Homeworld Remastered Collection
Homeworld Remastered Collection
Game
Game2016
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak
Developer Blackbird Interactive
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is a real-time strategy video game developed by Blackbird Interactive and published by Gearbox Software. The game was released on January 20, 2016, and is a prequel to the 1999 space-based real-time strategy video game Homeworld. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
301 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon, Lemmy) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
73
Fresh
140 positive · 53 negative
95% range 66–78%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 140 | 53 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 25 | 2 | 56 |
| Mastodon * | 2 | 1 | 12 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 9 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
1 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
4,742 of 6,081 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
72% recommend · 134 yes, 51 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 185 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mostly Positive (7,095 of 8,947 positive).
Players praise the game's atmosphere and story, which expand the Homeworld universe. [1][2][3] Some reviewers complain about forced Epic Games integration and data mining. [4][5][6] A few players note the campaign is short and the desert maps become repetitive. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [5]
This game pushes epic games down your throat. I bought it from steam because I hate epic but steam says they cant do anything about it. Im gonna try to refund but wont go through because 3hours on record. Its funny how if you dont play enough of a game your review is laughed at but if you have enough time on it youve played to much for a refund. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ridiculous.
- [2]
The best "grounded" RTS in years. Recommended Taking a legendary space-opera franchise and putting it on the ground was a huge risk, but Deserts of Kharak sticks the landing. It manages to feel like Homeworld despite the lack of a Z-axis, largely thanks to its incredible atmosphere and "Carrier-as-Mothership" gameplay. What makes it shine: The Atmosphere: The scale of the desert, the wind-swept dunes, and the …
- [20]
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is a real-time strategy game developed by Blackbird Interactive and published by Gearbox Publishing that boldly reimagines the essence of the Homeworld series by shifting its iconic three-dimensional space warfare onto the harsh, ground-bound deserts of Kharak. Serving as a narrative prequel, the game explores events that occur generations before the original Homeworld, grounding its …
- [8]
Translating the epic space strategy formula onto vast, sandy dunes makes for a stunning and unique sci-fi backdrop. Controlling massive land cruisers and armies across shifting terrain feels genuinely tactical and immersive. However, the flat desert maps can get repetitive, and the campaign pacing loses steam about halfway through.
- [1]
This should be considered a neutral review. There is a lot to love here, but also a fair share of frustrations that keep it from fully reaching its potential. The lore is genuinely interesting, and the tone of the narrative feels very much like something that could have been released in the 1980s, serious, atmospheric, and filled with a sense of mystery and survival. The story does a great job of expanding the …
Summarised from 34 of the 278 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 9, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak sits at 73% positive across 193 opinionated reactions from 4 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak has received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, scoring 79/100 on Metacritic. Mark Steighner of Hardcore Gamer gave the game a 4 out of 5 saying, "Homeworld: Desert of Kharak is an accessible and well-made strategy game with outstanding production values and a legitimate claim to being part of the legendary franchise." Patrick Hancock from Destructoid rated the game a 7.5/10 saying, "the campaign is well executed for veterans and newbies alike, proving that over a decade without Homeworld is far too long." IGN awarded it a score of 8.8 out of 10, calling it a "deep, exciting, varied RTS with all the right tools." Zach Turnbull from Gone With The Win…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 301 · most liked first"All stations green... all systems green... what a beautiful sight." "This is Fleet Command... Stand by release control... The Mothership has cleared the scaffold... we are away." Still one of the most glorious opening sequences to a game. 📺: Homeworld, Relic Entertainment, 1999.
positive · AI labelView post →After 7 years of development with a friend, our space fleet strategy game Space Reign is finally out on Steam. 🚀🪐 Inspired by Homeworld and The Expanse. Command fleets or take direct control of individual ships in 3D space battles. #indiegame #gamedev
neutral · AI labelView post →Hoii, it's the 25th anniversary of the release of the landmark space RTS game of the late 90s: HOMEWORLD. Jeez. I get shivers thinking back to playing this for the first time. My PC at the time couldn't run it that well, but that didn't stop me from getting sucked into its story and gameplay.
positive · AI labelView post →Homeworld: Cataclysm was released 26 years ago. This stand-alone expansion of the 1999 game wasn't developed by Relic Entertainment, but Barking Dog Studios (Treasure Planet: Battle at Procyon, 2002). This game is now available on @gog.com as Homeworld: Emergence.
neutral · AI labelView post →My favorite insane Treasure Planet fact is there's a tie in video game and for some inexplicable reason it was given to the same studio who made, uh, Homeworld: Cataclysm - aka, one of the all time greatest space strategy games EVER MADE - and the Treasure Planet game is good IN THE SAME WAY.
neutral · AI labelView post →Free Steam Keys. Hey Lemmy, I have some Steam + other keys that I have laying around that I never used / will never use. Some of them are probably already claimed from friends. Take what you want, but let me know what keys are already claimed / claimed by you and I'll remove them from the list. Enjoy! **NON STEAM** ~~Displate 40% off discount code Redemption Key: EK18B9B4~~ ~~Displate Discount Code 40% off Redemption Key: CW36F543~~ ~~Fanatical Wheel Spin spin to win Redemption Key:…
neutral · AI labelView post →Era One just launched into early access. A Homeworld-like RTS by one of the big original Homeworld mod teams, with modular customizable ships. The demo had a surprising amount of modes and features. Really excited to see how this one pans out.
neutral · AI labelView post →It’s a different thing BUT it is awesome that Homeworld waits until the very end to roll out a seven minute jam written by Yes just for the game
positive · AI labelView post →Homeworld is 25 today! Yes, this fantastic space strategy game is a quarter of a century old 🤯 And if you've never played it, get the 2015 Homeworld Remastered Collection, which is often very inexpensive. 😌
positive · AI labelView post →it's #portfolioday! I'm Mike, illustrator, graphic designer, writer, and game designer. I was the lore master for Stratosphere games for five years, writing for Homeworld mobile and two other titles. looking for work now! casually designing board games since I think about that a lot.
neutral · AI labelView post →2K Games changed their privacy policy in November 2025. They now have an automatic data miner in their games, selling our information to anyone interested. No games from them. Don't play games you already own; let them go bankrupt.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →We are now playtesting for HOMEWORLD SONG. Wanna join? A solo journaling TTRPG about an alien's grand odyssey from their homeworld of Aern to the invasion of Earth. It’s a game about finding out who you truly are in the face of unimaginable tragedy -- and surviving.
neutral · AI labelView post →COVER REVEAL for the solo journalling game that we're including inside The Last Caravan's next expansion: Homeworld Song! It’s a game about finding out who you (an alien) truly are in the face of unimaginable tragedy (your world dying).
neutral · AI labelView post →It would be an absolute dream of mine to work on a game like Homeworld. Or Starfield. Or just concepting spaceships in general. If you know of any opportunities that a portfolio like mine would fit, please let me know!
neutral · AI labelView post →I share this every time I mention homeworld but, like... Okay, so, in the Homeworld RPG, they just told the artist to go "okay, draw Adora, please" for the Taiidani pilot?
neutral · AI labelView post →One of my favorite things about the Homeworld video game is that you fight this gigantic empire and then midway through the game it turns out that they’re not even the biggest one, lol
positive · AI labelView post →And just like that... 120+ game soundtracks are available via Bandcamp: lacedrecords.bandcamp.com Inc. Civilization VII, Remedy games, Gears of War, Borderlands, Devolver Digital games, Homeworld, RuneScape, Warhammer, Vampire Survivors and many more. #bandcampfriday #bandcamp
neutral · AI labelView post →SOLARCRAWL: Let's talk rockets The game orbits around the Homeworld. Your planet is dying, and your people have put everything they have to spare into their space program, in hope of finding answers on other worlds. The memorial wall on the sheet back indicates how dangerous this will be. 1/4
neutral · AI labelView post →Ah, nice - looks like Era One (a Homeworld-esque RTS by veteran Homeworld modders) removed the AI voice acting from early demos/prototypes. They said it was a placeholder but it seems they decided it was better just going without entirely. Game looks neat. I need to pick it up sometime.
positive · AI labelView post →This game pushes epic games down your throat. I bought it from steam because I hate epic but steam says they cant do anything about it. Im gonna try to refund but wont go through because 3hours on record. Its funny how if you dont play enough of a game your review is laughed at but if you have enough time on it youve played to much for a refund. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ridiculous.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →it wants to install epic on my computer which I don't want.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →they want 50 bucks for an old out of date game worth maybe 20, and they mine your data. Harrrd no to them and all their titles...
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Homeworld was heavy inspiration how our own game "The Hive" works. I always loved the idea that your army carries over from one mission to another. #gamedev #indiegame
neutral · AI labelView post →It has not been too productive a week for me and it's entirely due to the Masada playtest this game takes all the best parts of Kenshi, Homeworld, and EVE Online and combines them into what promises to be a magnificent single player/coop sandbox
positive · AI labelView post →I only have the disc (and the manual, somewhere) but the #RandomGameSaturday is Homeworld on the PC! Beautiful and with an amazingly intuitively 3d movement system, I played the demo to excess. With the full game I got stuck (I did go back and beat it!) but I had SO MANY mods. B5 and Trek!
positive · AI labelView post →thinking about the video game Homeworld, and ludonarrative consonance and the way gameplay becomes a part of narrative, because for me, Homeworld was a tragedy! They didn't make it. It's... weird, like, in my head that's how I remember the narrative:
neutral · AI labelView post →Just started Hardspace: Shipbreaker and it's already the best damn Homeworld game I've ever played
positive · AI labelView post →This should be considered a neutral review. There is a lot to love here, but also a fair share of frustrations that keep it from fully reaching its potential. The lore is genuinely interesting, and the tone of the narrative feels very much like something that could have been released in the 1980s, serious, atmospheric, and filled with a sense of mystery and survival. The story does a great job of expanding the Homeworld universe while still standing on its own, and the beautifully animated…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Always online epic games software essential in order to play the game ever since 2023, scummy utterly avoidable "addition" to the game, if you have to get it please wait for a massive sale, 75%+ sale, this sort of behavior is completely unacceptable imo.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Homeworld junkies rejoice, brilliantly brutal sci-fi strategy sim Nebulous is finally getting its singleplayer campaign. Nebulous: Fleet Command's singleplayer campaign leaves the silo in May alongside a campaign editor and a 4K graphics update.
neutral · AI labelView post →Updates broke the game so that it is now impossible to control grouped units. We also now have to put up with Epic Service spyware which is NOT mentioned anywhere in the installation details.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Something I'm working on for my Homeworld game.
neutral · AI labelView post →has to be launched through epic for some reason now
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am willing to bet literally hundreds of dollars that if you got a Homeworld 3 dev in a room and they could say anything, they'd say, "Oh it's cause they tried to make it a live service game"
negative · AI labelView post →10 female characters to get to know me: Video Game Edition! 1. Karan S'jet (Homeworld) 2. Link (IYKYK) 3. Viconia (BG1, 2&3😭) 4. Alyx (HL2) 5. Farah (Prince of Persia) 6. Kerrigan (Starcraft) 7. Beat (Unbeatable) 8. Glory (Shadowrun: Dragonfall) 9. Visas Marr (KOTOR2) 10. Penny (ENDLESS MONDAY)
neutral · AI labelView post →but anyway the creators of Homeworld: Cataclysm made a tie in video game called Treasure Planet: Battle at Procyon and it's bizarrely fuckin' good?
positive · AI labelView post →As a note, one of the greatest sci-fi stories ever put to video games (possibly all mediums) is also an expac, and it's Homeworld: Cataclysm, a game so good I can and would teach a course using it as one of the central examples of "how to write sci-fi sequels"
positive · AI labelView post →Homeworld junkies rejoice, brilliantly brutal sci-fi strategy sim Nebulous is finally getting its singleplayer campaign. Nebulous: Fleet Command's singleplayer campaign leaves the silo in May alongside a campaign editor and a 4K graphics update.
neutral · AI labelView post →the thing I know is never, ever, ever going to happen is Kill Count games kill counting Homeworld Cataclysm IT'S A HORROR GAME, YOU CAN DO IT
neutral · AI labelView post →Post a game you've beaten more than once! There is a lot to pick from but I'm going with Homeworld.
positive · AI labelView post →You can make a solid case Homeworld 2 is a better game mechanically, but HW1's story and the realization of its own story are head and shoulders above it.
positive · AI labelView post →17) Homeworld and Homeworld 2 were the games that really helped my brain understand a sense of scale. store.steampowered.com/app/244160/H... I love every game in the series
positive · AI labelView post →Drop a ship(s) that's not from Star Wars or Star Trek: Kushan Mothership from the game Homeworld
neutral · AI labelView post →Homeworld Remastered (PC) 3440 x 1440p. 
neutral · AI labelView post →Get to know me, Game Edition First Game: old MS-DOS game which name I don't remember Last Game: Rimworld Favorite Game: Homeworld series (minus the 3rd), Dishonored 1 & 2, Disco Elysium, Cities Skylines Worst Game: DA: Veilguard Game I've Played the Most: Apex Legends Most Surprising: Stray Gods
positive · AI labelView post →Forces Online Connection to even access Campaigns or Skirmishes, regardless of it being Single-player. This exact same behavior happens if you have Epic Online Services being blocked via hosts file or some other method. Let alone how it also installs those trash services upon first launch script without being listed by Steam as something that would happen. I have zero interest in ever buying anything again from Blackbird Interactive because of this behavior.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am not enjoying it. I am a die-hard Homeworld fan and respect and admire the artistry of the originals. This game? It's not homeworld. You cannot compare being in space and the numinous awe that brings with being on a flat desert wasteland that perennially looks the same each and every mission. It's bizarre to be able to compare it to being in the void of space every mission and claim in seriousness that the latter still has more visual interest. Combat is annoying, it's a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After downloading and installing the game, be prepared to wait another 20 minutes while it downloads and installs tons of "Epic Store" crap that wasn't mentioned anywhere. Then, Steam can't launch the game; it actually launches an Epic Games launcher which in turn tries to launch the game... and often crashes. Once it has crashed (which it also does after you've "successfully" closed the game, BTW), Steam insists the game is still running and can't be launched again (because it's looking for…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game used to run as a single program. Now the publisher has baked their own proprietary launcher into it so you would have to install YET ANOTHER LAUNCHER to play it. I don't know why insist on this lunacy.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I want a new Homeworld game 😔🛰️🚀✨
neutral · AI labelView post →Lester W. Smith, Traveller 2300: Earth/Cybertech Sourcebook: Adventure at Man's Homeworld, Game Designers' Workshop, 1989. Cover: Janet Aulisio. #LesterSmith #JanetAulisio #Traveller #cyberpunk #roleplaying
neutral · AI labelView post →It is said that there are a few games in a person's lifetime that will leave a lasting impression. Deserts of Kharak is one of them for me. I'm way too young to have known the frenzy that followed the original Homeworld release, but I got to playing them growing up. Sure, DoK may be janky at times, the campaign *may* be a bit short but the void I felt after finishing it for the first time is something I'll always remember. The burning sands of Kharak are overtaking the world that our…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →message to devs ...................../´¯/) ....................,/¯../ .................../..../ ............./´¯/'...'/´¯¯`·¸ ........../'/.../..../......./¨¯\ ........('(...´...´.... ¯~/'...') .........\.................'...../ ..........''...\.......... _.·´ ............\..............( ..............\.............\.. please dont add additional launcher just to play a game
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Alright, lab rats, it's time for the most recent (...eight years old...) game in the Homeworld series - Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak! This time, we're not even in space! www.twitch.tv/docvivileandra #vtuber #envtuber #vtuberen
neutral · AI labelView post →Online requirement just to play Single Player. Screw EOS.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I know nothing about this game other than what's on its Steam page but it's a Homeworld-like grand strategy game and got interested... then I saw a screenshot showing burn time planning for orbits and was immediately sending people the Archer/Krieger "stop, my penis can only get so erect" meme
neutral · AI labelView post →picked up Homeworld again as a mouse-based game that’s playable with one hand in a cast, and man, just thinking of the hold that that opening cinematic had on a certain type of person of a certain age.
positive · AI labelView post →I mean in a way this is exciting, sure. In particular if they do this in a somewhat eco-friendly fashion, that is, it's **just** about the box and the manual and all that. No actual disc/thumbdrive/whatever. Granted GOG in particular would be in a position where they can do this due to their installers, but it'd still be absurd materials and logistics-wise, in particular old-style big box PC releases. To add, I just recently finally got rid of the last of my old PC games boxes like…
neutral · AI labelView post →"May the blood-sand quiet the great slumber of Sajuuk." Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak, or “Homeworld: Zero” as this one guy I know likes to call it. Is the fourth game in the Homeworld series and the prequel to Homeworld 1. Taking place some century or so before Homeworld, you’re stuck on that dusty ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Kharak before it became a really hot, rocky ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Every year, the deserts get bigger, and places to live get smaller, its estimated that in about 350 years there’s probably just not…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →---{Graphics}--- ☑ You forget what reality is ☐ Beautiful ☐ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ Paint.exe ---{Gameplay}--- ☐ Very good ☑ Good ☐ It‘s just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Starring at walls is better ☐ Just don‘t ---{Audio}--- ☐ Eargasm ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ Earrape ---{Audience}--- ☐ Kids ☑ Teens ☑ Adults ☑ Human ☐ Lizards ---{PC Requirements}--- ☐ Check if you can run paint ☐ Potato ☑ Decent ☐ Fast ☐ Rich boiiiiii ☐…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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