Starship Troopers: Extermination - What We Know So Far

Canadian developer Offworld Industries recently announced that it will be releasing "Starship Troopers: Extermination," a brand new sci-fi first person shooter that pits 12-player teams against hordes of alien insects. This looks to be a very different type of gameplay experience from the RTS game set in the same universe, "Starship Troopers: Terran Command," that came from developer Slitherine earlier in 2022. Offworld is the studio behind the online multiplayer FPS games "SQUAD," and "Beyond the Wire," so the developers certainly have the experience working with the kind of high-octane combat simulators that this new title is looking to be.

This new game will be set in the hyper-militaristic, dystopian universe based on the one created in the "Starship Troopers" novel written by Robert A. Heinlein, and seen in the popular 1997 film adaptation, which Paul Verhoeven directed. It's a brutal future where a fascist human government called the United Citizen Federation is locked in an intergalactic war with an empire of space-faring alien insectoid species collectively known as Arachnids. Players will be taking on the role of the troopers who have to fight these six-legged monstrosities on the ground. If it's anything like the source material, fans can expect a tough battle ahead, and they'll need to work together if they want any hope in facing the oncoming swarms. Here's what we know about the game so far.

Ready to hop on a ship and start exterminating some bugs? Well, fans might have to wait a little while for the full game, but an early access version will be coming out sometime in the next year. The official Offworld Industries Twitter account recently made a post stating, "We are VERY delighted to finally announce our latest upcoming title! "Starship Troopers: Extermination" hits Early Access on Steam in 2023. Be sure to Wishlist now, and keep your eyes on our official channels for more information to come!."

This is corroborated by the game's page on Steam where the description states that the early access version will launch with a big map on the bug-planet Valaka. Offworld will then periodically be adding expansive updates with new alien worlds and maps while gathering feedback from the Steam community. It also claims that "'Starship Troopers: Extermination' is expected to be in Early Access for approximately 1 year," meaning that the completed version of the game will likely be released sometime in 2024.

Though many fans are already calling for ports of the game to come to consoles, it seems as of now that "Extermination" will be a PC exclusive for now.

A good way to get a feel for what kind of game it's going to be is to check out the trailers. Two have been released for the game so far. The first is a cinematic trailer. It starts out with a view of a massive, crater pocked moon visible through a clouded blue sky. It then slowly pans down to a close up of a human skull, half buried in sand on the surface of a desert planet beside an abandoned trooper's helmet and rifle. Explosions go off in the distance before it pans up to reveal a screeching arachnid as it and several more of the creatures charge off into battle.

The second trailer is more gameplay oriented. It shows the player navigating several different kinds of terrain on the planet, working with their team to achieve objectives, and of course, using a variety of different weapons, ranging from assault rifles to mortars, to kill lots of bugs. All of the footage showcased in both of the trailers seemed to be from the desert planet of Valaka, which is the one that players will get to see in early access. It's also probably not a coincidence that it looks suspiciously similar to Planet P from the film.

Gamers are curious about what mechanics will drive the gameplay in "Starship Troopers: Extermination." According to the Q&A section on the Steam page, the early access version of the game will allow players to operate in teams of 12 in order to complete missions before they rendezvous at an extraction point. Later versions of the game will see this formula grow more complex, though. "The full version of "Starship Troopers: Extermination" will span multiple worlds to liberate them from the Arachnid Threat," the description states. "This will include additional weapons, enemies types, class progression upgrades, community events, and encounters. The player will have a more diverse roster of customization options allowing them to tailor their Troopers to fit their playstyle and experience."

Viewers can also see some neat mechanics at work in the second trailer. In addition to the usual FPS gameplay that players have seen in franchises like "Halo" and "Call of Duty," it seems that they will have a few special toys at their disposal. There's a drone that hovers beside players in combat and seems able to set off explosions, players can set electric trip-wires in order to control enemy movement, and there seems to be some kind of build/repair tool that players will be able to use to construct barriers, ammo depots and other useful structures.

Hopefully, these will all prove useful in helping these troopers survive their encounter with the Arachnid menace.