Northgard Battlegrounds isn’t a sequel — it’s a format gamble. Funday Games, the Finnish studio behind Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, is taking Shiro Games’ Viking universe and rebuilding it as an async city-building auto-battler. The open beta runs until July 15 as part of Steam TactiCon. It’s the only free window before Early Access.
An Unexpected Studio, a Familiar Universe
Shiro Games didn’t build Northgard Battlegrounds in-house. The game pairs Funday Games — known for DRG: Survivor’s roguelite depth dressed in accessible clothing — with Shiro Unlimited, Shiro Games’ new publishing label for third-party projects set in its IP universes.
The move follows a franchise extension logic more common in mobile than on PC: take the clans, Norse mythology, and resource systems that made Northgard work, strip out the RTS entirely, and rebuild in a format designed for a wider audience. The pitch is honest: Funday Games knows how to layer depth under accessibility, Shiro Unlimited brings the IP and the community.
What the Beta Actually Offers
The beta (July 9-15) gives access to two clans: Raven and Stag, both returning from original Northgard with their own warband stats and building synergies. The loop splits cleanly into two phases:
- Build phase: place 50+ structures on a grid map, manage Krowns and Lore, play Fate cards that modify building synergies, and earn blessings from 3 available patrons (Norse deities).
- Auto-battle phase: your warband fights automatically based on your settlement layout. Setup decides the outcome — reflexes don’t matter here.
The PvP is fully asynchronous. Neither player needs to be online at the same time, positioning the game closer to Clash Royale or Polytopia than to Teamfight Tactics. On PC, that’s a genuine differentiator — most PC auto-battlers still require simultaneous play sessions.
The Auto-Battler Bet: Credible or Trend-Chasing?
PC auto-battlers have a spotty track record since Dota Underlords. TFT survives on League’s back; most standalone attempts without a major IP have dissolved quickly. The question for Northgard Battlegrounds: does the Viking universe and city-building layer add real depth, or is it a skin on a generic loop?
The beta can’t fully answer that. The 50+ structures and Fate card variability suggest more serious design intent than a generic auto-battler. But reading the async competitive meta takes weeks of post-EA data, not a week-long beta.
What matters is whether the settlement layout leaves room for recovery after a bad round. The announced systems give that question more weight than the Viking theme: a convincing async game needs meaningful planning between battles, not just an attractive roster of clans.
Watch the two-clan balance closely: if Stag dominates Raven in most configurations, it signals an equilibrium problem that’ll only get worse with more clans in EA.
What to Decide Before July 15
Early Access launches sometime in 2026 — no specific date yet. The open beta is the only chance to form a real opinion at zero cost. Funday Games proved with DRG: Survivor that they can build games with genuine depth under an approachable surface. If the same principle applies here, Northgard Battlegrounds has a real shot where most PC auto-battlers have failed.
The beta is free on Steam until July 15, 2026. Search “Northgard Battlegrounds” directly in the Steam library or find it on the TactiCon hub.
More on the Northgard universe: Complete Northgard Viking RTS Guide 2026.
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