Sharkmob, the developer behind now-defunct battle royale Bloodhunt revealed their new game at The Game Awards 2023. It’s a “tactical open world extraction shooter” called Exoborne.
Set in a post-climate change world, players take control of a Reborn, people decked out with Exo-Rigs that go out in the wild to scavenge and loot for resources. The game takes place in the American South known for its lush green jungles and fickle weather.
Like most extraction shooters, players get to use whatever weapons they found lying around the open world. You get to keep the loadout should you survive and be safely extracted from the map. Die, and all the weapons and gear you have is lost.
Gamer Matters, alongside various media outlets, were given a more extensive look other than just the newly revealed announcement trailer. So here are some extra info on what Exoborne is.
How Exoborne Plays Like
Exoborne plays in the third-person perspective with first-person aim-down-sights, with the gunplay being described as “tactical”. Verticality and forces of nature are key features that makes this title stand out against other games of the genre. Forces of nature like tornadoes and storms, dynamic public events and how you traverse the multi-level ruins to be what keeps you hooked on Exoborne. While there are elements of PVE, expect the game to lean more on PVP action.
The main draw of an extraction shooter is the looting and making it all the way to extraction with them in tact. Exoborne is built around that, but to make it more approachable, there will be missions available for the player or the group to follow on top of the previously mentioned public events.
Weapons don’t have random stats. And the Exo-Rigs you equip can change up your playstyle dramatically. One exo rig is described to make you better at scavenging, for example. Exo-Rigs can be cosmetically customised as well, should you prefer a specific fashion to go with your player-created character.
Why Is Exoborne An Extraction Shooter?
When asked why Sharkmob is making an extraction shooter, Petter Mannerfelt creative director for Exoborne, says that “it’s something we like to play ourselves” and “if you like into our past, you probably see that it’s something that we’ve looked at before in different ways”.
Mannerfelt avoided name-dropping any past games he’s referring to directly, but most of Sharkmob’s key talents previously worked on Tom Clancy’s The Division. Mannerfelt specifically was the game director for the 2016 cover-shooter RPG.
The Division introduced the Dark Zone, a PVPVE mode that can be described today as an extraction shooter mode. The Dark Zone precludes the closed beta release of Escape From Tarkov, the game that has since popularised and practically solidified extraction shooters as a video game genre.
So one could say that team knows a thing or two about extraction shooters, at the very least.
Or another way of looking at it, this is an extraction shooters from the very developers that made extraction shooters before extraction shooters become a thing.
Similar to Bloodhunt, this will be a premium game, despite the multiplayer-only focus, with live service elements.
Exoborne has no release date yet, but it will launch as an Early Access title coming to PC and consoles.