The survival MMORPG Pioner has big ideas that were supposed to be playable in 2023. Now the studio behind the project announces a delay: Pioner is finally set to be released in 2024.
What kind of game is this?
- Pioner is a survival game that also aims to be an MMORPG. It was announced back in 2020 and looked promising at that time. The game is set to be released for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.
- The survival game takes many cues from the popular STALKER series: you play on a Soviet island with secret research stations that you are supposed to explore. The biggest dangers are anomalies and mutants.
- Over the years, it has been relatively quiet around this ambitious indie project, but at least in 2023 there was new gameplay to see and the information that Pioner fully focuses on PvE.
This is what makes Pioner special: The focus of the game is on the world and exploration. The island is cut off from the mainland, but there are several settlements and research stations that you can discover. Additionally, there are various zones that are more or less dangerous. In some zones, PvP is also supposed to be possible.
As in an RPG, there are quests and factions in Pioner that you can join. There are also clans, i.e., guilds, and particularly tough opponents in the harder areas – apparently something like bosses.
Survival aspects mainly include the crafting system, with which you can modify weapons, among other things. Otherwise, survival is likely to be heavily influenced by STALKER, where the main focus is on surviving against radiation and mutated enemies or avoiding certain areas.
New gameplay in 2023, release postponed to 2024
Since the announcement in 2020, it has been quite quiet around Pioner. There have not been any public tests or betas so far, at least not for the masses. Development seems to have taken a bit longer, especially since there was only one major update on the game in 2023.
However, the studio has created a showcase website since the announcement, with a lot of information about the game. At least there are still signs of life; such a project for an indie team takes time.
The latest news from the developers states that the game will be released at the earliest in 2024. There is no date or more precise timeframe, so any time could be possible. Looking at the past and other projects, we assume rather autumn or winter; it will likely take a while until a 1.0 release.
The hype around Pioner is also still manageable, likely because there is little information and advertising about it. It is different with The Day Before, a competitor that is supposed to be released soon – which many do not believe:
