Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodhunt developers Sharkmob offer new story and gameplay details for their new extraction shooter, Exoborne.

Issue #394 of Edge magazine has just been released, and it features quite the preview, as the publication recently was shown a behind-closed-door look at Sharkmob’s upcoming extraction shooter, Exoborne. While it sounds like the studio has quite a ways to go before it’s truly ready to be shown off, they did share some new details about the game’s story and some gameplay tidbits in the featured preview. We went ahead and summarized some of the big pieces of details revealed by Edge’s hands-off session.

Exoborne Story and Development Details

• Rebirth – This is the name given to a European corporation that promises a “better tomorrow.” They promise the world.
• Rebirth was the original name of Exoborne, but it moved away from it after the team saw the potential legal battle over the name.
• Set in Colton County, USA.
• Location lets the team play around with pop culture and movies, with geography being ideal due to its diversity, natural and sociological.
• Sharkmob also feels comfortable with this location since they grew up on American pop culture.
• Since the weather is a big thing, you can expect oil rigs and boats and such in locations where they would not have been due to storms picking them up.
• “The world is not dying, humanity is.” is what the team says about the story.
• There’s a campaign, but Sharkmob is more interesting in the stories that players create. It’s all about your own journey.
• Exo-skeletons are known as Exo-rigs, with the wearers being nicknamed “Reborn,” which plays into the title.
• Exo-rigs will provide all kinds of playstyles, with the team wanting them to provide synergy between teammates.
• One example was a defensive build that allows players to play aggressively, attacking from the front while shielding teammates.
• Movement and traversal will be important parts of upgrading Exo-rigs. The grappling hook was one example.
• An event called the “Collapse” is mentioned as a reason why Rebirth exists. The company was supposed to turn things around and be the answer to the climate crisis.
• As with all corporations in games, things don’t go as they plan, and it sounds like the corporation became corrupted from within.
• This unleashed chaos around the world, killing billions. The climate became uncontrollable, with the alpha survivors, the Reborn, surviving it.
• The climate/weather is described as the worst form of it, compared to The Day After Tomorrow film, where all forms of changes can occur at once.
• Most of the story is unpacked outside sorties in a home hub with an NPC you can talk to.
• Cutscenes will be available in this hub.
• Audio logs, text, footage, photos, and such will be used to help tell the story, but the community will need to piece it together.
• It sounds like it has a very souls-game approach, with Sharkmob even saying they want the environment to tell a story.
• Themes revolve around working together and exploring humanity’s destructive side. There’s a fascination with how we, as humans, can invent “cool shit” and somehow find ways to kill each other with said “cool shit.”
• Many of the rigs are repurposed construction rigs. Perhaps a hint that there may be more than just shooting?
• Over 300 people are working on Exoborne, which includes the entire Bloodhunt team and new hires.

Exoborne Gameplay Details

• Extraction-based shooter.
• Sharkmob has yet to finalize the maximum number of players but says quantity will vary on the size of maps.
• The game is being built around extreme weather, where the team expects it to make sessions unique and even ruin sessions. They want players to adapt.
• Confirmed events are storms and hurricanes, but Sharkmob hopes for more.
• A system governs the aggressive events, but timing and placements will vary.
• It’s not so much to survive them but to master them. The example provided was two teams fighting it out, one player a sniper and the other using a shotgun. A disadvantage is when there’s a huge gap for the shotgun player, but if an event comes in, the shotgun player can use it to close the gap.
• Midair fights are possible, with a hurricane picking players up and having them battle it out in the air as a described scenario.
• The team also wants to put a big focus on verticality.
• Grappling wire, climbing gear, and parachutes are confirmed gadgets.
• Tech-wise, the team is aware of the limitation that comes from being a multiplayer game instead of a single-player since added players limit physical calculations.
• Despite that, Sharkmob sounds determined to go all out with the weather, even if, at times, it doesn’t make sense. That’s because they found those to be fun and noted that instances where players can be thrown across the map can happen. They want to create moments so messed up that you can’t help but laugh at them.
• User-created characters in the rig are merely human. No leveling. This is an extraction shooter, so gear is king.
• “You are what you carry.” If you want better gear, you have to find it.
• Equipment does improve, though.
• Some rigs are built to harness the effects of storms. No specifics were provided.
• Crafting parts, schematics, and end-of-mission rewards are confirmed.
• There’s PvE, but at its core, Exoborne is PvP.
• High stakes remain essential, but with past work on games such as The Division, the team is looking at approachability.
• One way they do this is with solo play, so you aren’t running into big battles.
• Mission types: Solo, team missions, and public events.
• Another way mentioned is that dying in Exoborne has less punishment than in other extraction games. There’s a roguelike progression for various unlocks.
• The goal is not to make people cry when playing this game.
• That’s one of the reasons why they’ve decided to make an extraction shooter in a crowded market because they believe they haven’t become mainstream like other genres, and approachability is one of the reasons why.
• The narrative also plays heavily into approachability. The team won’t take control away from players or throw up things to block your screen. Mission givers won’t interrupt you during tense moments.
• “Thrive together, or die alone” is a general game theme that bleeds into the gameplay.
• Things in common with other extraction shooters – Selecting an effective loadout, scavenging, surviving, potentially risking it all, and hoping you can extract out alive.
• Sharkmob believes there’s an opportunity to be the best in the genre.

Based on the information, it seems that Sharkmob has a clear vision, and as someone who isn’t too big on the extraction shooter genre for the very reason they mentioned, I’m excited that approachability is a priority for the team to solve.

Exoborne currently has no release date or target window.