Evolve, Left 4 Dead studio is working on a 'dark fantasy' co-op FPS

With support officially ending for Evolve earlier this year (despite an effort to stake some ground in the free-to-play arena) Turtle Rock Studios is moving on. Naturally enough, the studio's new game won't be an instalment in the Evolve series (it's safe to say that's dead), nor its earlier success Left 4 Dead. No, a new IP is on the way, one with a "dark fantasy" element.

Speaking to gamesindustry.biz, a studio representative said the company is colloborating with free-to-play publisher Perfect World Entertainment, which has worked on Star Trek Online and Blacklight Retribution.

""We are developing a new franchise set in an all new universe that leverages the style of gameplay our community loves and expects from Turtle Rock Studios," according to Phil Robb, the studio's co-founder. "We're focusing on what we do best - heart-pounding moment-to-moment online co-op FPS action, and with Perfect World as our partner, we will always make sure that our players come first by listening to them and growing the game based on how they play and interact over what we hope are many years to come."

President Steve Goldstein added that the game will have a "huge" focus on cooperative FPS play. He added that it's not a zombie game, nor is it post-apocalyptic, but that it will instead have a "strong dark fantasy element" to it.

It's a shame Evolve went the way it did: I really enjoyed it, though it's understandable that players were concerned with how its post-launch content was ladled out. The new title is not expected to release until 2018 at the earliest, though there are separate VR projects in the offing, too.

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.