Steel Hunters Is Wargaming’s New Mech-Themed Hero Shooter

Alessio Palumbo
Steel Hunters

Wargaming, the studio known primarily for World of Tanks/Warplanes/Warships, is branching out a bit with Steel Hunters, a new mech-themed hero shooter game made with Unreal Engine 5. Steel Hunters was just announced during Geoff Keighley's The Game Awards 2024 show.

Wargaming CEO Victor Kislyi stated:

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This is a massive moment for Wargaming. We are best known for creating immersive and sustainable digital hobbies for millions of gamers around the world. With Steel Hunters, we’re pushing past our boundaries and bringing something completely new. Our ambition is to create one of the most exhilarating and compelling mech experiences ever.

Product Director Mike McDonald added:

Steel Hunters is the result of incredible teamwork and dedication of our talented people in Guildford, Prague, and our studios around the world. Over the past three years, we’ve worked relentlessly to create a game that offers a unique take on the mech shooter space by combining elements of different genres into one compelling mix. Today, we’re finally ready to show players what we’ve been building.

According to the game's lore, Steel Hunters were created to secure a rare extraterrestrial resource called Starfall. Corporations and Factions transformed Hunters into fearsome combat machines, used in the race to conquer the scarce resource across the ruins of a green but abandoned Earth.

The game mixes mechanics from three main shooter genres: hero shooters, Battle Royale, and Extraction. Players will select their unique Hunter and enter the PvPvE arena, where they'll be tasked with various objectives to level up and acquire gear. The session will end in a final showdown at the extraction point.

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Steel Hunters won't be about who's the quickest to fire. Instead, players are encouraged to learn everything they can about the Hunters' strengths, weaknesses, skills, cooldowns, and synergies to get the most out of their characters and learn how to counter the others. Wargaming promises maps that allow opportunities for flanking or ambushing enemies. The environments will also be destructible.

Players can customize their Hunters with distinct build options, allowing them to create unique gear combinations. Additionally, collectibles and cosmetics offer opportunities to express personal style and individuality.

A ten-day closed playtest will soon be available on PC, and you can sign up here. Wishlisting via Steam is also available now, with the full game planned to launch next year. Consoles might be considered for a debut in the future.

Alessio Palumbo Photo

About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.

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