Gearbox Software have officially announced the Homeworld Remastered Collection at PAX South today. It will feature a high-definition update to all the assets within the game, new voice-recordings for the cast who did the original voice acting and new cinematics that are updated in quality but stay true to the original cinematics' themes and style. It will also include access to a new Homeworld Remastered Steam Multiplayer Beta, an attempt at combining both of the classic games into one platform for a wider variety.
Gearbox acquired Homeworld back in 2013 when they bid for it at an auction for the sale of assets that belonged to the then recently-defunct studio THQ. Both Paradox and Stardock had also been in the bidding for the IP. In those nearly two years Gearbox have set about giving the classic games an update and overhauled as much as they can while still attempting to stay true to the original games. That can mostly be seen in the decision to bring back as many of the original voice actors as possible, a move that will probably please fans of the original versions of these games. In fact, the fan community's feedback had an effect on how the remaster was done.
“We received a lot of great feedback from the passionate Homeworld fan community, and we hope to deliver a game they – and new fans from around the world – can get lost in for countless hours to come.” said Brian Martel, CCO at Gearbox Software.
The release date is set for February 25th, but pre-orders will have a 15% discount to the price. Otherwise everyone who buys the Remastered Collection will get both Homeworld and Homeworld 2 as well as access to the Steam Multiplayer Beta.