Icarus: New Sci-fi Survival Game from DayZ Creator Revealed

DayZ creator Dean Hall and his studio RocketWerkz have announced their next game, a co-op survival sci-fi game called Icarus, which is “set on an Earth-like alien world with persistent metagame progression.” The game was revealed during the 2020 PC Gaming Show.

Icarus will build on the survival formula first established in DayZ and add a few new twists. Unlike DayZ, which is an open-world game, Icarus is session-based, with players zooming down from a space station to complete missions on the alien planet within a strict time limit, which can range anywhere from 30 minutes to 48 hours, according to Hall. Players can invite their friends to join them to take on contracts, tasks that can include harvesting certain resources from the planet or exploring the planet at night, Hall teases will be much more dangerous than visiting it during the day.

Resources gathered by players — the game’s first trailer teases players chopping down trees and hunting the local wildlife — can be used to improve the space station as well as survival gear. Players can also build forts on the planet as well as new technology and weapons.

Hall explained that players can only take a limited amount of resources and the things crafted on the planet to the extraction point at the end of a tour and also revealed that boarding the dropship before time runs out is critical to success. Failing to board the ship back to the space station in time will result in character death and loss of all progress.

“If you run out of oxygen, someone can come and revive you,” Hall said during the PC Gaming Show. “If you get attacked by this particular animal and damaged, someone can heal you. But if you run out of time, it’s over.”

Hall explained that the time mechanic was designed to create tension and “get back to the roots of what a survival game is and what makes those moments that you get in them really intense and emotional.”

“Like the Greek myth of Icarus, who flew too close to the sun, a good survival game is about taking calculated risks and getting away with it or not. That’s the feeling we want to capture in Icarus,” Hall said.

Check out the reveal trailer and an interview with Hall below:

Icarus is scheduled for a 2021 release. You’ll be able to play the game on PC.

We’ll keep you updated as we learn more about the game.