Gamespot has just posted new demos from the ancient war buffs at Slitherine. Is this a demo of the anticipated indie war game Legion: Arena? Nope. In fact, the demos are of games a couple of years old – Legion: Gold and Chariots of War.

Why release demos of games that have already been out for a while? The most likely explanation is to expose Slitherine to a wider audience and build some anticipation for Legion: Arena. Get people playing games that they most likely missed and get them talking about the next big thing. I’ve been anticipating it for a while, but I tend to be a sucker for anything in a leather skirt.

As a marketing plan, it’s got some problems. Neither Legion nor Chariots are more than just average games, though both can be entertaining in small bursts. Second, unless the people announcing the new demos make the explicit connection between the old games and the new ones, the connection might be lost. Third, the new game is purely battles with no strategic map of any sort, so judging the potential value of Legion: Arena based on demos of the strategy games would be a serious error for any gamer.

I’m not sure how often this is done. I can’t immediately recall any game that had a demo introduced so long after the game itself had fled shelves and memories.

But if I am right and this is a marketing tactic to drum up interest in Legion: Arena, it is good news. Because that means that the game must be close to release.