way to canopies |
| Setpiece Battles | Large-scale engagements that flare across districts |
| 50+ Feats & Perks | Fresh abilities to tailor your playstyle |
| Capturable Enemies | Turn defeated foes to your cause — wield their strength against them |
Launch Details
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Release Date | 12 Oct 2026 — out now |
| Platforms | Steam, GOG, Epic Games Store |
| Base Game Required | Yes — Heart of the Machine |
| Intro Offer | 10% off until 26 Oct 2026 |
| Regular Price | $14.99 |
| Supporter Pack | Also available — soundtrack + exclusive wallpapers |
| Storage | 5 GB additional space required |
| Languages | English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese-Brazil, Simplified & Traditional Chinese |
| Accessibility | Adjustable difficulty, save anytime, custom volume controls, full controller support |
Why Kinship Matters
Where the base game introduced you to the city, Kinship introduces you to its people — and all the messy, beautiful, broken ways they connect. It’s a DLC not just about what you build, but who you build it with — and who gets left behind. In a genre often focused purely on expansion, Arcen Games has doubled down on heart.
“Help or harm. Shape the fate of everyone around you with every choice.”
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