East India Company has somehow slipped under my radar. If it weren’t for the updated screenshots on Gamespy, I might have missed it altogether.

It has naval warfare, just like Empire: Total War, but mostly seems to be a trading game. You set up outposts and make money. This screenshot shows a minimap in the lower left, revealing that the area of expansion includes Africa and the Middle East. Nitro Games warns that the screens may not reflect the final version, but they don’t look too bad.

No clue as to how the diplomacy works in any of the feature lists. How do you deal with African and Indian rulers? Can you form alliances? Why is Italy there?

With a Q1 2009 release target, I wish it luck in not getting buried by Empire: Total War, which comes out next February.