Second Extinction

"Reclaim Earth!"

- Second Extinction tagline

Second Extinction is an in-development online 3-player co-op shooter video game developed and published by Systemic Reaction for the PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. Set on a post apocalyptic Earth that is overrun by mutated Dinosaurs, you play as a team of resistance fighters dedicated to reclaiming the planet from the reptilian menace.

Plot
Mutated Dinosaurs have destroyed humanity, and the few survivors left have fled to space. Through short but intense guerrilla missions, a specialized rag-tag fireteam of survivors is being sent back to Earth to pick the invasion force apart and reclaim the planet.

Voice Cast

 * Pilar Uribe as Valentina Ortega
 * Alejandro Saab as Amir Wilson
 * Tsemaye Bob-Egbe as Rosy Mevoungou
 * Wolf Kahler as Jürgen Winter
 * Melissa Bayern as Sarah Deans
 * Jamie Newall as Director James Pearce
 * Jay Laga'aia as Jack Mahuta
 * Tania Rodrigues as Sunetra Chawla
 * Kayi Ushe as Richard Abiodun Odekunle

Gameplay
Second Extinction lacks a traditional campaign mode, with the game utilizing various co-op missions instead. These missions are to have an ever-changing Threat Level that affects the difficulty of the mission and presumably, the amount of enemies. Players will have to strategically choose when and where to fight. Weaponry will be upgradable with a variety of perks, though only a limited amount of perks may be active at any given time, meaning the players will have to choose the best perks for the mission in the armory before deployment.

Kills will reward the players with research points that can be used to purchase new weapons, it will also reward them with crafting materials for upgrades, and cosmetics. The rewards are all based on the threat level of the mission. There will also be other ways to level up and earn rewards, such as optional contracts and resource scavenging. Each mission will become more difficult upon completion, making the next playthrough more of a challenge. At launch, only one large map will be available, set in the Northern tundra.

Game Modes
There are currently 4 game modes available to play the game: Basic Training, Tundra Missions, Free Roam Expeditions and Horde Mode (Emergency Landing).

Basic Training
The basic training serves as the tutorial for the game. This solo-only mission explains the basics of movement, shooting, and using your equipment and abilities.

Tundra Missions
Mission mode presents the player or team of players with a main objective they have to accomplish in several stages. The players can optionally complete side missions that are available on the map.

Free Roam Expedition
TBD

Horde Mode
In this mode, the team must survive after an emergency landing while they wait for an extraction. The crash site will be attacked by increasingly difficult waves of dinos and the players can buy weapons and equipment between waves.

The players can choose to keep fighting waves of enemies as long as they want, since they are supposed to be infinite. Or they can choose to leave at any time after the extraction dropship arrives.

Development
Having been in development since 2018 with a studio of originally less than 10 people, Second Extinction had been in development for 2 years before it was revealed to the public. On the 25th of March, 2020, a short 28-second teaser for a new untitled game was uploaded to Systemic Reaction's YouTube channel. The teaser itself did not reveal much but at the end of the video, gunshots followed by the screech of a Raptor could be heard, hinting towards the premise of the game. On the 7th of May, 2020, a full trailer was released to officially announce the game as well as the website and War Support campaign. This trailer revealed several varieties of the Dinosaur enemies and some gameplay footage as well as a few other things.

With the trailer released, Systemic Reaction created a Twitter and Subreddit for the game, as well as launching the Steam store page for players to wishlist the game. The developers were extremely responsive to the community and answered any questions they were allowed to. When asked whether or not the COVID-19 pandemic had slowed down development, David Carlén responded by saying that they were quick to build up their home offices and had received all the necessary support to keep production running smoothly. Pim Holfve said in an interview that it took them two days to get up and running and back to business as usual, though the pandemic had hindered plans to expand the workforce by 100 people.

On June 10th, a gameplay premiere was hosted during IGN's Summer of Gaming 2020 event. During this event, some of the features were discussed along with the reveal of some of the Dinosaur abilities and new gameplay mechanics, as well as the mention of an unrevealed fourth Hero. This premiere was supposed to take place on June 8th, but it got delayed along with the rest of the event due to riots and looting in the USA. They have also partook in several other interviews about the game, during one such interview with internet personality HipHopGamer, Brynley Gibson revealed that the initial idea for the game was the product of Avalanche Studios founder, Christofer Sundberg.

On July 15th, Second Extinction was featured in Edge Magazine #348. Inside the magazine's section on the game, several gameplay elements were discussed as well as the mention of a Watcher and Triceratops enemy. On July 17th, a new 30 second teaser, narrated by Jon St. John, was released showcasing the designs of the Alpha Raptor and the Shotgun weapon. Starting on July 21st, an art collaboration with comic book artist Mirko Colak saw the release of several pieces of original stylized art based on Second Extinction, several other artist collaborations would ensue in the following months. On July 24th, a second short teaser was released, this time showcasing the Dinosaur Threat Level. On July 31st, the third teaser was released, this time showcasing the regular Raptor enemy.

On August 7th, a slew of concept art was revealed alongside some details of the design process on the official website, including the Digger Raptor variant. This article also revealed that the developers were new to the APEX engine and had to borrow some lighting artists from Avalanche Studios Group. On August 12th, a fourth teaser was released which showed off the Dinosaur Threat Level system as well as revealing the Emergence Event feature and two new herbivorous Dinosaur enemies, the Ankylosaurus and the Styracosaurus. On August 13th, a two track EP titled "The War Effort" was released by artist LudoWic.

On August 15th, Brynley Gibson and product owner Julianne Harty did an interview with Game Informer senior editor Ben Reeves, in which they discussed various aspects of the game, its production, and its future. The Watcher enemy mentioned by Edge Magazine was confirmed as the final unnamed Raptor variant seen in the trailers. Details on the Emergence Event feature were revealed, including some of the random high threat events that could be encountered, these were a massive T-Rex and her babies, as well as a Raptor mutation that left behind poison gas. They discussed how the game would have an evolving narrative that would go into detail as to how and why the mutated Dinosaurs came to be and took over Earth. When asked about their favorite Dinosaurs, Julianne mentioned that it was highly likely that Compsognathus swarms would be added to the game. Finally Brynley suggested that for every year the developers worked on the game, they would receive a fossilized tooth that could made into a necklace.

On August 17th, the fourth hero was officially revealed as Jürgen Winter, with details on his character and abilities being added to the Hero roster on the official site. The next day, the Discord was officially opened to the public. On August 19th, the fifth teaser was released, showcasing the Acid Raptor and Grenade Launcher weapon. On August 28th, a presentation of gameplay with some behind the scenes footage was featured on the Future Games Show with a narration by Brynley Gibson describing some of the details of the game. On September 4th, the sixth teaser was released, showcasing the Styracosaurus enemy and explaining how it has been nicknamed the Bull. On September 8th, various gaming news outlets released footage and articles showing and describing a slew of gameplay mechanics as well as revealing new Dinosaurs and characters, such as ERA members Director Pearce and Sarah, the EX-U's helpful guide.

On September 14th, along with the Early Access release date reveal, a price point of $24.99 was also revealed to be the launch price. On September 18th, a new short mini-teaser properly introducing the Digger enemy was released via the Discord and Twitter. On September 24th, a 16-minute-long gameplay showcase was released, featuring the key objectives of the mission Research And Rescue. On September 25th, a new Freak of the Week teaser was released properly introducing the Watcher enemy. On September 29th, a new Dev Diary was released detailing the design process of Second Extinction with Lead Designer Simon Vickers.

On October 1st, several YouTubers, who were granted early access to the game, released videos showcasing the game. On October 2nd, the third Freak of the Week teaser was released, this time officially introducing the Flatback enemy. On October 5th, a short video was released explaining how the War Effort system works, narrated by Brynley Gibson. On October 6th, it was announced on the official Discord that a pre-release stream would take place, the developers also asked for any questions the server members had so that they could answer them in the stream. The date of the stream was revealed as the 12th of October, the next day.

On October 9th, three competitions for a free game key were launched, one on Discord, one on Twitter, and one on Instagram. For the Twitter competition, the top 5 captions of an image of an Electric Raptor would win a game key. For the Discord competition, 6 templates were posted for server members to turn into memes, the best for each image would receive a key. For the Instagram competition, the key would be given out to the person who posted the best original fanart. The deadline was 10 AM CEST Monday, October 12th, with the winners to be revealed during the pre-release stream. On the same day, the final pre-launch Freak of the Week teaser was released, showcasing the T-Rex enemy.

On October 12th, the pre-launch stream was canceled due to the community developer having a high fever. The winners of the competitions were announced on the respective platforms, with winners being able to download the game a day early. Discord moderators also received a free copy of the game. On the same day, the Twitch Drops reward system was announced and began its first round.

Alpha Playtest and canceled Beta
With the launch of the War Support campaign, a Summer Beta was announced for members who managed to recruit at least 1 other person. On July 3rd, an email was sent out to members of the War Support informing them that a lucky five hundred people will be invited to participate in a Limited Playtest, the only prerequisite being filling out a short survey attached to the email. This was confirmed to not be the same thing as the Summer Beta on the Second Extinction forums. On July 9th, sign ups to the Beta were closed as maximum capacity was reached.

On July 10th, an email was sent out to those selected to take part in the Limited Playtest, this email informed them that the playtest was to be a confidential experience and they were not allowed to leak any information to the public. The playtest took course over 3 weeks from July 13th to July 31st, with a one-time game key being sent via email on the 13th. Playtesters also received access to a secret area of the forums and an invite to join the Second Extinction Discord. Testers who filled out a final feedback survey received a free copy of the game on the day of Early Access release.

On August 11th, it was officially announced that the Beta had been canceled in favor of an open Early Access release to Steam in September. An email was sent to players who had originally signed up for the Beta, informing them that as compensation, they would receive instant access to two skins at launch of Early Access, Amir's Track Star skin and the Assault Rifle White Flame skin.

Early Access
Unlike with the Alpha playtest, progress in Early Access was confirmed to carry on into the full-release. In an interview with Game Informer, it was mentioned that there was a road map for the Early Access, detailing different content releases and adjustments that would be made. On September 8th, it was announced that the Early Access had been pushed back to an October release. On September 14th, the Early Access release date was officially revealed as the 13th of October, 2020.

On September 25th, the roadmap for Early Access was revealed which detailed the plans for a plethora of new features, such as new enemies, new weapons, a new hero, and several other additional features. On October 12th, the release time was announced as 1 PM CEST alongside the release of an Early Access launch trailer. On October 13th, the game officially launched into Early Access. Due to a behind the scenes hiccup, the pricing was initially $4 cheaper than it was supposed to be, though this issue was rectified quickly.

Later in the day, the War Support cosmetic rewards were given out to players via email. At 4 PM CEST, a 2-hour launch stream by Pontus with WIRED GAMING and Tenebris Infinnite went live, playing the missions Black Site, Vestige, and Research And Rescue. On October 14th, Julianne Harty released an Early Access launch letter detailing what Early Access meant for the game. On October 15th, the first hotfix, 0.1.0.1, was announced. The hotfix went live the next day.

Trivia

 * Second Extinction 's working title was Shoebill, a species of large predatory waterfowl known for its resemblance to non-avian theropods.