March of Giants goes back to MOBA's roots, and its giant-filled, alt-WW1 world doesn't feel out of time 

Aaron Down Guides writer
Published: October 1, 2026

Real-time strategy games were once a jewel of the competitive gaming world. Age of Empires, Command and Conquer, Starcraft, and Warcraft 3 stood as monoliths of the era, with the best of the best exuding a level of macrotactical prowess that was, even to genre journeymen, dizzying. Simultaneously, an evolution was underway, one which would shift the focus from commanding massive forces, and towards dominating with a central hero. Custom RTS maps like Aeon of Strife and Defense of the Ancients (the OG DOTA) concocted the formula, laying the foundations of the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) that has since risen to prominence.

As someone who spent their youth marauding with Mongols in Age of Empires 2, and an unhealthy amount of their adult life having their screen turn grey in League of Legends, I've been waiting a long, long time for a game that not only encompasses the rich tapestry that flows from RTS to MOBA, but brings a Thanos-esque balance to the importance of both the hero and the commander. Having been flown out to playtest Ubisoft Montreal's upcoming free-to-play MOBA/RTS hybrid, March of Giants, I've been colored a shimmering shade of impressed by how it manages to turn back the clock, while remaining lockstep with modernity.

March of Giants, at first glance, follows many of the standard MOBA conventions. You have your typical three-lane map layout, with various objectives placed between them, such as Bulldozers that can break down defenses, and the roving Abomination blimp (MoG's Baron Nashor) that yields a powerful cannon when destroyed. The win con is simple: destroy two of the three bastions stationed at the end of each lane, though you'll have to get through a defensive outpost en route.

The titular giants, in many cases, don't re-invent the wheel either. They're born out of the dreams and nightmares of the people, which in the First World War era - the game's setting - naturally encompasses much of the supernatural fascination that emerged as Europe became more secular. While you have your conventional lycanthrope and lych, the Montreal team has already dabbled beyond its scope with the anachronistically Lovecraftian Voidmaster - classic magical realism. Of course, the steampunk stylings and existence of these towering behemoths already present an alternative enough take on history, but what I'm ultimately trying to get at here is that you won't be wondering 'what the hell is that?' when you get to the giant selection screen; at least, for the most part.

Likewise is the case with their kits, particularly if you're coming from other MOBAs. Trench Maw, which I immediately highlighted as a ghastlier version of the Cart Titan from Attack on Titan, is able to burrow underground before re-emerging to deal damage like League of Legends' Rek'Sai. Likewise, the beast can activate a Rammus-esque shell that soaks damage, though instead of reflecting attacks, it stores them and explodes, similarly to Sion's Soul Furnace. It's not all paraphrasing, of course, as you'll find plenty of unique abilities, including those tied to the battlefield and troops, throughout - more on that later.

While it's easy to look at all of this as a mere riff on what's come before, it's crucial to have these points of translation. All of this familiarity makes for a far more approachable transition from the games I already play, which was evident in how little time it took me to grasp how many of the giants were supposed to be piloted. It's all very well executed, and giants maintain strong individual identities that I'm sure players will resonate with. This also allowed me to focus on getting up to snuff with the extra gameplay layers the studio has introduced.

In the pre-playtest briefing, Ubisoft Montreal Creative Director Xavier Marquis explained that without bringing anything new to the table, March of Giants would be "dead" out of the gates. It's an unsurprising show of self-awareness, considering how competitive the market is. LoL and DOTA 2 have already hoovered up most of the MOBA segment. Smite 2 1.0 is launching at some point this decade… hopefully, and Valve's entered the ring with the third-person shooter-infused Deadlock. RTS diehards, meanwhile, are still playing games that are decades old, evidenced by the thriving Age of Empires competitive scene, and last year's excellent Tempest Rising. What March of Giants does is the gaming equivalent of integrating the arts into STEM (call that STEAMpunk), and it does so convincingly.

In March of Giants, your troops are your most important resource. They are foundational to every action you take. A full complement can deal major damage to a giant if they connect, so having a man advantage automatically gives you a one-up when trading blows. Vision wards aren't a thing in MoG, so you rely on dispatching smaller groups of troops to scout your surroundings; troops that can easily be stomped and lost to an assailant in the nearby shrubbery. You can also direct them to gather up Merits, the currency required to buy items for your giant, and resource crates without having to move your character, allowing you to focus on maintaining proper positioning. Most importantly, you need to rush troops into enemy towers and bastions before you can safely attack them.

Troops can be replenished either by moving into an incoming wave or by calling in a hotdrop via the rock-paper-scissors-esque Battleworks system. This allows you to spend resource crates in return for various deployables that can fundamentally alter the battlefield. The defensive trenches, manned bunkers, tanks, and even cavalry charges that are also available can have a dramatic impact. For example, early on, we're taught to place a defensive trench in front of a bunker, as the dugout can slow the enemy advance. Tanks are effectively super minions, but you need to be mindful of how you use them, as they yield Merits when destroyed. There's enough here for a solid tactical foundation, without overwhelming you with choice.

One major concern I had when first diving in pertained to how heavy MoG would feel in terms of mental stack with all of these RTS elements baked in, but I feel the Montreal team has excelled so far in daintily walking the tightrope between genres. Where you don't need to worry about last hitting creep after creep, you now have bandwidth to manipulate your troops. The strength of your character, in isolation, is tied mostly to Merits, and therefore items, so you can roam the map as you wish without needing to consider potential XP loss. The jigsaw pieces fit, and while I'm still too inexperienced to get the full picture, I'm liking what I'm seeing so far.

As I allude to throughout this preview, where March of Giants really stands out is in how it focuses on economy. In one game, I went 22/3 and lost. The issue I ran into was that, whenever it was time to challenge for a neutral objective, or to try and open up an enemy structure, I was always out of troops and couldn't convert my lead to the team. MoG espouses the famous frontispiece from Hobbes' Leviathan: the image of a giant crowned figure with a body made up by the masses. I was, ultimately, reduced to a glorified stat-padder without the support of my soldiers - the social contract in motion. You can't think of MoG like other MOBAs, nor RTS games, and that's the fundamental point that the devs have made so eloquently.

Considering the strength of the link between MoG's gameplay pillars - giants, soldiers, and the environment - giants that make the best use of their ant-like allies can be incredibly potent. Take Solace, for example. The healer's ability to convert enemy troops into his own like a souped-up Age of Empires monk feels completely busted. It effectively cheats both economy and tempo, granting the powerful support the means to continue pushing lanes and setting up trades alongside his allies. The counterplay, as I quickly learned, is to stop sending your battalion after him, and to wait until he's out of manpower to strike. It's easy to mindlessly send soldiers rushing forward, but giants like Solace ensure you're constantly thinking beyond your own positioning and considering that of your legion.

Dreadnought is another great example of how MoG connects its core tenets. Not only can he build bunkers faster than other giants, but if he's close enough to them when using certain abilities, the bunkers will also come into play. Dreadnought's efficacy, then, is tied to his ability to gobble up resource crates. When it comes to drafting a dream team comp, you'll want to avoid taking too many giants who are greedy in this regard.

Indeed, from only a day's worth of play there is already so much to think about when it comes to March of Giants; I'd expect nothing less from a game like this. I felt right at home, revelling in the delights of two of my favorite genres. March of Giants' DNA makeup is clear to see, but the way Ubisoft Montreal is iterating and innovating on its MOBA and RTS influences brings an exciting freshness to the fore.

Even the total newbies who had never touched RTS or MOBA were starting to click by the end of the session, and this is the segment that I'm sure the Montreal team will be paying special attention to. I don't need to be persuaded to play as I'm already very much aligned. Marquis tells me MoG has two game directors so that one can lead the charge on onboarding. This showcases just how much effort the studio's putting into breaking down the information overload that often puts people off strategy games in general.

Equally, the sky appears to be the limit when it comes to MoG's skill ceiling. As I write, the cogs of possibility are still whirring. There are so many more things I want to try (I learned of some devious tech over dinner), which I didn't think of during the playtest. The worst part of the experience was having to leave the studio, knowing it'd be some time before I got to jump back in and make use of my newfound knowledge. When MoG was announced last year, I said that, conceptually, it was about as close to a perfect 'me' game as it gets, and my trip across the pond has only cemented that notion.

Keep scrolling for next article