A new studio headed by some big names is looking to make a splash in the PvP shooter market, with Theorycraft Games unveiling its upcoming title, codenamed Project Loki.
Theorycraft is an independent studio, but it isn’t lacking leadership and talent. A majority of the team is made up of industry veterans from Riot Games, Activision Blizzard, and more—including former League of Legends and Halo lead producer Joe Tung at the helm as CEO.
Tung and his team are aiming to create deep games that are “worthy” of players spending thousands of hours in and only get better when that time is spent playing with friends. Project Loki is the studio’s debut title, and early playtesters are already being called “League meets Apex meets Smash.”
That combination of comparisons was intentional from Theorycraft, which is pulling on experience from creatives who helped put together some of the most successful PvP titles on the market like VALORANT and Overwatch. And, while the game does have a focus on hero-based combat, it is a “big swing” that wants to be something so much more than a hero shooter.
“As players and developers, we feel like it’s been a minute since there’s been something truly new and fun to play with your friends.” Tung said. “To make Project Loki, we took our collective experiences working on some of the biggest team-based PvP games like League, VALORANT, Apex, and Overwatch, and have been building with a group of hardcore playtesters out the gate. Now Project Loki has evolved into something fresh and unlike anything we’ve played so far, and we’re ready to take the next step.”
That next step Tung mentioned is getting players in early to test the game and give feedback while the team is still in the early stages of crafting this amalgamation of different genres and ideas together.
With Project Loki, players will pick their heroes and enter battle in a world described as a “massive combat sandbox” that opens the door for free-flowing and creative combat.
Just from what was shown of the very early pre-alpha footage, you can see elements of popular battle royale, MOBA, shooters, and action titles. The top-down perspective gives it a LoL feel, but you can see the hero-shooter gameplay at work—paired with the drop-in and freedom of movement from Apex Legends or Fortnite.
The team is working so players coming in from all types of multiplayer titles can find something to latch onto and love about Project Loki, and a big part of that is getting more people to try the current build of the game.
Anyone can sign up for a chance to enter the upcoming pre-alpha playtest on PC, which runs on June 29 and 30. More information about Project Loki, including more gameplay footage, playtest opportunities, and the eventual official name of the game will be shared in the future while Theorycraft hammers away at this potential juggernaut title.
