Outriders is a co-op sci-fi shooter from the creators of Bulletstorm

Square Enix has revealed Outriders, the mysterious sci-fi game it's been teasing on Twitter. It's the next shooter from Bulletstorm developer People Can Fly, which pits up to three buddies against an alien world seemingly determined to eradicate what could be the last of mankind. Cheery stuff! A loud, red trailer accompanied the announcement, teasing some of the world's bigger threats. Give it a watch above. 

With Earth on its last legs, adventurous humans have taken to the stars to find a new home on the alien world of Enoch. Through Square Enix's teases, we know that the ship was damaged before it reached Enoch, and as the trailer reveals, it's not the sort of place where you can just build a colony and sit back. 

You can explore Outriders' "dark and desperate" sci-fi universe on your own or with up to two friends through drop-in drop-out co-op, attempting to investigate a strange signal. People Can Fly say there's a strong narrative propelling it forwards, but it looks like you'll be doing plenty of murdering on your way to unravelling the secrets of the planet.

"Outriders is the game that we have been wanting to make for years,” said Sebastian Wojciechowski, studio head of People Can Fly. “We’re very happy to be working with Square Enix on this project, it’s a big undertaking for us and the team has grown considerably to work on the Outriders project."

200 developers spread across four studios are now working on Outriders. You can get a peek at what they've been working on in the first dev diary, embedded below:

"Shooters are in our DNA. It's our passion, and it's what we do. Outriders draws from all our experience from all our previous titles," says creative director Bartosz Kmita.

That means you should expect a lot of weird, exotic murder tools. Organic weapons, guns made out of rock, tastefully decorated pistols—the dev diary gives us a quick look at a few of them. I'm not sure they'll be much use from that towering behemoth from the trailer. Better bring along some mates. 

More details will be revealed this winter, with Outriders due out in summer 2020. 

Fraser Brown
Online Editor

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.