Grey State Studio has released a new trailer for its upcoming squad-based horror shooter, Rules of Engagement: The Grey State. While the title will feature a distinct PvP mode, this trailer instead focuses on the co-op PvE gameplay, which takes place in the same “Horrorverse” as its other modes. Check it out below.
Throughout the trailer, the player is faced with a variety of threats across different environments, with the latter ranging from industrial complexes to rolling hills, to a remote village and even a seemingly urban compound. Enemies also display quite a bit of range, from what seems to be a sentient washing machine armed with tentacles, to a large creature with a lamp for a head, to hands with teeth, and even something that looks like a distortion of physical space-time.
The core setting of Rules of Engagement: The Grey State is the Borealis Isle, where players will have to deal with endless hordes of monsters. To fight them off, players will be armed with an impressive arsenal that includes sniper rifles, SMGs, and assault rifles, among other weapons. The gameplay loop will revolve around looking for specific artifacts and escaping.
As the trailer showcases, the visual design of the horrific creatures in Rules of Engagement: The Grey State is quite heavily inspired by the works of horror writers like H.P. Lovecraft and H.R. Giger, with the latter’s emphasis on “biomechanical” design being in full display.
Rules of Engagement: The Grey State was unveiled in October 2025 with a trailer giving us a look at a tense mission. While the trailer itself hadn’t given any hints about PvP combat, Grey State Studio itself has confirmed that its core game mode will be PvPvE, similar to extraction shooters. The “Horrorverse” itself has been described as taking inspiration from books, movies, and creepypasta when it comes to the design of its monsters. One developer said, “This isn’t just one horror story, it’s all of them.”
When it comes to narrative, Rules of Engagement: The Grey State will put players in the shoes of an elite operative hired by a secretive organization, and known only as a Strider. The mission is simple: head into The Grey State – a dimension filled with horrific monsters and alien artifacts – and retrieve valuable items. The main target is a priceless artifact known only as The Vertex.
Unfortunately, no details have been revealed about whether player progression between the PvP and PvE modes will be entirely separate, or if players will be able to advance up the same tracks to unlock similar rewards regardless of their game mode of choice.
It is slated to be a free-to-play game and is currently being developed for PC, and Grey State Studio is aiming for a 2026 launch. However, no solid release date has been confirmed so far, and the studio also hasn’t made any mention of a PS5 or Xbox Series X/S version of the tactical shooter. For more details about the tactical shooter, check out our thoughts.
