If a nuclear bomb goes off in Germany but nobody hears it explode, does a nuclear war start? Under most circumstances, I'd hope your answer to be 'did you hit your head', but during the rainy November of 1983, the world as we know it came dangerously close to ending thanks to bombs that didn't quite exist exploding.
The 1983 edition of the Able Archer exercise almost got a little too real, marking the last nuclear close call of the Cold War, and setting the scene for one of my most anticipated games of 2025. I am talking about '83, the spiritual successor to Rising Storm 2: Vietnam.
'83 was unveiled in 2019, but the initial hype quickly turned into panic as developer Antimatter Games folded in 2023. The survivors rebranded as Blue Dot Games, and with it came painful rounds of negotiations to acquire the '83 brand, and some do-or-die fundraising efforts. At one point, the studio was kept alive by a single Rising Storm 2 fan with deep pockets.
Of course, none of that matters now. In a move that surprised just about everyone, Blue Dot Games announced that '83 would be coming out in Q4...
