At our FYNG show at gamescom, the developers of Ostwind: The Legend of Khiimori revealed new details about their upcoming horse game. Particular emphasis was placed on realism, especially when it comes to horse breeding.
Horse games seem to be booming at the moment. At least, that’s what the impressive player numbers suggest, which were released in the middle of last month by Japanese horse racing manager Umamusume: Pretty Derby on Steam, and clips from the game dominated social media feeds for several weeks.
Munich-based studio Aesir Interactive plans to capitalize on this trend later this year with the adventure game Ostwind: The Legend of Khiimori in November. In the latest installment, you play a young courier rider in 13th-century Mongolia, where you explore the vast steppe landscape with your animals and breed horses.
The latter mechanic in particular is set to play a major role in the new Ostwind, as horses were virtually the center of life for the Mongols at that time. During our big FYNG stage show at gamescom, the developers revealed more about how horse breeding works in Khiimori.
According to Aesir’s PR manager Adriano Nicolosi, the development team focused on realism when implementing the breeding program. For example, you can breed your horses over generations with the goal of achieving a specific appearance (coat color) or prioritize certain attributes.
If you want horses with the highest possible agility value, you’ll need to breed animals with high agility over several generations and train them with this attribute in mind. Only then will the best possible genes emerge in the end.
Breeding works similarly for attributes such as strength or cold resistance.
In Early Access, you cannot yet give your horses names of your own choosing, but this feature will be implemented in the final version of the game.
The game is being developed in Unreal Engine 5.
The open game world will offer you many different types of landscapes, as the real Mongolia is also very vast. From grassy steppes to snow-covered mountain ranges to the unforgiving Gobi Desert, you’ll find it all in the game. The developers emphasize that they have even implemented real scenic landmarks from Mongolia in the game.
However, you’ll have to wait a few more weeks before you can ride off yourself; The Legend of Khiimori is scheduled to launch in Early Access on November 4, 2025. A console version will follow after the PC release.
In the link box above, you’ll find more exciting announcements and videos directly from gamescom.