Krafton, the owners of PUBG: Battlegrounds, are working on a new project that looks to rival games like Escape from Tarkov and other extraction shooters. News of this game was shared in the company’s most recent earnings report where it talked about what projects it has in the pipeline with this project being known as “Project BlackBudget.” No release window for this game was provided, but the limited details confirm what genre it’s trying to fit into.
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The report from Krafton talks briefly about Project BlackBudget and shares a few details on how the company is approaching this game. Krafton outright says it wants to “challenge ourselves to popularize the extraction shooter genre” by leveraging its experience working on PUBG in that field.
“An ever-changing PvPvE open-world and satisfying gunplay that deliver unpredictable and exciting experiences,” a preview of the Project BlackBudget game says.
Krafton hasn’t established release plans for the game, but it said it’s currently considering releasing it on PC, consoles, and mobile, which tells us that all options are on the table.
Krafton didn’t specifically mention Escape from Tarkov in its report, but given that that’s the main game people often think of first when thinking on the extraction shooter genre, it’s clear Krafton wants in on that experience. The hardcore shooter is credited as one of the first to kick off this sort of game with others now rushing to join in on the extraction shooter hype, too.
Hyenas from Creative Assembly and Sega is another example of this sort of game, though this one put a sci-fi twist on the formula. Marauders is another where players take on the role of space pirates to get their loot and get out unscathed.
But amid all these extraction shooters, there’s another game that’s been setting itself apart lately. That game is Dark and Darker, and it differentiates itself by not really being about shooting things at all. It’s still an extraction-style game, but it’s set in a fantasy setting with archers, wizards, barbarians, the undead, and more filling its dungeons. It’s already proved to be quite a hit, and it’s not even out yet.
Suffice it to say that Krafton has its work cut out for it if it wants to pursue a game in this space, so we’ll see eventually how the company plans to make its game stand out among the other extraction games.
