Ex-World of Warcraft Developers Announce Faction-Based Survival Game, Rend

Frostkeep Studios is a new game development studio founded by three former World of Warcraft developers: Solomon Lee, Mat Milizia, and Jeremy Wood. Others working at the new company include Neal Acree, Overwatch's composer, and several former League of Legends developers.

The company announced today that it is working on a new, faction-based survival game called "Rend." Before you close this article due to seeing the words "survival game," let me explain how the game is different from others in the genre.

In Rend, players join one of three factions that are in a race for survival. The world is being plagued by "hordes of horrific demons" called "the Lost Ones" that are trying to eradicate all players. In true survival game fashion, your faction will be required to build a base that can defend them from the Lost Ones, as well as other players. As you are building and defending your base, each faction is also working towards "winning" the race for survival in ways that aren't explained quite yet. At some point in the game, one faction can be declared the winner, but it is also possible for everyone to lose, should they not meet certain requirements.

It's a unique take on the survival genre and I look forward to seeing how it works out. The graphics are also of considerable quality and I rather like the current art style, which is more reminiscent of MMORPGs than it is of survival games. Plus, the game has laser guns; I'm immediately sold on the idea of fighting in a medieval-esque world with laser guns.

Each of the studio's founding members provided statements about the announcement.

Solomon Lee made the following statement.

Frostkeep Studios is what we dreamed making games would be like as kids – we are pushing boundaries, and putting players and the love of the game at the focal point of every decision we make. Our goal is to deliver rich, compelling experiences where players truly get a voice in the discussion and shaping of the games we are making.

Mat Milizia had the following to say.

With our first game Rend, we are delivering on the fantasy players expect from a survival game while also challenging the traditional mold by introducing new experiences and solving many of the genre’s accepted player pain points. Our team has been fortunate to work at many of the industry’s leading studios throughout our careers so we have learned valuable key lessons along the way that we are now applying to our studio’s development philosophy and game making process.

Jeremy Wood's statement is as follows.

We are delivering a fully developed game experience with Rend that both the community and our own team wants to play. Having players involved from the beginning is important so they can influence and evolve the future direction of the game as it heads towards full launch. We will regularly be adding new content and systems to Rend throughout early access process and are excited to see how the community will respond and contribute to this new world.

Rend is set to launch on Steam Early Access sometime this Spring. Frostkeep is planning on running a Pre-Alpha test prior to the Early Access launch. Should you want to take part in the Pre-Alpha test, you can sign up for it on the official website.