It has been more than four months since Gray Zone Warfare was released to a positive reception by MADFINGER Games. It’s a landmark tactical FPS with an enormous, immersive world, extraction shooter-like mechanics, and a stacked pipeline that promises to help the game evolve in an epic fashion.
At Gamescom, I was fortunate to sit down with Marek Rabas, MADFINGER’s CEO, to talk about the game his team have built, the future of the title, and most importantly, the state of play for tactical and extraction shooters.
‘They Need a Bigger Market’
It’s no big secret that extraction shooters have been coming up in recent years. We’ve seen many titles come and go, and even titans like Activision have taken a stab at producing a game (or a bolt-on mode) that jimmies itself into the genre.
It’s fast becoming overdone, and developers like MADFINGER are trying to alter the paradigm to produce something close but at the same time unique. That’s why Gray Zone Warfare has such a refreshing palette and promise – and why it’s leaning more into being a tactical FPS than a strict extraction shooter.
As we spoke, I asked Marek Rabas what he thought about the growing popularity of extraction shooters and the potential oversaturation of the titles making it to the market:
There are a lot of new extraction shooters. People noticed the success of Tarkov, even the big guys – that’s why they made DMZ – but the big guys don’t have the balls to do it exactly like Tarkov. They need a bigger market, so they can’t do that. They don’t get the essence of Tarkov.
There are a lot of indies, including us, who saw the potential in tactical shooters. Big companies, they started to just make battle royales, and they killed the big brands. Even Call of Duty, Ghost Recon, all these titles, they’ve just killed it a bit.
It’s a fair point. Many modern developers piecing together new extraction shooters are trying to make them more ‘arcadey’ and globally accessible, going so far as to introduce paid features that make the game a little easier.
Rabas insisted that people looking for something more challenging and genuinely strategic ‘don’t have anything else to play except Tarkov or Arma or Squad’. But there are limitations to these games, such as a steep learning curve, elements that ‘put off’ the average player, or frustrations like ‘needing to have a second monitor’.
That’s certainly true for Escape from Tarkov – if you’re not playing with maps, market trackers, guides, or ballistics charts on a second monitor, you’re far too pro at the game.
Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel in the extraction shooter market, some developers – like MADFINGER – have opted to feed those hungry for a tactical shooter – and it has already proven to be successful.
‘You Try To Be Different’
More extraction shooters will inevitably surface, of course.
On the horizon, you’ve got titles like Beautiful Light, Exoborne, Marathon, Delta Force, and whatever ARC Raiders turns out to be. In recent weeks, Arena Breakout Infinite was released, as was Level Zero: Extraction.
That’s a sentiment that Rabas echoed:
There will be more extraction shooters coming. Tencent is not stupid, that’s why they created Arena (Breakout Infinite). If the guys abandon them, new games will come and fill the space, and you (need to) try to be different.
(Speaking about Gray Zone Warfare) This is why we chose it to be session-based and not match-based. This is more experience-based than competition-based, you know? And we chose the jungle because everyone is doing Western or Eastern urban and forests.
Many will claim that Gray Zone Warfare is an extraction shooter by nature, but few have linked it to Escape from Tarkov. From the setting to the core military mechanics and from the unique gameplay loop to the mysterious backstory sitting at the heart of the map, there’s a lot to set GZW apart from Escape from Tarkov.
In my opinion, GZW walks a blissful line between various genres. It’s an extraction shooter that’s not punishing, and it’s a tactical shooter that’s not intense or overly complex. It’s a milsim title that’s light on the sim, and it’s a survival game that eases you into the concept.
Plenty is in the pipeline for Gray Zone Warfare – keep an eye on Insider Gaming to catch all the latest news for this game.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that Sony doesn’t have enough IP
This game failed at launch lmao. Only 700 players on steam rn
Very well said. Read to the very bottom, thanks 👏👌
He said they don’t have the balls to do it like Tarkov but then explained exactly why they did it their way in the very next sentence?? Lol.
Tarkov is kinda shit at the moment. Still in beta charging fully finished pricing. No thanks.