Exoborne makes the extraction shooter more forgiving and takes storytelling notes from Hades

Petter Mannerfelt is the only person who can speak with authority about the genre of extraction shooter. He is currently the creative director of Sharkmob’s high-stakes PvPvE Shooter Exoborne. Not too long ago, he was also a game director for Ubisoft Massive where he worked with The Division, and its Dark Zone mode.

Before Escape From Tarkov coined the term "extraction shooter", players were backstabbing one another for high-tier loot, and extracting from The Division’s Dark Zone, an enclosed high-risk area embedded in the RPG’s New York map. The concept has become one of the most sought-after trends in gaming since Battle Royale.

Sharkmob began with Battle Royale. The studio's very first game, Vampire: The Masquerade: Blood Hunt, was a casual battle royale with high mobility that failed to maintain an audience in spite of its quality. Petter attributes the struggles of the game to its late arrival, after Fortnite, Apex legends, and Warzone had dominated the market and other studios were looking to what's next.

Petter believes that the studio is now better positioned and mature with Exoborne. The extraction shooter concept is still relatively new and malleable. Exoborne takes a softer and more mass-market approach, while Escape From Tarkov is a popular, highly tense template.

Petter, during a Q&A session after my preview of Exoborne, explained some of the things Exoborne does differently to get players involved and having fun. He began by explaining how it introduces the players to the world through a narrative. Exoborne will gradually drip-feed lore and cutscenes after a front-loaded tutorial and intro.

He compared it to Supergiant’s Hades, which famously made action-roguelikes approachable with its slowly-expanding story over dozens or runs. Exoborne will allow players to progress their personal story, but it will be done in parallel with regular PvPvE battles. Each map will have hidden tidbits such as audio logs, hidden footage, and other lore. This is similar to how The Division scattered story material throughout its dilapidated streets.

Exoborne's narrative will continue beyond the launch of the game. I was able to see the motion capture and photogrammetry lab at Sharkmob, a studio in Malmo in Sweden. It is an impressive collection of cameras, which allows the studios to scan real actors and items made by their own propmaster, and have them perform cutscenes live, complete with a handheld camera rig and face capture. If everything goes according to plan, Sharkmob is confident that they will be able to respond to audience demands and produce cutscenes and other narrative material quickly enough to match audience demand.

But that's something for later. It's more important to not scare away newcomers who might have watched some Tarkov streams and decided extraction shooters were too stressful to bother. Sharkmob is trying to attract players who have only played the hardcore side.

Exoborne matches are usually short and exciting. Players are dropped into the map and given a variety of optional PvE goals to complete. They can also choose to leave the map via designated extraction zones when they're done. Players will have the option to store money and crafting materials to purchase baseline equipment. There will be no server wipes. There are also plans to implement a skill-based or progression-based matching system, but the exact form is still unknown.

Exoborne has no release date yet, but beta signups will open at Gamescom in this month. Exoborne will be a full-game premium release. Petter wanted to clarify that while there will be live-service cosmetics, Exoborne will not be pay-to-win. The only way to find better gear is to kill someone and take it.