Brendan Greene has the ambition to outdo his last project, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, or PUBG, which sold more than 90 million copies or so. Now he’s back with a trailer for Prologue: Go Wayback, which will hit Steam early access this summer.
This $20 game is a single-player open-world survival game where your goal is to weather the elements in a harsh wilderness environment.
Amsterdam-based PlayerUnknown Productions has been working on it for years, and now the firm has in-game footage in its latest trailer. It gives an extended look at Prologue’s core gameplay where players will be able to explore a vast, ever-changing wilderness while balancing adventure and discovery with intricate survival systems such as caloric intake, body temperature regulation, and shelter discovery and maintenance.
Prologue: Go Wayback! is a single-player emergent game and showcase for PlayerUnknown Productions’ ML (machine learning)-powered terrain generation technology. It continues Greene’s exploration of emergent gameplay, offering a world where no two journeys are the same.
Players start each session from nothing, forging their own path as they learn to navigate, adapt, and survive. Each run is defined by discovery and players can assess the landscape to find resources and ultimately, reach the Weather Tower: the only point of extraction.
Survival in Prologue is dictated by the environment itself. The terrain is large and unpredictable, shaped by a machine learning-driven geological system where no route is predetermined. Players must read the landscape, choosing safe paths forward, without becoming lost. Weather is equally relentless and storms, temperature drops, and blizzards can be disastrous to the player, with early warning signs only visible to those who learn to recognize them.
Beyond the elements, hunger and cold pose constant threats, demanding careful rationing and sheltering strategies. Navigating the world will require skill in and mastering orienteering with a map and compass, reading the environment for resources, and making critical survival decisions at every step.
Prologue is also a journey for PlayerUnknown Productions and the studio’s community. The game is being developed to evolve with user input from Early Access launch and the studio will be continuously working with the community to refine Prologue and add new features and mechanics to the game.
The game is set to launch into Steam Early Access in Summer later this year.
Melba Engine and Project Artemis
Prologue: Go Wayback! is the first step in a new journey for PlayerUnkown Productions which will culminate in the studio’s ultimate goal: project ‘Artemis’. Prologue combines Unreal Engine with custom machine-learning (ML) to generate maps and can generate millions of different maps with realistic terrain for players to explore. An evolution of this technology will be a highly specialized in-house game engine, ‘Melba’ which will be incorporated in the two games to follow Prologue, including a yet-to-be-announced title and project ‘Artemis’ — a massive sandbox world designed for emergent interactions, player creativity, and ultimate freedom.
Join the journey
The community is a core part of both the development of Prologue and this new journey for PlayerUnknown Productions. The development team is excited to be working closely with its player base to help forge this new direction and those interested in helping shape the development of Prologue and joining future playtests can join the PlayerUnknown Productions Discord.
Key Features
● Prepare
Use your environment and the tools you find to your advantage.
● Travel
Traverse a vast open world for food and shelter.
● Take Shelter
Shield yourself from extreme weather conditions affecting your stats. But don’t stay too
long! Use them instead to prepare for your next journey.
● Fix
Repair items and buildings you find on your way.
● Escape
Your ultimate goal is to reach the weather station and call for help.
Founded in 2021 by Brendan Greene, PlayerUnknown Productions is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of interactive entertainment. With a team of sixty engineers and artists committed to innovation and creativity, the studio aims to develop emergent digital worlds that redefine the gaming experience.
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