Independent Australian studio The Tea Division has announced that Vanguard Exiles, the strategic auto-battler designed in collaboration with Richard Garfield — the creator of Magic: The Gathering — will officially launch into Version 1.0 on Steam on February 4, 2027. It’s the culmination of a nearly two-year journey through Early Access, and the studio is framing it not as a finish line but as the start of the game’s next chapter.
Blending deep board-game strategy with competitive auto-battling, Vanguard Exiles casts players as Generals commanding their own unique Squads across a constantly shifting battlefield. It’s set in a war-torn dieselpunk world where magic and machinery collide — and the whole pitch hinges on doing things a physical tabletop game simply can’t, using digital systems to enable evolving battlefields, endless strategic possibilities, and emergent interactions.
What 1.0 Brings
The headline addition is the long-awaited Campaign Mode, a structured single-player experience that lets players explore the world of Vanguard Exiles and uncover its lore alongside the existing competitive multiplayer. It’s paired with a full suite of live-service scaffolding: progression systems, achievements, competitive rankings, player milestones, unlockable content, and what the studio describes as a complete player lifecycle designed to serve both casual and hardcore audiences.
There’s also a feature aimed squarely at the game’s strategic community — Spectator Mode, so players can learn just by watching others play. That addition speaks to how The Tea Division sees the game: less a product to finish and more a strategic space to keep exploring.
A new structured single-player mode arriving with 1.0 — explore the dieselpunk world, uncover its lore, and take on solo campaigns and challenges.
Achievements, competitive rankings, unlockables, and player milestones round out a full player lifecycle for both casual and competitive players.
Lead distinctly unique Squads as a powerful General across dynamic battlefields where every match presents new tactical opportunities.
Learn by watching. New for launch, Spectator Mode lets players study each other’s strategies — a nod to the game’s endlessly creative community.
That’s no small endorsement. Garfield’s design credits — Magic: The Gathering, KeyForge, Netrunner — helped define the modern strategy card game, and his framing of Vanguard Exiles as “an interesting space to explore” is exactly the language he’s long used about his most enduring work. The Tea Division, for its part, sees the game’s depth as its calling card.
Just the Beginning
While February marks the transition out of Early Access, The Tea Division is emphatic that 1.0 is a foundation rather than a conclusion. The systems built for the launch version are designed to support future expansion — new factions, units, actions, biomes, progression opportunities, and ongoing balance updates — and the studio intends to keep developing the game in collaboration with its community, maintaining the player-focused approach that has guided it throughout Early Access.
By locking in a launch date now, the studio says it’s confident in its roadmap to deliver every remaining Version 1.0 feature while ensuring the foundations are in place for iteration well beyond release. It’s a measured, community-first approach that fits a two-year Early Access shaped by player feedback.
Who’s Behind It
The pairing of a seasoned Australian veteran team with one of the most influential designers in strategy-game history makes Vanguard Exiles one of the more intriguing auto-battlers on the horizon. Players don’t have to wait until February to jump in, though — the Early Access version is available on Steam now, and the game’s Discord community offers regular development updates, experimental builds, and direct access to the dev team.
Vanguard Exiles Version 1.0 launches on Steam on February 4, 2027, marking the beginning of the game’s next chapter.
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