Keep in mind again in March, when John Smedley resurfaced teasing a brand new recreation headed up by PlanetSide 2 devs Matt Higby and Tramell Isaace? Properly, immediately, we’re lastly getting a bit extra data on that recreation, beginning with the truth that it’s truly known as Reaper Precise and the studio is definitely known as Distinct Risk Studios.
Sure, when you Google “Reaper Precise,” one can find that it’s the title of a significant model of scorching sauce, which is humorous as hell. Our headcanon is that Smed picked a spicy title on function and never that advertising and marketing forgot to Google it first. OK, OK, the pitch:
“Distinct Risk Studios is thrilled to announce REAPER ACTUAL. This fast-paced FPS throws gamers right into a relentless, ever-evolving battlefield fueled by dynamic faction warfare. As an elite Reaper on the war-torn island of Marova, survival calls for extra than simply firepower. It’s a brutal check of technique and ability. Construct your base, forge alliances, and lead high-risk raids towards rival factions in a world the place each bullet fired is a tactical gamble. REAPER ACTUAL delivers a shifting battle the place gamers combat one another in addition to embedded factions who’re continually at odds. Maintain a watch over your shoulder as the following firefight might come from wherever. Constructed with the open world persistence and the development of a web-based recreation, REAPER ACTUAL hosts an ever-evolving battlefield the place Reapers develop, commerce, and kind lasting bonds in warfare.”
Is it an MMO? Properly, sure and no; the PR says the sport “fuses the size and persistence of an MMO with the depth of tactical FPS fight” and that it’s “[l]ayered with significant character development and a dwelling battlefield.” It kinda sounds precisely like PlanetSide 3, which might make it at the very least an MMOFPS; we’re 200-person battles, the identical persistent world focus, outfits (what PlanetSide known as guilds), base-raiding, a full-scale participant economic system, and so forth, all on huge maps.
One factor MMO gamers is not going to be impressed with, although, is that the studio will run an everyday MMOFPS model of the sport then a second model encrusted with Web3 junk avid gamers don’t need: “A separate model of the sport will leverage the Etherlink blockchain to facilitate possession and buying and selling of in-game belongings for gamers that need to interact with Web3 performance.” If you wish to keep away from all that, you’ll be able to simply play on the Steam model the place it’s blocked, but it surely actually sours the vibe that they’re attempting it.
Signups for the sport’s early testing can be found via the official web site utilizing Discord, Steam, and Epic accounts; the pop-up guarantees “a restricted set of Basis Entry Packs quickly.”
In case you’re newish to the style and don’t know who Smed is, permit us to recap: He was the president of Sony On-line Leisure for nearly twenty years, overseeing the likes of the EverQuest franchise via the largest years of the MMORPG style. In 2015, SOE was spun out as a brand new entity known as Dawn Video games, and shortly after he left the corporate. He’s made a couple of makes an attempt at new video games since, together with an indie OARPG often called Hero’s Track that was cancelled, with its employees introduced on to work below him on a brand new enterprise at Amazon Video games in 2017. He left that firm in 2023 and has presumably been engaged on Reaper Precise since then. As we’ve written earlier than, he’s a controversial determine within the MMORPG business, owing mainly to some dangerous choices made throughout his reign over SOE and Dawn, but it surely’s fairly straightforward to rattle off a listing of his important contributions too (and we did). Suffice it to say, we’re anticipating loads of spicy scorching sauce from his new recreation certainly.
