Silica, Bohemia Interactive's hybrid of real-time strategy (RTS) and first-person shooter (FPS), leaves Early Access and launches version 1.0 today, Monday, November 3, 2026, on Steam for PC. The release caps a journey that began in 2023 as the first title born in the Bohemia Incubator, the company's label for supporting independent creators.
A three-sided conflict on Baltarus
Set on the desert planet Baltarus, Silica pits three factions against each other over Balterium, a resource of immense energy value: the humans of Sol and Centauri and the planet's native aliens. The game's signature is its free change of perspective: players can command the army from above, like in a classic RTS, or take direct control of any unit on the battlefield, like in an FPS.
Centauri campaign
The headline addition in 1.0 is the Centauri story campaign, playable right from the main menu. It opens with a voiced introduction, features voiced mission briefings and in-mission dialogue, and tracks the war's progress on a three-dimensional globe showing territorial expansion between missions. Players can also save at any time, with automatic checkpoints as a safety net. The campaign debuts a new vehicle, the Centauri Jet Bike.
Four ways to play
Version 1.0 organizes the game into four modes: Strategy, cooperative Strategy with adjustable difficulty, Campaign, and the new 1v1 matchmaking, which lets players pick a faction, ban unwanted maps, and even face the same faction as their opponent, without relying on open servers.
Improvements and price
The package also improves troop command with formations, more precise movement orders, and quick selection by unit type, plus tweaks to shooting AI and vehicle movement. Sandbox tools have been expanded with Steam Workshop support for creating and sharing scenarios, and dedicated servers are more stable, with better detection of team killers.
Silica 1.0 is available now on Steam for PC for €24.99. Owners of the Early Access version receive the full update at no extra cost.
Image credit: official Silica press screenshot. © Bohemia Interactive / Bohemia Incubator, via POPTOPIC.
Transparency: this article was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence, cross-checked against public posts and online sources listed below. Please consult the original sources to confirm the details.
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Sources: ComboCaster; Steam; Worthplaying; POPTOPIC.
