Gallipoli Brings the Ottoman Fronts to the WW1 Game Series

At PAX East 2026, Gallipoli stood out by shifting attention to a part of World War I that rarely gets this level of focus. Instead of returning to the familiar Western Front, the game moves into the Ottoman campaigns, where beach landings, desert fighting, and urban battles define the experience. The setting alone changes how matches play out, but the approach still stays close to what the series has built over time.

During the interview on the show floor, the team explained that this direction comes from a long-running goal. Each entry in the series looks at a different front of the war, often ones that are overlooked. The move to Gallipoli and the wider Middle Eastern campaigns continues that pattern, bringing in new locations while keeping the same grounded style of combat.

A Different Side of World War I

The shift in setting changes more than just visuals. Battles move across coastal landings, dry terrain, and towns under pressure. You might start a match pushing forward from a beach with limited cover, then end up in tight streets where every corner matters.

The team pointed out that some of these areas, especially parts of the Mesopotamian front, had less historical material available, which made development more difficult. That gap meant more work to keep things accurate while still building maps that feel believable in play.

Squad Play Still Drives Everything

First-person view of a WW1 trench assault, a soldier lighting a grenade while teammates push forward through dust and gunfire in a narrow battlefield.

First-person view of a WW1 beach landing, soldiers rushing forward under fire as explosions hit the shoreline and a large ship looms in the background.

Even with the new setting, the core structure stays the same. Matches depend on players working as a group, with each role carrying weight. Officers direct movement, machine gunners hold positions, and support roles keep the team going when things fall apart.

Combat is built around slower, more deliberate actions. Weapons feel heavy, reloads take time, and positioning matters more than rushing forward. The developers described this as a balance between simulation and accessibility, with a strong focus on infantry combat and gun handling.

Gunplay and Scale

Two soldiers move through a разрушed urban battlefield, one in the foreground gripping a rifle and scanning ahead while another behind him gestures urgently, with debris, smoke, and fallen troops around them.

Officer on a WW1 beach battlefield pointing ahead while holding a pistol, directing soldiers advancing from a landing ship through smoke and scattered debris.

One area the team kept returning to was how much attention went into refining weapon behavior. Machine guns, in particular, have been adjusted to feel more stable and responsive compared to earlier entries. That focus shows up in matches where holding ground becomes just as important as pushing forward.

Matches support large player counts, with up to 50 players in multiplayer battles. Bots can fill empty slots, which keeps matches active and makes it easier to jump in without waiting for full lobbies.

Building on a Long-Running Series with Gallipoli

First-person view of a soldier reloading a rifle in a war-torn street, with teammates taking cover and firing as smoke and debris fill the area.

First-person view of a soldier charging across a desert battlefield with a rifle, following a squad advancing toward enemy trenches under fire and explosions.

Gallipoli is the fourth main entry in the WW1 Game Series, following Verdun, Tannenberg, and Isonzo. Each one focuses on a different front, and this release continues that structure rather than replacing it.

The development cycle for this entry took around three to four years, with the team also supporting previous titles at the same time. That ongoing support shapes how new entries are built, since ideas from earlier games are tested and adjusted before showing up again in a new setting.

Why Gallipoli Stood Out at PAX East 2026

Seeing the game in person made the setting shift clear right away. The pace of combat, the open terrain, and the reliance on squads all come together in a way that feels familiar if you know the series, but different enough to stand apart.

Gallipoli does not try to change the formula entirely. Instead, it moves the focus to a new front, adjusts how battles unfold, and keeps building on systems that have been in place for years.