In The Corporate Wars, players immerse themselves in the universe of the year 1201 of the Third Imperium, taking on the role of interstellar corporations competing for economic, political, and technological dominance in a mature and highly developed galaxy.
This setting extends the Golden Age of the Traveller™ universe, respecting its physical laws, social structures, and core technologies, but projecting them 80 years into the future.
Players’ decisions are constrained by the principles of the Traveller™ universe: no instant communication, unpredictable jump routes, fragmented political borders, and a galaxy filled with discovery, adventure, and danger.
In this environment, each corporation must build, produce, trade, and research; maintain infrastructure, move goods and people between worlds, and invest in networks of information, influence, and espionage.
The game blends economic simulation, territorial strategy, and emergent narrative, where diplomacy, propaganda, covert operations, and armed conflict intertwine with business.
Game Summary
A game of The Corporate Wars is a real-time experience played in a shared and persistent universe, where time continues even when players are offline, and events unfold independently of any given session.
Players register a corporate Policy affiliated with one of the Allegiances—major powers, alliances, or other factions—of Charted Space.
Authorized with one or more operational licenses to establish themselves in specific facilities, the Policy must manage them efficiently: players must balance costs and revenues, face risks, collect profits, and absorb losses.
To do this, players are provided with a control interface from which they can execute operations, respond to events, consult information, and make strategic decisions.
However, all actions must be taken with partial information, subject to delays, errors, and manipulation typical of a universe with limited interstellar communication and outdated data.
The Corporate Wars is not just a massive strategy game, but a political-economic simulation with uniquely deep mechanics.
Each of these mechanics influences how players perceive the universe, make decisions, and position themselves against the dynamic environment, other players, and the system's institutions.
🛰️ Real Operational Latency
Orders and updates are not instantaneous: distance, traffic, and context determine how long it takes for information or instructions to reach their destination.
“You order an attack today, but it reaches the target system three in-game days later. Meanwhile, the enemy may have moved.”
🧾 Binding Contracts and Reputation
Operations are structured through contracts with legal terms and narrative consequences. Failing to deliver or arriving late affects reputation and may trigger penalties, audits, or intervention.
“You accept a transport contract from the IISS. If you fail to fulfill it, your reputation suffer and you won’t be able to operate freely in Imperial ports for a while.”
🧠 Reactive Environment
The universe responds organically to player success. If a corporation dominates a sector, Allegiances or powers may impose tariffs, oversight, or strategic countermeasures.
“Your pharmaceutical subsidiary holds a monopoly over five major worlds: the SPA triples tariffs, and a rival alliance funds local insurgency.”
🧩 Modular Corporate Design
Corporations are not generic entities: each player must define their functional structure — commercial, logistical, covert, scientific... You can’t do everything, not everywhere, not all at once, and not under the same conditions.
“Your corporation holds a logistics license and commercial access in the region, but lacks industrial authorization: you can subcontract production, acquire modules on the market, or invest in the licenses required to expand.”
🛂 Real Institutional Restrictions
Operating on certain worlds requires licenses, authorizations, or political influence. Not all sectors are open, and authorities can deny or revoke access.
“To open an office on a capital world, you need approval from the Imperial Ministry. You can buy it—or infiltrate someone.”
🌐 Remote Influence
You don’t need constant physical presence to affect the universe. Decisions through proxies, investments, or remote logistical chains have significant impact.
“You fund a mining expedition on a fringe world: the discovery boosts the stock value of your corporation.”
👤 Characters as Strategic Assets
Characters aren’t avatars, but specialized agents who bring unique abilities when assigned. Their management directly changes outcomes.
“You send your political analyst to a negotiation: they reduce the proposed sanctions by 50%.”
🕵️ Narrative Fog of Information
Information is updated through logistical routes: what you know depends on what you see, and what you see depends on who or what is present. Deception, forgery, and interpretation are part of the game.
“A rival facility appears inactive. But it could be lagged intel. Do you attack? Spy? Wait for another update?”
🧬 Relevant Multiscale Simulation
Unmonitored areas don’t freeze. They evolve through aggregate models that affect economics, ecology, and political systems.
“A background agricultural world suffers a blight. The drop in exports affects food prices across the subsector.”
The game universe doesn’t revolve around the player, nor does it wait for them to act—it evolves independently, with its own rhythms and conflicts.
In this active and persistent ecosystem, each player is a piece in a greater network, where strategy, anticipation, and responsiveness define long-term success.
It’s also not a predefined story or a world built around characters.
The universe is autonomous and evolves according to its own dynamics, on a constant temporal basis, represented by simulation cycles that structure each scenario like a continuously evolving board game.
This approach allows for flexible, realistic gameplay, grounded in a decoupled design: sober, modular, and built on clearly defined functional domains.
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