Duck and cover in Variable State’s reveal trailer for Polaris

Sci-fi and shooters are a match made in heaven as so many games combine both to create a fun and exciting experience. Variable State are continuing that long tradition with a new co-op shooter of their own launching in 2024 titled Polaris. The team dropped a crazy and insane reveal trailer during IGN Live that you need to check out as well as a full info blog conveniently posted down below for everyone!

During today’s IGN Live showcase, Polaris Team (an offshoot of award-winning developer Variable State) premiered their upcoming original sci-fi shooter, Polaris, in a stunning debut trailer featuring high-flying 4-player action, PvE multiplayer, and fully destructible environments. Polaris takes place in a region of space overtaken by a ruthless force known as the Regime, where players must reclaim their homeworlds and raze every last enemy stronghold to the ground. Battles take place across meticulously detailed, entirely destructible environments: whole cityscapes, wild forests, and even the planet’s very terrain can be destroyed throughout the game’s intense PvE match-ups. Banding together as superpowered freedom fighters, players will execute guerrilla tactics to take back their territory, flying through dynamic open levels, destroying enemy infrastructure, and unearthing the coveted mysteries that drive the Regime’s war of conquest. Launching on Steam later this year, Polaris will hold a beta playtest very soon; players interested in participating can subscribe to the game’s official newsletter now!

Speaking to the inspiration behind Polaris, Polaris Team Creative Director Jonathan Burroughs said the following:

“Since I first played Bullfrog’s Syndicate Wars, I’ve always dreamed of working on a game which featured hi-tech squads of futuristic soldiers, causing mayhem and destruction in an original sci-fi setting. Sprinkle in a deep appreciation for the Halo series— particularly its blend of on-foot and in-vehicle co-op action— and you can begin to get a sense of what we hope to achieve with Polaris.

We’re only a small and scrappy team of 11 people, but have been plugging away at this project since early 2023. Aided by the tools and technologies of Unreal Engine 5, Polaris Team has built a tight 4-player PvE combat game with a dynamic, destructible environment, set in our own unique sci-fi universe. With the release date arriving later this year, the team and I couldn’t be more excited to share Polaris with players worldwide!”

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The newest game from Variable State, Polaris is a departure from their previous titles, such as the BAFTA-winning mystery adventure Virginia. This stylistic contrast led to the creation of a new division within Variable State: Polaris Team, whose eponymous project channels the developers’ shared passion for the craft and techniques of PvE game design. Featuring former members of studios such as Creative Assembly, Splash Damage, Ninja Theory, Rebellion & Cloud Imperium, Polaris Team immediately brought a wealth of multiplayer combat action experience to the table, devising a project that focused on a mix of refined combat mechanics, team-oriented gameplay, and dynamically-destructible settings.

All in-game structures— installed by the Regime, but not yet inhabited by their indoctrinated citizens— can be crushed, blown apart, and otherwise annihilated over the course of every match, and the same is true of the natural environments and terrain upon which they’ve been constructed. Whether decimating towering buildings or blowing craters in the earth, players will find that the worlds of Polaris are intricately destroyable, leading to a reactive and ever-evolving combat environment.

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