When Jeff Spock of Amplitude Studios says they want to make Humankind "the very best historical strategy game", he means it. Amplitude are aiming for the stars. Or, more specifically, they are taking aim at Goliath. The elephant in the room is of course the Civilization series, which has defined and dominated the historical 4X scene for decades.
Amplitude's entire nine year history has been leading to this moment, challenging the biggest kid on the block at his own game. They aren't calling it their magnum opus for nothing.
In these crucial early stages of development, Amplitude have constructed a handful of scenarios for fans (and press) to play and give feedback on, opening the development process up to the community - something they are calling OpenDev. It's a process they've been doing since the days of Endless Space, but this is the first time they've done it at such a scale.
Before diving into how Humankind is shaping up from these scenarios and the new ideas they are bringing to 4X gaming, it's worth mentioning two points:
RELATED LINKS:
Old World might just be the perfect mix of Civilization Crusader Kings
Humankind devs launch new video series to drip-feed us information like a drug dealer
Amplitude's End Game: Humankind Challenging Civilization