Nikita Buynanov is a man who seems unstoppable. He’s the COO of Battlestate Games, which just announced its new publishing arm. He’s the Game Director on Escape from Tarkov, and the Head of Studio at new venture, RANT Studio. “My life right now is just work, and work, and work, and work, and work,” he tells me. “I just want to live again.”
But Nikita Buyanov is very much not done yet. Not content with kickstarting an entire genre with Tarkov, he’s now working on Fragmentary Order, which some are referring to as ‘Tarkov in space.’ Currently in development at RANT, his second studio, it’s described as a “next-generation multiplayer combat tactical simulator in hazardous environments,” with images showing interstellar combat on a mass scale. We’ve seen clips of a person in combat gear looking out over crumbling ruins, with the camera panning out to show a Martian environment that has clearly been industrialized. Beyond this brief clip, an interactive website, and confirmation that the game is set in 2251, we don’t know much about it (although Buyanov has promised that gameplay is coming soon).
I asked Buyanov to tell me more in our recent interview, where we discussed both the company’s new publishing venture and the current state of the hardcore FPS game market. “Fragmentary Order is ten Tarkovs,” he tells me. “I usually use that term. It’s like the whole Tarkov experience was just a test for all of us.”
“It’s super complex; way more complex than Tarkov, way more punishing, way more real. Even if it’s in a sci-fi universe, it’s still super real. We want to make it outstandingly real, just for this second-life experience.” He’s referring to our discussion about how hardcore shooters often provide players with a space to think and react as they would in real-life situations, versus games that don’t really require any intellectual thought. “This game is like a passage to the future – a time machine that will allow you to transfer yourself into the future to fight and do whatever you want.
“For the last few months we’ve been making the first gameplay trailer, and it’s getting there. It’s at an early stage, I must say, but also if we provided the current build, people would say that it’s not in early stage already; it’s at a pretty good stage. But, for me, personally, it’s in its early stage because I like the idea of cooking a game as long as possible.” He also informs me with a smile that it’s also “way more expensive than Tarkov production.”
RANT, however, isn’t Battlestate Games-owned – “it’s a completely different company,” Buyanov highlights. “Numerous times this year I questioned myself: ‘Why did I start [RANT]? Why did I start it? Why?!’ So there’s a point of no return. I just need to go, and go, and go. I will be counting on our players, on those who will gain this first access to the game – our Prime Batch Candidates Program – just to help us build this. It is something.“
This isn’t where Buyanov thought he’d be in 2026, though. “I thought that my next game after Tarkov would be a single-player game,” he muses. “But I guess it’s not the time, and of course I don’t want to make it for another ten years for sure, because I just want to live. Right now it’s just the work, and that’s it.
“For me, it’s like a generation run – a generational project of mine, and it’s getting there,” he concludes, smiling before adding: “I will try to surprise. Again.”
