At Summer Game Fest, we checked out the tactical first-person shooter game Delta Force: Hawk Ops. The game will feature a premium 'Black Hawk Down' campaign mode and two free-to-play multiplayer modes: the large-scale PvP Havoc Warfare and the extraction shooter Hazard Operations. Following our hands-on preview, we interviewed lead developer Leo Yao, who revealed that the game is entering early access in October with a projected release window in early 2025. It will be available on PC (where there's an Alpha test scheduled next month), consoles, and mobile devices.
Why did your team decide on Delta Force as the franchise that you wanted to create a new title for?
Delta Force is very popular in China's net cafes. In college, we usually played Delta Force with our friends. When we knew there was a chance that we could acquire the IP, we just rushed to get it. We think this is a very good IP.
Can you describe the tactical gameplay that players will experience in Delta Force: Hawk Ops in a bit more detail?
Yeah. Firstly, we have different Operators who have different skills. The battles are not very arcade-like like some other fast-paced FPS games. Especially in the mode you have played today, the pace is not that fast. You have to observe first, then use some of your team's skills and cooperate with your teammates. In some of the very fast-paced traditional games, like Call of Duty, you just rush and shoot, right?
What modes of communication are there in Delta Force: Hawk Ops, whether it's voice chat, text chat, pinging on a map, or anything else?
Sure. We have a good quality-of-life design. We have voice and text chat, and we encourage people to communicate and cooperate at all times. Also, when your teammates get down, you can revive them or move them to a more secure position.
Also, as part of the gameplay of the extraction shooter mode, chests can be acquired. If one of the teammates gets this, all of your team's gonna get a reward to encourage people to collaborate toward a singular goal. Furthermore, it is indeed possible to ping the locations, the items, or the bosses so that all teammates can have a mutual target.
In the extraction mode, can you drop a weapon on the ground and have your teammate pick it up?
Sure. But you can't drop very high-value gear to give to your teammates. The risk there is that some of the people would just help the other players by gifting them high-value items, so there's gonna be some of the limitations on that.
To modify or customize your weapon, are you only spending in-game currency, or do you pick up new customization items, like a different scope for your weapon?
We only use in-game currencies.
If you have a gun, can you find a scope anywhere in the world and add it to your gun while you're playing?
If you mean the accessories, those are only bought with in-game currency.
Yes, but can you find the accessories during matches, as a regular item in the extraction mode?
Sure. But in the two game modes of Delta Force: Hawk Ops, it's separated. In the large-scale PvP mode Havoc Warfare, there is a progression system where if you level up, you unlock a lot of different weapons and different attachments. In the extraction shooter Hazard Operations, you can loot some of the attachments, and then you can directly use them on your guns.
In Havoc Warfare, as you level up, are you leveling up a specific weapon and unlocking attachments for that weapon, or are you leveling up your character as a whole, which unlocks everything?
I think we support the weapon experience card to unlock specific weapons. So you get a lot of the weapon experience card, which we already use in Call of Duty Mobile, which is very good. People can just get a lot of the experience card after a match and can use that on any of the specific weapons to upgrade it.
Do you have something similar to Call of Duty's Pick 10 system for your loadout, where you can only select a certain number of attachments and items to bring with you?
No, we don't have something like that. You can have two weapons with every attachment on.
How do players unlock or earn new Operators?
It's through some of the events or some of the progression systems, but we don't make them premium. All operators are free. You only pay for the cosmetics.
Will you have a battle pass?
Sure, we have a battle pass.
Do you have two separate tiers (free and premium)?
Yes. The premium battle pass includes a higher level of cosmetics.
How long will a season of Delta Force: Hawk Ops last?
For now, it should be one and a half months to two months.
That sounds very similar to Call of Duty Mobile. With a new season, what kind of new content would you add?
Firstly, new maps, new operators, new weapons, new vehicles. We did a lot of similar things in Call of Duty Mobile: maps, operators, weapons, and vehicles.
What engine are you using to develop the game?
For the Black Hawk Down campaign mode, we use Unreal 5 because we're using Lumen and Nanite. For the multiplayer modes, we use Unreal 4 because they are also on mobile and Unreal 4 is very good for cross platform.
Will you be launching the different versions simultaneously?
Yeah, and we share the progression. For now, we don't encourage people to matchmaking across mobile and PC and console, but we do mix PC and console as the other FPS games do.
If you purchased the premium battle pass on PC, do you get that battle pass on mobile as well?
Sure. We share that.
How do you unify the platforms?
Players will use a Level Infinite account.
Do you have a release window?
Yeah, early access should be in the fourth quarter, and our expectation is that the final release will be in Q1 next year.
How can players enter the early access?
In October, we will open early access on Steam. We also encourage people to give advice or suggestions to us as we listen to the feedback, and we will continue to polish the game.
Can players use keyboard and mouse controls on consoles?
Ah, that's a good question. It is always a very tough question. For now, we only matchmake controller with controller and keyboard & mouse with keyboard & mouse.
Are you planning to support gyroscopic aiming on mobile?
Yeah.
Nice. That is a very popular feature I often use in Call of Duty Mobile. Do you have a target resolution or frame rate for consoles?
Yeah, that's a good question. I think we should support 4K. Okay. And the framerate should be 60 at least, and we support unlimited.
Have you talked about which consoles you're supporting, whether it's just current gen PlayStation 5, Xbox Series SX, or are you also supporting PlayStation 4 and Xbox One?
That is a very good question. So, for now we are considering PS5 and Xbox Series X. But we found there is potential to also support PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. I think we hope that we can support all of the consoles, but it's hard work because, to be honest, we didn't have much console experience before. But on PC, we can support very low-end devices like the GTX 960.
Are you planning to make Delta Force: Hawk Ops Steam Deck compatible?
We don't have that plan for now, but we'll surely support it in the future.
Can you talk a little bit about the campaign? Like how long it is or how many chapters it will be?
The campaign is basically the Black Hawk Down film. Because we have the copyrights of the film, we use some of the cutscenes from the film.
Do you have any of the actors from the film doing voice work?
Yeah, and we also have the soundtrack of the film. It's a very classic song soundtrack. At first, we only considered a single-player campaign, but now we want to support co-op, maybe at most three people's co-op. It's going to be a very hard campaign.
Do you have the operator system for the campaign, or are you playing one specific person?
No, we don't share the operator from the other two game modes.
Great. Well, thank you both very much for your time.
About the author: Kai joined the gaming team of Wccftech in 2016 and has since penned over a hundred reviews and interview pieces, covering a bit of everything from one-man indie gems to AAA masterpieces and whatever lies in between. Over the recent months, Kai has expanded into preview and interview coverage of not only the gaming side of the industry but also tech and consumer electronics.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
