Wargaming is best known for World of tanks and World of Warships franchise, but seems set to add another well-known name to that list: Steel hunters. Wargaming unveiled this new title at The Game Awards 2024. Its latest IP, Steel hunters is a free-to-play PvPvE Mech game that contains elements of the hero shooter, battle royale, and extraction genres.
U Steel huntersplayers are not pilots who control the mech; the mechs known as Hunters were given souls to fight for Starfall. A cataclysmic event has left humanity nearly extinct and struggling for survival, its future dependent on a rare alien resource known as Starfall. This material is scattered throughout the ravaged Earth, and mega-corporations and other factions use the Hunters to wage war against each other for this resource.
In keeping with Wargaming's take on the heroic shooter, each Hunter is a fully developed character with their own playstyle, kits and progression systems. Games can be won by obtaining the necessary resources, leaving other hunters on the map empty-handed, or by destroying all other hunters on the map. As such, Hunters itself feels like it was taken from the popular hero shooter genre, but the gameplay taps into the popularity of battle royale and loot games. One key difference is that Steel hunters emphasizes tactics and understanding of the team and individual hunters, rather than quick reflexes (as seen in traditional shooters).
Hunters
An important aspect of this is Duo Symbiosis, where players can combine tactics and abilities with another hunter. Overall, each hunter's build and tactics can be customized with unique combinations of gear (and of course, collectibles and cosmetics) to reveal unique strategies when facing other hunters in hunting grounds. While it remains to be seen how the customization works, from a gameplay and cosmetic standpoint, the design of each Mech opens a lot of doors. These mechs are not simply humanoid like Heartbreaker or Trenchwalker, but some borrow animal design elements like Ursus and Fenris.
It remains to be seen when fans will be able to fully immerse themselves in The Hunting Grounds Steel hunterssome fans will be able to check out what the game has to offer a little earlier. Steel hunters is conducting a 10-day closed playtest via PC, and fans can expect more news throughout 2025.
Wargaming
- Date of establishment
- August 2, 1988
- Headquarters
- Minsk, Belarus
