Planetary Annihilation is a computer game where players manage resources and build armies in real time. It was first created by Uber Entertainment, a company that included experienced developers who had previously worked on games like Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander. The game was released in 2014, and a separate expansion pack called Planetary Annihilation: Titans was released in 2015.

Since 2018, Planetary Annihilation Inc. has been responsible for continuing the development of both the main game and the expansion pack. The company regularly adds new content and makes adjustments to keep the game fair and enjoyable.

Gameplay

In interviews with PC Gamer and Joystiq, lead developer Jon Mavor said that the scale and pacing of Planetary Annihilation change a lot. Matches can be short, lasting 30 minutes with two players, or long battles that happen across many planets with many players. The team planned to support 40-player matches, but this feature was not ready when the game launched.

The game takes place in randomly created planetary systems that include planets, moons, asteroids, and gas giants. Each space object has different terrain, biomes, and resource locations. Players can control multiple planets, defend their areas, or use asteroids and moons as weapons by moving them into enemy planets. Entire planets can be destroyed using special structures, and matches often require managing many battles across different worlds.

The game focuses on building an economy, expanding territory, and creating units. Each match starts with a Commander unit that can build Tier 1 economic and military structures. Players use these starting buildings to gather resources and make units and factories that unlock more construction options.

The game’s unit and structure categories include:

• Factories: Tier 1 and Tier 2 factories make land vehicles, bots, aircraft, naval vessels, and orbital units.
• Construction units: Fabrication bots, vehicles, aircraft, ships, and orbital units build new structures, clear wreckage, and help with production. Advanced versions can build Tier 2 structures.
• Economy: Metal extractors and energy plants gather resources, with Tier 2 versions producing more. Other economy-related buildings include storage facilities, solar arrays, and gas giant resource platforms.
• Defensive structures: Options include walls, mines, laser turrets, torpedo launchers, anti-air cannons, orbital weapons, artillery, and anti-nuke installations. Tier 2 versions usually cover larger areas or deal more damage than Tier 1.
• Combat units: Vehicles include tanks, artillery, and assault units; bots range from fast raiders to mobile artillery and long-range missile platforms. Aircraft perform tasks like spying, bombing, and moving troops. Naval units operate on water-heavy planets and include destroyers, battleships, submarines, and carriers. Orbital units and satellites help with spying, transportation, and attacks across planets.

Late-game strategies often involve large-scale weapons. Players can build Halley engines on asteroids or moons to move them into other planets. Alternatively, Catalysts can be built on metal planets to activate the Annihilaser, a powerful energy weapon that can destroy entire worlds.

Planetary Annihilation focuses on planning large battles rather than controlling individual units. This design was inspired by the 1997 real-time strategy game Total Annihilation. The developers aimed to support up to one million active units during matches.

A match ends when a player’s final Commander is destroyed.

Development

Jon Mavor created the graphics engine for Total Annihilation and was the lead programmer for Supreme Commander. The game's art style was designed by Steve Thompson, who also worked on Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander. Voice actor John Patrick Lowrie, who provided all the narrations for Total Annihilation, also narrated Planetary Annihilation.

According to Mavor, the game's visualization began in May 2012, three months before the game was announced publicly. At that time, the game concept had been in development for about three years. The server and game engine technologies used for the game had also been developed for several years before the game was revealed. Some of the server technology was later used in PlayFab, Uber Entertainment's back-end server network.

Instead of seeking money from investors, Uber Entertainment, the developer of Planetary Annihilation, used Kickstarter, a crowdfunding website, to fund the game. The company announced the game to the public in August 2012, with a Kickstarter goal of $900,000. By the end of the campaign on September 14, the game had raised about $2,228,000 through Kickstarter and an additional $101,000 through PayPal.

Kickstarter listed Planetary Annihilation as the 11th project on its site to raise over $1 million, using it to showcase the success of games on the platform.

In August 2018, a new company called Planetary Annihilation Inc. was formed by the original developers of Planetary Annihilation and Kickstarter backers. This company acquired the rights to Planetary Annihilation and Planetary Annihilation: Titans. As of February 2021, the game continues to receive support, including balance changes and new units. The company also continues to support tournaments and seasonal events.

Release

The Alpha version of the game was released on June 8, 2013, for backers who supported the Alpha stage. Steam Early Access became available on June 13, 2013.

The Beta version was released on September 26, 2013. It was later made available to all original Kickstarter backers on November 19, 2013. The planned release date was delayed until early 2014.

Planetary Annihilation was officially released on September 5, 2014, for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems.

Planetary Annihilation: Titans, a separate expansion pack, was released on August 18, 2015. It includes 21 new units, five of which are titan-class units. It also introduces multi-level terrain, a bounty mode, and an improved tutorial.

Planetary Annihilation: Titans was given free to original Kickstarter backers from 2012. Other owners received a discount. The original version of Planetary Annihilation was taken off sale in September 2018.

Critical reception

Planetary Annihilation received different opinions when it was first released. Some people liked the game's big and creative idea. Others said it was hard to play and not fully finished. Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Brendan Caldwell wrote: "Planetary Annihilation is a modern and well-designed real-time strategy game made for fast and competitive players who use many keyboard shortcuts." PC Gamer's Emanuel Maiberg said the game had problems, including difficult-to-learn controls and technical issues. He wrote: "He believes there is a good and large real-time strategy game underneath the problems. He saw parts of it working well, but right now, he doesn't recommend the game without warning that it might be frustrating and disappointing, even if someone learns to play it on their own." IGN's Rob Zacny wrote: "The idea of robot armies fighting across a whole solar system doesn't work well when players have to manage many worlds at once."