Tempest Rising

Plot

Tempest Rising is set in the same universe as Bombshell, beginning about 100 years before the events of Ion Fury. The story takes place in 1997 in an alternate history where the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 escalated into a Third World War involving nuclear weapons, leaving large areas irradiated. After the war, fissures opened in irradiated regions, releasing alien vines that produced a mysterious energy called Tempest, which offered a solution to a global energy crisis.

Two superpowers emerged: the Global Defense Force (GDF), an alliance of surviving Western governments that views Tempest as a resource for maintaining world peace; and the Tempest Dynasty, formed from Eastern European and Asian nations struggling with nuclear fallout, which sees Tempest as its birthright. This leads to a three-decade conflict over Tempest fields. The GDF is led by a Council of Directors, served by Undersecretary Jacob Greene, Colonel Robert Fisher, and Doctor Lyssa Francis.

The Dynasty is led by Domovoy Molchalin, whose neurological decline requires implants for communication, with his son Aleks commanding the military and Lieutenant Jelena Melnik as chief intelligence officer.

Development

Slipgate Ironworks, based in Denmark, developed the game. THQ Nordic announced Tempest Rising in August 2022, and a playable demo was released the following year. The game was initially announced for release on April 24, 2025, with advanced access for Deluxe Edition purchasers on April 17, 2025. However, a publishing error gave standard edition purchasers access on April 17 as well, and the publishers retroactively declared that date the official release day.