Well, it has reimerged from the dead. Announced six whole years ago, ‘83 was pitched as a combined arms multiplayer first-person shooter from Rising Storm 2: Vietnam developer Antimatter Games.
Unfortunately, outside of an early trailer and some dev logs, we never got to see much from the game. In 2023, Antimatter Games was shuttered, and the project has existed in limbo since, until an unlikely revival.
Last year, ‘83 reminded everyone of its existence with a brief segment at the PC Gaming Show in the summer. And now, the developer has unveiled a revamped Steam page, and a new trailer to get everyone excited.
This is not a revived Antimatter, however. The game is now being developed by Blue Dot Games, a newly established outfit of veterans who worked on Red Orchestra, and Rising Storm games and mods.
The even more surprising news is that it was made possible by funding from a member of the game’s Discord server, who’s supposedly committed enough to allow the studio to acquire the rights to the IP, and support five months of development.
Back in November, Blue Dot posted a series of videos to answer many outstanding questions about the state of the game, source of funds, and what the next several months are going to look like.
The studio’s most recent development update is from earlier this month. In it, Blue Dot says it intends to deliver a vertical slice by the end of February, to show off the core loop of ‘83, gameplay mechanics and generally use it as a way to pitch the potential of the project.
‘83 is a Cold War era, squad-based spiritual successor to Rising Storm 2: Vietnam, using the same guiding principles of leading with authenticity and combat realism, but not at the expense of fun gameplay.
I remember reporting on the initial announcement back in 2019, at a time when it felt like Antimatter was riding high on the success of its first solo project, Rising Storm 2: Vietnam. The studio had long been a contributor of Tripwire Interactive’s, of course. Later that same year, the developer also announced a reboot of classic stealth action game, Project I.G.I., called I.G.I. Origins, which may never see the light of day.
For now, you can keep an eye on the ‘83 Steam page for updates. We’re expecting a Steam Early Access release sometime this year.
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