In spring 2018, the new third-person shooter Scavengers was introduced, aiming to excite players with a mix of coop, PvP, and survival. The release is still pending. But how is the game doing in early 2020? What can we expect from Scavengers and when can we finally play it?
What is Scavengers anyway? Scavengers is an upcoming multiplayer survival shooter developed by Midwinter Entertainment and is played from a third-person perspective.
It is based on the innovative technology Spatial OS, a cloud technology developed by Improbable, which allows relatively small developers to create large virtual game worlds and manage them with minimal effort.
The ambitious game was announced at the Game Awards 2018 and presented with a trailer at E3 2019. Since then, it has been relatively quiet around the shooter, but that doesn’t mean nothing is happening.
We take a look at Scavengers, show you what’s been happening around the game lately, and where it currently stands.
Scavengers – A different kind of survival shooter
This is the story in Scavengers: The game is set in a post-apocalyptic world. A meteor impact shattered the moon into two pieces, turning our world into a frozen wasteland, where dangers like environmental hazards, mutants, or hostile scavengers (Outriders) lurk at every corner.
As a player, you take on the role of the titular Scavengers. Their teams traverse the icy wasteland searching for organic DNA traces or other valuable samples. They hope to gain further insights into how the apocalypse occurred.
This is the vision behind Scavengers: Scavengers is indeed a survival shooter, but the developers pursue a completely different approach than other representatives of this genre. That’s what makes it so unique, and that’s exactly how Midwinter Entertainment wants to stand out and excite players.
While the game is traditionally about survival, the survival aspect in Scavengers is particularly unique and quite unusual. The developers focus on a mix of coop group dynamics and PvP, as well as elements from other genres like battle royale or hero shooters.
You can find more detailed information here: What’s in Scavengers, the E3 shooter you overlooked
Matches are played with up to 4 teams of 3 titular Scavengers with special abilities. The goal in a match is to collect DNA samples from a randomly generated post-apocalyptic game world before leaving the area of operation. This can only happen once all teams have collectively gathered a certain number of samples. The aim is to collect more samples than the other teams.
However, many of these samples are well protected by nasty AI enemies like zombies and mutants, making it impossible for a single team to succeed. Often, it’s difficult or even impossible to get by without the other players. In principle, you are thus pushed towards cooperation but can turn against others at an opportune moment – and they can turn against you as well.
This mix of cooperation and betrayal keeps the tension and excitement high. The outcome of a match is never truly predictable. You must cooperate with enemies but also pursue your own plans and always keep an eye on whether other players might turn against you.
Additionally, other dangers like extreme temperatures, radiation, or hunger threaten you at every turn. Surviving in Scavengers is therefore a significant challenge.
How is the development of Scavengers going?
This is what has happened in development lately: Since the game was announced, the developers have been diligently working on it. The game received a new website, several closed playtests have been conducted (the latest in November 2019), which helped to further refine Scavengers and will continue to do so. Additionally, some new weapons have been showcased.
The biggest recent event for Scavengers may be the takeover of the development studio Mindwinter Entertainment by Improbable – the company behind SpatialOS. The creators of Scavengers are now directly under one roof with the tech company, now a proprietary studio, which should only benefit the further development of the survival shooter, according to the devs in the corresponding blog post.
What’s next for development? It’s unclear, but it’s likely that additional playtests will be scheduled, based on which the game will be further improved.
Scavengers is expected to be released later this year. However, as of early 2020, there is still no exact date.
What do you think about the concept in Scavengers? Does this type of survival intrigue you and make you want more?
