The independent game development studio Xaviant has announced The Culling, a new multiplayer survival game. It’s headed to Steam on March 8, 2016 as an Early Access title.
Made up of industry veterans, the Atlanta-based Xaviant’s first game Lichdom: Battlemage was well-received upon its release in 2013 and its success has allowed the studio to pursue the development of new games, including the newly announced The Culling.
In The Culling, players join a 16-player battle royale as each player must explore, scavenge items, craft weapons, and build traps to ensnare opposing players. Players must kill each other off, one by one, until a single player emerges victorious before the timer runs out. It’s basically the Hunger Games. Katniss Everdeen wouldn’t feel out of place in this one. Like Katniss, players can only win through cunning, skill, and a little luck.
Rounds aren’t very long, and only take place over the course of 20 minutes. During that time, players will have to make the best of their situation as the clock counts down.
“I asked a small, talented team to come up with their dream game and gave them the autonomy to build it,” said Michael McMain, Founder and CEO of Xaviant. “The Culling is the result of that effort. It has been the highlight of my career!”
The developer says that it’s quite unlike the add-on modes you might find in H1Z1 and DayZ. Instead, The Culling is designed from the ground up to be a standalone Battle Royale game, and its mechanics are completely designed around this philosophy.
You can watch the announcement trailer below. It’s pretty rad.
