Petroglyph Games, the studio that formed from the ashes of Westwood Studios after EA closed it down, have revealed a new project, Earthbreakers, and it’s a spiritual successor of sorts to Command and Conquer: Renegade.
Quick history lesson: Westwood Studios made it big in the nineties as one of the leading companies in the real-time-strategy genre, most well-known for the military-based Command and Conquer series. The team was acquired in 1998 by EA and, though it had a fair share of hits thereafter, a couple of misfires in the form of failed sci-fi MMO Earth and Beyond, and Command and Conquer spin-off shooter Renegade caused EA to close it down in 2002.
In 2003, some of the Westwood devs formed Petroglyph Games, and started making Star Wars games among a slew of other series, including an upcoming remaster of the original Command and Conquer with EA. Now, Petroglyph has decided to continue where Westwood left off, with Earthbreakers, a base-building FPS that experiments with many of the same RTS and multiplayer elements of Renegade.
Described as “a team-based PvP multiplayer game which combines the most enjoyable elements of FPS and RTS”, Earthbreakers is set in a deeply tribal 2060 where disagreements are settled through faction-based combat. Players must manage their base, and their team, while leading an offense against materials-stealing foes. Online matchmaking will support up to 32 players per-side, depending on map size.
The first trailer looks good. The cel-shaded art-style is colourful and vibrant, and, honestly, it’s refreshing to see a brand new multiplayer shooter that isn’t in any way Battle Royale-related. The talent is certainly there for this to be something special, if it works.
Currently, Earthbreakers is scheduled for 2020. You can wishlist it on Steam now, and you can check our list of the best FPS games on PC while you wait.