Patrick Söderlund's Embark Studios Working On A "Cooperative F2P Action Game Set In A Distant Future"

Patrick Söderlund's game company, Embark Studios, is bringing on some bodies as it works on its first game, which will be "a cooperative free-to-play action game set in a distant future."

In a Medium post, the former Electronic Arts executive talked about how his company is expanding, up to 50 people, while also moving into its own building in Stockholm, Sweden. The game will be primarily built using the Unreal Engine, along with additional technology created by Embark, with dynamic lighting and weather. The visuals the team has created so far certainly seem impressive:

As for the game itself, Söderlund offered this summary of what the game should be:

I can tell you that it’s a cooperative free-to-play action game set in a distant future, about overcoming seemingly impossible odds by working together ... we want to blur the line between playing and making, with games and tools that empower anyone to create. Just like anyone today can produce their own videos, write their own blogs, or make their own music, we imagine a world where everyone is able to create and share meaningful interactive experiences. Our belief is that the more people that are empowered to create, the better, more interesting and more diverse games will become.

A "cooperative free-to-play action game set in a distant future" sounds like your typical looter-shooter, but it's the second part that intrigues me and might help it stand out from the Destinys and Anthems of the world. Saying "everyone is able to create" makes it sound like there could also include some kind of user-created content, a la Landmark. How you'd incorporate that into a game that's all about leveling and accumulating the best loot and biggest numbers without utterly destroying balance would be the primary question I'd have.

Whatever it is Embark Studios is working on, we might not have too long to find out. Söderlund said that he'll share more about the project "in the coming months," and perhaps even a game reveal -- "in time, if all goes well." It's a crowded field, with new top-tier releases making it more crowded every day, so his team's definitely got its work cut out for it.