Half-Life 3 has to be the most famous example in PC history of vaporware – a game that gets announced, or that we otherwise suspect is in development, but never actually materializes. Valve’s new shooter might still happen, maybe, one day, but in the meantime, another thought-dead FPS has suddenly sprung back to life. Originally developed by the team behind the underrated Rising Storm, it combines the realism of Escape From Tarkov and Battlefield with a gentler learning curve and more accessible multiplayer. It was first announced back in 2019, then went silent until a brief mention last year. Now, ‘83 is fully back on its feet.
Built around the idea of ‘accessible realism,’ ‘83 is a tactical FPS game set during the Cold War. Originally it was in development at Antimatter, the studio behind criminally underrated Vietnam shooter Rising Storm. However, Antimatter closed down in 2023 and the project fell into obscurity. There was a short trailer in 2024, but otherwise, ‘83 has been quiet for a long time.
Until now. ‘83 is officially back in full production under the auspices of Blue Dot, a studio formed of ex Rising Storm and Red Orchestra developers. The team says that, until recently, although it wanted to continue work on the game the funds were simply not available. However, a member of the Blue Dot Discord server named Kevin Green has invested enough money for full-time development to begin.
“At Blue Dot Games, we’re excited to let you know that after a long period of downtime, we’re officially resuming development of the ’83 project,” the studio says. “Some of you may have noticed our earlier announcements…but we did not have the funds to support an actual professional team of paid developers.
“After a long series of meetings and negotiations with various investors and publishers, the funding came from the most unexpected place of the games industry: our Discord server. We would like to use this space to express our thanks and gratitude to a fellow Rising Storm 2 fan Kevin Green, aka ‘Beer_Brigade,’ who decided to fund five months of development of ’83.”
Blue Dot also confirms that Sturt Jeffrey, who served as lead designer on ‘83 back when it was still being made by Antimatter, has joined the studio and will co-developer the revived version. While there are no details on a release or demos just yet, you can wishlist ‘83 here.
Otherwise, try some of the other best multiplayer games, or maybe the best co-op games on PC.
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