The GD Studio wants to bring classic, Quake-style arena shooters back to the world of esports, and they need your help to do it. On Sunday, the Stockholm-based developer launched its Kickstarter for Diabotical, an FPS billed as “a spiritual successor to Quake,” which it hopes to release on Steam about a year from now. At the head of the project is James “2GD” Harding, who began his career in esports as a professional Quake 3 and 4 player before moving on to World of Warcraft and later, at ESL and Twitch, working as a commentator and content creator.
After casting numerous events for MOBA and RTS games like Dota 2 (but, uh, not anymore) and StarCraft, Harding noticed a waning interest in old-school FPS esports, and felt he had a strong vision for reviving them from within the industry. (This was, of course, long before the announcement of Blizzard’s Overwatch.)
Using an in-house engine built specifically for Diabotical, the GD Studio set out to bring the fresh aesthetic sensibilities of popular indie titles like Rocket League to the arena shooter scene, and the results are both charming and exciting. The game promises fun cosmetic personalization untarnished by “pay-to-win” transactions and (e)sports a colorful, cartoonish world populated by trigger-happy, power-up–hungry “eggbots.”
Harding says the plan, once the Kickstarter campaign’s finished, is to move into a closed beta populated by the game’s backers and begin collecting community feedback that might take the project “from good to great.” Some of the most promising features include a map editor, social hub, and modding support; an extensive variety of classic game modes and “lots and lots of maps”; and an in-game tournament system with dedicated servers, LAN capabilities, and prizes.
The game is untarnished by “pay-to-win” transactions.
The campaign reached its funding goal in just the first three days, but there’s still plenty of time for PC users to get on board for backer-exclusive skin packs, emotes, and audio content, as well as access to the game’s upcoming beta. “Surely, it’s gonna be great,” says Harding.
If Doom ’16 and Overwatch have shown us anything, it’s that many players still long for the fast-paced yet simple, and most of all accessible, action found in the FPS games of yesteryear.
