Ubisoft announced that the next series of The Settlers will be released in September 2007. This is the sixth in the series from Blue Byte developers, after The Settlers: Heritage Of Kings. The new Settlers will also include the map editor, though The Settlers: Heritage Of Kings didn’t become so popular hope ‘Rise Of An Empire’ make the series stand up again. Some of the unique features of the game include

* The settlers interact with each other in a completely natural way and have wants and needs of their own.

* Female settlers appear for the first time in the series: Men and women fall in love with each other and marry.

* The world is divided into four climatic zones with changes of season and weather which influence expansion and resource gathering.

In this game, the player builds lively, bustling towns in a medieval world. Everything is visible, lovingly animated and realistic. Each settler has his or her own daily routine, with a range of different actions and behaviours that can be observed by the player at all times. This enables him to get the best out of his Settlers, build up a flourishing economy, tend to his settlers’ needs, and protect his empire against danger from the outside. By expanding his empire, the player can aspire to becoming a legendary king or queen. The most popular features of the predecessors in the series have been retained, and many of the fans desires and wishes were incorporated into the new game to create a very special Settlers atmosphere. The game features an immersive, yet transparent economic system based on the resources, wares and goods produced by the settlers in their various trades and occupations.