District 9 Director Working on Cyberpunk Battle Royale Off the Grid

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Neill Blomkamp, the director of District 9 and Chappie, is working on a battle royale with a strong narrative named Off the Grid.

Neill Blomkamp's darkly funny sci-fi film District 9 left an impact on cinema in a way that few could have predicted. His follow-up films, Elysium and Chappie, cemented Blomkamp's position as one of the industry's most interesting creators. Now Blomkamp is making an endeavor into the video game industry with young studio Gunzilla Games. Blomkamp and Gunzilla just dropped the first trailer for Off the Grid, now confirmed to be a cyberpunk "Battle Royale 2.0" with a unique focus on narrative.

The short cinematic trailer for Off the Grid is certain to draw immediate comparisons to Blomkamp's previous work, particularly Elysium. A soldier or mercenary is shown wearing what at first appears to be a powered exo-suit, but upon closer inspection looks more like Deus Ex-style cyborg robotic limbs. The soldier even has a blade coming out of his right arm, and his gun-hand looks hooked to computer hardware. Needless to say, players in Off the Grid will be hyper-powered humans.

In addition to the player, the cinematic trailer also teases the setting for Off the Grid. The trailer initially starts out in a jungle area, but as the player moves toward the action, it reveals a sprawling cityscape with significant verticality. It's unclear how much jungle will be on the map versus how much city, but there's clearly going to be some skyscrapers to explore in Off the Grid. That hopefully means there will be some unique traversal features, too.

In the description for Off the Grid, Gunzilla Games confirms that the game is a cyberpunk battle royale. It's also confirmed to be a third-person multiplayer shooter, rather than first-person. Other details that make Off the Grid a "Battle Royale 2.0" experience are its 150 player total per match, as well as PvE narrative-driven story missions that happen in real time.

It's unclear exactly how these PvE story mission in the middle of a massive PvP battle royale will impact each match's gameplay flow, but Off the Grid is clearly attempting something unique and exciting. Bringing in Blomkamp, as well as Crysis 2 lead writer Richard K. Morgan, shows that the narrative progression of these matches is a major priority and not just a gimmick.

Off the Grid is still a battle royale game at its heart, though. That means that it will feature standard online multiplayer live-service game features and mechanics, like character progression and customization. Gunzilla launched in 2020, however, so it's likely more information regarding Off the Grid could be a ways off yet.

Off the Grid is in development.

MORE: What Makes a Good Battle Royale?

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