- Bot Colony to be officially retired Monday 28 September 2026 - 23 September 2026
Hi all, First we must extend a huge THANK YOU to everyone who played, wishlisted, or followed the original Bot Colony game. You're the reason we're still here and just over a month away from the release of Bot Colony Redux on Steam. ːsteamthumbsupː While it was interesting to preserve the old game as a historical artifact of sorts, the future is knocking and we want to open that door with a firm focus on the new game we've spent years creating. It became clear that two games existing in parallel, sharing the same name, was muddying the waters of discoverability and searches. To all those who added Bot Colony to their Wishlist over the years, we can promise you that Bot Colony Redux builds on the original game's premise and design with a ton of new content, beautiful modern presentation, and all the benefits of the latest NLU, LLM, and voice technology. It's fast, smooth, and responsive.…
- New Trailers, Multilingual Support, and Next Playtest - 14 May 2026
Greetings all,We're happy to announce the release of the official trailers for Bot Colony _Redux, along with new details regarding the game’s upcoming multilingual support and next Playtest. Here's the official trailer for Bot Colony _Redux. We also have a new, extended gameplay trailer showcasing lots of content. Language is one of the core gameplay mechanics of Bot Colony _Redux, and making the game playable in multiple languages — or even a mix of two languages — opens the door to creative, funny, and natural interactions for players around the world. Bot Colony _Redux is a multilingual sci-fi adventure where you can speak or type naturally to robots in English or 10 other languages. Play entirely in English — or mix languages for fun. Want to interrogate a robot in Korean, flirt badly in Spanish, argue in Russian, or switch between Portuguese and English mid-conversation? Go for it.…
- Bot Colony _redux News - 28 January 2026
Hi all, We have a development update today for the new year (pardon the radio silence!). Bot Colony _redux is making steady progress, leveraging improved technology to deliver new features.Robot refreshFollowing our sweeping, game-wide remaster of environments in every episode (exploiting several Unreal 5.6 features), we've now completed a similar refresh to all the robots and vehicles in the game. It's great to see this extra detail, with sophisticated shaders and nuances like weathered metal--making the bots feel more at home in their respective environment. Check out some examples in this post!Faster responseWe're refactoring our dialogue pipeline to better use streaming to reduce latency in dialogue. This should improve response times across the board. There's never been a game like Bot Colony _redux: you can tell our characters anything that's on your mind, gameplay-related or some…
- Sneak Peek at revamped Arrival Episode in Bot Colony _redux! 🏝️🤖 - 3 September 2025
Hello all! We are very pleased to share with you a few screenshots of our continuous hard work at reimagining Bot Colony with the tools and technology we have at our disposal today. Today's Spotlight: Arrival! And without further ado...Bot Colony _redux "Arrival" ScreenshotsWe hope you enjoy this sneak peek of Agrihan's lush new tropical landscapes and the airport's total make over, including the feisty kiosk bot, Tina, and Nakagawa plaza with its exotic domes and sea goddess projection.So, verdict: what do YOU think?We encourage you to visit our _redux page, participate in the FREE Playtest we have available, and share your feedback with us on our Discord server! 😄 Let us know your thoughts! - The North Side Team
- 🚀 Bot Colony redux Playtest Begins! - 2 August 2025
Welcome Playtesters!Thank you for your interest in the Bot Colony _redux Playtest. For this first phase of the Playtest, we have a slice of the game's third episode for you to sample (and feedback!). This episode takes place on an oil rig in the Pacific Ocean, recently abandoned by human staff and taken over by robots!Gameplay to Test: In this smaller version of the episode we've prepared for the Playtest, you'll start by flying a Hunter Bot over the oil rig to remove some pesky sentries before landing. After landing, you'll experience several of the early mission-related dialogue challenges that will be featured in the full game. We've enabled 11 of our bot characters for open ended conversation. Discover their personalities as you reveal the story! Keep your eyes peeled and your trigger finger ready, as hostile droids patrol the areas between the dialogue bots. If you get whacked by a…
- 2014 vs 2025 — Voice Recognition & AI Technology Improvements - 24 July 2025
Hey Bot Colony fans! We wanted to share a look at how Bot Colony _redux is evolving with a gameplay clip from our new Humanity Test, which will be part of the Playtest branch (sign up here!).This short scene features two AI interrogators testing whether a player is truly human or a synthetic impostor. The robots are suspicious, sarcastic, and in full control — and it all plays out through real-time mic or keyboard interaction.Here’s what’s improved since the original:✅ More expressive AI dialogue NPCs respond more naturally and stay in-character through complex back-and-forths — including interrogation logic, emotional tone shifts, and even insults (when they feel like it).✅ Voice input that actually matters Bot Colony _redux pushes voice interaction to the front. You speak, they listen, and they react according to what you say, and how you say it.✅ New level design with high-stakes int…
- Bot Colony _redux — Riot Gameplay Teaser - 9 July 2025
Welcome to the future of NPC interaction.In Bot Colony _redux, you don’t pick from scripted choices. You talk, and they respond intelligently. 🎤 Real-time voice dialogue with AI NPCs 🤖 No dialogue trees. No pre-written scripts. 🔍 Investigate and command. 🧠 Every word matters. This gameplay trailer showcases a first look at our AI-powered conversation system, rebuilt from the cult classic Bot Colony, now in Unreal Engine 5. 🎮 Wishlist Bot Colony _redux on Steam now! 🎮 Wishlist Bot Colony _redux on Steam now! 📢 Join the community: https://discord.gg/kkyTFYNb3Q 🧪 Demo out NOW, Playtest SOON — Apply now for your chance to play early!🌐 Learn more: https://botcolony.com
- 🚀 Bot Colony _redux: Humanity Test Demo is NOW LIVE! - 11 June 2025
We are thrilled (!) to invite you to try the first public demo of Bot Colony _redux as part of Steam Next Fest!This is your chance to experience our signature real-time AI-powered conversations with NPCs, with no dialogue trees and no scripts; just whatever YOU want to say!We’re currently hard at work on the upcoming Closed Beta, which will feature expanded content including factions, more mission depth, and richer interaction. Your feedback from this Demo will help shape what comes next.If you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to talk in a game and be understood, now’s the time! Give it a try and let us know what you think on our Discord.🤖 See you in Bot Colony.
- Ready for the FREE demo of Bot Colony _redux? - 3 June 2025
AI-driven communication with NPCs were recently featured in a high-profile Unreal Engine demo. But this vision has deep roots in indie development, too. Bot Colony _redux is our reimagining of the 2014 cult classic Bot Colony, fully rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5. It features real-time voice conversations with NPCs in a unique sandbox-style AI interaction system, because we believe intelligent, unscripted storytelling deserves a bigger spotlight. If you’re curious to try the updated version of Bot Colony (for FREE!), a demo is launching next week during Steam Next Fest next Monday, on June 9th. We’d love to hear your thoughts! 💬 Join the discussion on our Discord https://store.steampowered.com/app/3664740/Bot_Colony__redux_Humanity_Test/
- 📣 Bot Colony _redux Dev Update – Visual Leap Before & After - 23 May 2025
We are excited to share a sneak-peek into the visual transformation our game has seen over the past months and years of hard work! 🤩 Without further ado... ta-da! 🥳 What you see here is a 1:1 comparison of the same scene, one from earlier in development, and the other a completely rebuilt version with richer atmosphere and striking details to bring our immersive storytelling to life. This is not only a comprehensive update to models, textures, and level design, it's a complete artistic reimagining powered by Unreal Engine 5.5 with a special focus on Lumen dynamic lighting, which we hope you will appreciate. This is from a brand new level previously unseen created to highlight how far we’ve come since the original Bot Colony's release. It takes place on a huge off-shore oil rig in the Pacific that you can freely explore, with huge replayability value* and with our latest visual updates…
- 🚨 Big News 🚨 FREE Bot Colony _redux Demo and Closed Beta - 16 May 2025
Whether you're a long-time fan of the original or totally new to the world of advanced natural language interaction with robots, this is your chance to experience a taste of what's coming. The demo features the same groundbreaking vision we've always shared — now with improved tech and updated visuals, powered by Unreal Engine 5! 🧠 Speak with robots, investigate mysteries and test the limits of AI conversation. It’s all back and better than ever — now featuring an exciting collaboration between OpenAI services and our own homemade Natural Language Processing technology! 💬 Join our community on Discord Want to connect with other fans, share your thoughts on the demo, or talk directly with the dev team? 👉 Join our Discord here We’re building an active community and would love to have you on board! 🧪 Sign Up for the Closed Beta – Starts June 16! We’re also launching a closed beta on Ju…
- Goodbye Bot Colony, hello Bot Colony _redux! - 5 May 2025
Thank you for your support! It will soon be 11 years since Bot Colony was launched - that's a LONG time, and I don't know how many of you still remember the game. I thank everybody who played Bot Colony and gave us money and/or feedback, positive or negative. We worked on the game from 2009 to 2014, and at that time, Bot Colony was ahead of its time, technology-wise. We underestimated the project scope and had to part with 40 people from a team of 45. Those customers who saw the promise and became fans inspired us to keep going. We never gave up on Bot Colony and kept working on the game, with a much smaller team. This page just went up https://store.steampowered.com/app/3613080/Bot_Colony__redux/ Plan going forward Shortly, we plan to retire Bot Colony. We look forward to participating in the Steam Next Fest on June 9 with the free Bot Colony _redux demo. On June 16, we plan to kick of…
- Updated SSL certificates. - 20 March 2023
Old SSL certificates had expired.
- Upcoming Bot Colony on Unreal - another sneak peek - 7 December 2021
Grabbing objects in Unreal 5 Bot Colony was released on Early Access in June 2014. It was built on top of the Havok Vision engine. To get a character to grab an object, we had to start with an FK ( Forward Kinematics, like extend arm to reach the vase) animation and switch to IK (Inverse Kinematics, like grab the vase ) in the middle of the motion. Fast forward 7 years, and now Unreal 5 features FBIK (full-body Inverse Kinematics). FBIK means that when you reach for something, the whole body adjusts (like bending your knees and leaning forward to grab an object that's a bit far). Here's a developer-generated video of finger placement tests in Unreal 5 - there was not much of that in Vision. Placing the fingers on something you grab is a more difficult detail in IK implementations. In this video, Jimmy breaks his wrist when he grabs an object (we'll fix that!), but finger placement looks…
- Bot Colony on Unreal - progress to date - 5 May 2021
We're not just porting Bot Colony to Unreal, we're developing a new, better game. Owners of Bot Colony on Vision will get access for free to the new game (Bot Colony Redux, or some other name). Bot Colony on Unreal will be crisper, faster and more responsive than on Vision. Dialogue, the key distinguishing feature of our game, is a huge challenge. The completely open dialogue in Bot Colony (say whatever you want) was a recipe for trouble - the robots often didn't understand what players said, which inspired many videos, some funnier than others. Understanding language - the key promise of this game, is also the hardest problem to solve. The Redux game will be score-based, and you'll want to be ranked higher on the ladder. We'll reward success in getting through to robots, as well as contributions of knowledge about everyday life. With the Sandbox (thanks to those who provided feedback!)…
- Feedback on the Sandbox - 28 October 2020
You can help by answering the Questions after watching the video, thanks! This is initial concept for the Sandbox setting (initially, next to the Intruder house) and the mood. The basic theme is a robot/android party where you can do fun things. It's a sandbox that you control (alone or with others). We plan to start this as single-player with Jimmy and his friends, and evolve to multi-player (2-4 players). We'd appreciate hearing back - wishes, ideas, comments, any feedback you'd care to offer about how you could have fun with this Sandbox. QUESTIONS Any examples of what a character should be able to do? What commands, animations and objects are needed? How do you imagine the verbal interaction between the characters? How should a player influence a character's performance? How important to upload your own characters, objects and your own animations (all accessible through language)? W…
- First peek at upcoming Riot; The Sandbox - 26 September 2020
FIRST PEEK AT RIOT Each Bot Colony episode is a stand-alone game with its own setting, a chapter in the story. Riot follows Intruder and Arrival. It was never released before and will be published directly on Unreal. Riot continues the Bot Colony adventure - the Hunter Bot on which you left the Airport makes an emergency landing on the Oil Rig. The abandoned Oil Rig comes into view as you approach As soon as you land, you encounter the natives (they haven't made it to UE4 yet :) You'll realize you landed in the middle of a robot mutiny You'll probably end up here and you'll have to prove you're human in order to survive If you survive, other exciting places await you, and you'll hopefully manage to get out of them. if you do, you'll be on your way to the exciting Old Village, where robots try to 'do as people do' . PLAYING IN THE SANDBOX Some players complained that Intruder was about c…
- Progress on Bot Colony port to Unreal - 28 May 2020
The Bot Colony airport upper level looks nice and crisp in UE4. We brought our Ayame character from Intruder into the airport lower level to test porting animations from the Vision version (in the previous announcement, we used Mixamo animations) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NhM-eSTK8B9roFB3jKJnQ8K7T1ZGGWiU/view?usp=sharing We'll continue to keep you posted on our progress.
- Bot Colony on the Unreal engine - 11 April 2020
As the Bot Colony original engine (Havok Vision) was discontinued, switching engine was mandatory in order to launch any new episodes. It just didn't make sense to us to make the big investment required for Riot and beyond with a discontinued engine. We've done some tests towards continuing Bot Colony development on the Unreal engine. Below, Ayame and Masaya can be commanded in simple English to interact with their environment, similarly to how robots are commanded (for now, this is done with Mixamo animations dispatched by typing or speaking). Controlling human characters through voice or text has cool applications, see Say It, See It! on our website at http://northsideinc.com/index.php/products/ This shows how vibrant the Intruder level looks in Unreal 4 Bot Colony developments always took long so we're can't make any schedule commitments at this point. We did get tons of feedback in…
- Bot Colony Major Update - 27 March 2019
Sorry it took so long! We’ve made some significant improvements. Please read KNOWN PROBLEMS - we need your feedback! We made the call to give you something NOW, even if not all the polish we wanted is there. NEW FEATURES You no longer lose your progress in Arrival after 1 - 2 hours of play, which was frustrating. Arrival is now more playable, though it's far from where we want it to be. There are 4 checkpoints ( coded speech here to avoid spoilers): you get your Virtual Assistant, find blue, find green, 20?. This took TONS of work: we needed to save the game state, messages you receive, position of objects, events that happened – before a checkpoint. Several Known Problems come with this feature, please see below. The game is faster, more responsive. However, during checkpoint save you'll think the game is frozen. It's not - wait a few seconds if you typed a command or asked question an…
