“This new partnership with NCSoft really locks in our goal of bringing DEFECT to the world alongside a strong ally,” said emptyvessel CEO Emanuel Palalic in a statement. “NC’s support and guidance are helping us build a strong foundation for DEFECT‘s single-player experience. In an era where many publishers have been moving away from supporting single-player in games, it’s refreshing to have NCSoft’s support and trust in what we’re building.”

CEO of NC America, and COO of NC West/Arenanet Jeonghee Jin offered her own statement, noting that the company had worked with the studio “from the very start”, from offering early cash injections that would allow for development to continue, to its new deal to publish the game. “We’re thrilled with the partnership agreement,” she said. “We strongly believe DEFECT‘s intense gameplay shows great promise against today’s tough FPS landscape.”

DEFECT was unveiled a couple of years ago. The shooter has been described as a team-based, objective-driven game that is aimed at players who want co-operative multiplayer experiences. This partnership with NC America is set to support the development of its multiplayer components, while the studio also works on more single-player gameplay.

The development team for the shooter is made up of industry veterans, with many of its employees having previously worked on major AAA franchises like DOOM, Quake, Call of Duty, and The Last of Us.

Set in a dystopian city ruled by an AI known only as “THE SYSTEM”, DEFECT will pit players in multiplayer matches consisting of four teams of four players each. These matches will offer intense close-quarters firefights with dynamic multi-objective battles, where players can make use of their futuristic weapons and other tech. For those that prefer single-player gameplay, DEFECT will offer a “deep offline experience”.

The main action has been described as being completely HUD-less, with players having to make use of the environment around them to check for important details. The studio has noted that it was inspired by classic titles like SWAT, and more recent ones like Ready or Not for this aspect. This also means that just about any of the in-game levels’ walls can be destroyed with the creative use of weapons and gadgets.

Players will also have to pick from a variety of factions, that range from THE SYSTEM’s police force, rogue police elements, or different gangs, and objectives will revolve around either disrupting the setting by, for example, assassinating important targets or smuggling guns, or upholding the status quo if you decide to align with THE SYSTEM.

The soundtrack for DEFECT also promises to be quite intense, since Mick Gordon of DOOM (2016) fame, so we expect there to be plenty of heavy tracks punctuated by deep bass drums and a mix of electronic and regular musical instruments. For more details about the shooter, check out our thoughts.

All three of these games got trailers showing off how they would make use of Nvidia’s RTX and DLSS 4 features. Resident Evil Requiem, for instance, will be capable of running at over 200 frames per second with path tracing enabled thanks to Multi Frame Generation. Phantom Blade Zero will similarly launch with all of these features available on day one of its September 9 release, and 007: First Light will be able to make use of these features to get improved visual details while still maintaining high and steady frame rates.

Similar videos have also been released for Active Matter, DEFECT, and Screamer, which you can check out below. These videos showcase gameplay making use of features like path tracing and ray-traced global illumination with high frame rates thanks to the use of DLSS 4 and technology like Multi Frame Generation. All of these showcases were recorded with the games in question running at 4K.

A number of developers from IO Interactive, including franchise art director Rasmus Poulsen, principal engineer and development manager Henrik Schlichter, and the studio’s CTO Ulas Karademir spoke about how 007: First Light will make use of these features.

“The primary tech that we are developing together with Nvidia is all the DLSS features, especially of DLSS4,” said Schlichter. “Everything from Multi Frame Generation to Super Resolution is incredibly useful and something that we have integrated very very closely into the game. We’ve made a new volumetric smoke system that really tries to push the limits of how we can represent smoke and fog and explosions in the game. And this is something that’s not been done anywhere before.”

“Having software and hardware working together and getting the best out of it while using these techniques really helps us to push the limits,” said Karademir. “To give us the freedom that our designers can really go beyond the limitations of the hardware.”

Phantom Blade Zero creator “Soulframe” Liang also spoke about some of the PC-exclusive features that will be available in the action title, thanks to the collaboration between developer S-Game and Nvidia.

“The very good thing for PC gamers is they have different ways to experience the game,” said Liang. “I think RTX and DLSS 4 are the main features that enhance our game a lot. The rain is one of our core environmental features, so having a convincing presentation of anything in the rain is important, and we count on ray tracing systems for this. It’s difficult to maintain the frame rate while you have the frame rate while you have top notch graphics. So DLSS 4 and other Nvidia technologies support us to get stable frame rates while getting the best graphics.”

007: First Light was originally slated for release in February. Last month, however, IO Interactive announced that it is pushing back the title’s release to May 27 instead. The earliest of these releases is going to be Resident Evil Requiem, which is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on February 27. DEFECT and Active Matter will be coming out later this year, while Screamer is coming out relatively earlier; on March 26.

And even if this nightmarish mix of living space constraints, run-down architecture and hotbeds of crime resembles today’s world a little too closely for comfort, it’s still enough to inspire wonder, like in emptyvessel’s DEFECT. Not so different from our home.

Launching sometime in the future, hopefully nearer than farther (with only PC confirmed), three factions have been revealed thus far: The Rogue Police, gangs, and the law enforcement authorities of THE SYSTEM, an AI that controls everything with an iron fist (but with more ones and zeroes involved, probably). Not the most subtle term for an all-encompassing authoritarian power, but cold and effective.

If you’re one of THE SYSTEM’s tools, you’re sent into areas of the last city where the chaos has gotten a little too out of hand. As your squad is unceremoniously transported to the awaiting stacks, heartbeat monitors keeping tabs in the background, you have a choice of several different objectives. Retrieve, Extract and Profit Operation, aka R.E.P.O., arresting a key individual or terminating a rogue AI. You’ll need to carry along specific kinds of equipment, but pick your poison when it comes to the cold, bulky firearms. Shotguns, assault rifles, SMGs, sticky grenades and even a Cobra turret.

Infiltration is amid NPC residents who watch blankly. If someone insults your squad, it’s out of sight. Sometimes they’ll ask for help to reach higher floors, or barely acknowledge your presence through the gloom. Things take a turn when Nordrog, a gang leader, welcomes you to “the grinder” over P.A. Handheld scanners through the many floors of the megastructure show hostiles – likely the welcoming committee – en route to your position.

Past deteriorating corridors and graffiti depicting police oppression, your squad breaches into an apartment, gunning down the multi-armed occupant known as an Orchestrator and listening to what seems to be the AI, just chilling in a bathtub, attached to an unknown host. After retrieving all the required Datacubes and dealing with a sudden ambush, the way is clear to the system mainframe, where you stand and fight against gang members attempting to stop you in a dizzying array of lights, ammunition and crumbling pillars. Until you’re stabbed and told that the gangs are the law.

But you’re the law, and after a neural failsafe deposits your consciousness inside a newly awakened Orchestrator, the mission seemingly continues. Suddenly, the AI telling you that you’re all the same starts to make more sense. For all we know, the people of this world are all consciousnesses enslaved by THE SYSTEM to use as it pleases. Freedom is a fallacy, and a fate worse than death awaits those whom you arrest.

Believe it or not, this entire sequence seemingly depicts the 4v4v4v4 mode that DEFECT offers. Each team is part of a faction; each faction has a mission (further progress unlocks secondary objectives). If your job is to seize Datacubes and eventually wipe the gang’s mainframe, then it’s their job to stop you (and maybe get up to some crimes on the side). Where the Rogue Police intervene remains to be seen, but they’re as much a live target as anyone else, as THE SYSTEM ordains.

Leaving aside the fact that I’ve always wanted to experience a nightmare scenario akin to The Raid or 2012’s Dredd, there is so much fascinating about DEFECT’s gameplay. I’ve seen comparisons to Warhammer 40,000: Darktide; one comment said the Maelstrom from Cyberpunk 2077 finally got its own game. But there’s also a distinct tactical feel a la SWAT (which served as one of the game’s inspirations). Weapons can decimate chunks of walls, revealing entry points for your team, and which hostiles can use to surprise you.

There’s no health regen – you need to leverage terminals with limited charges to recover between each harrowing encounter. Perhaps the most intriguing element is subduing a perp and using consciousness transfer on his poor skull. Had a team member die in the line of duty? Voila, they’re now piloting this gang member’s shell and serve as a replacement. The minimal UI gives way to a tighter observation of your environment, where checking corners is as important as whipping out the Scanner to assess any potential threats (and yes, it needs both hands, so fight or scan).

And while the visuals could have you admiring the sleek atmospherics and particle effects, they’re also employed in harsher ways. Neon red can soak the rooms where you’re fighting; dust and harsh lighting obscure your vision. Even if the world is ugly, seeing it come to life in such a messy fashion almost makes you forget about THE SYSTEM’s hold. Ordinance and other tools (like a stealth wall) become especially important in such circumstances, and so does leveraging everything in the vicinity.

Now I know what you’re thinking. On the verge of greatness, this close, and all for the sake of PvP? Well, there’s good news: DEFECT also has a single-player mode, which is completely separate from the other modes (and even playable offline). There’s co-op, allowing you to descend into the darkness with your team and potentially deal with only AI-controlled enemies. Everything boils down to your equipment, whether it’s guns unlocked by THE SYSTEM’s grace or whatever you find in the environment. Kick over a table and use it for cover, if you have to, especially since health is a resource.

It remains to be seen if it can capture the level of chaos that PvP offers in its single-player and co-op modes. And as always, one must align their expectations accordingly, especially with visual fidelity like this. But the prospect of four different teams entering a building, completing their own objectives and eventually crossing paths, resulting in total mayhem, is too enticing to resist. The fact that it’s not trying to be a battle royale or an extraction shooter is all the more intriguing. After all, the gangs and the Rogue Police aren’t the law. You’re the law.

My mind is already racing with possibilities of what DEFECT could offer. Higher floors with more difficult objectives? A mission to save a key individual from another team that’s trying to kill them? Heavy weapons that tear the environment to shreds, making you feel powerful before getting gunned down? If leveraging your surroundings is the name of the game, who says you can’t toss someone to their death? The fact that enemies can kidnap you or your teammates certainly makes it seem likely. And what if you can keep the bodies used for consciousness transfer to use as backup in future missions?

Whichever way you look at it, this is a unique effort – a passion project that speaks to a bygone era of cyberpunk where the last shreds of hope are dashed, and regardless of the side you choose, it’s always judgment time.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

The studio is led by Emanuel Palalic, its CEO and game director, who has previously worked on the likes of DOOM, DOOM Eternal, Killing Floor 3, and more. Meanwhile, Garrett Young – who has worked at the likes of Microsoft, Activision, Disney, and id Software – serves as the studio’s chief operating officer and general manager. Mick Gordon, best known for his work on DOOM and DOOM Eternal, is the studio’s composer.

“Many game developers like myself began our journey fueled by the dream of one day bringing our worlds to life,” said Palalic (via Gematsu). “By prioritizing and aligning with our strengths, we’re confident it’s possible to create AAA-quality games with smaller, focused teams. The industry has often overlooked the people who pour their hearts and souls into crafting these worlds. With emptyvessel, we’re determined to change that narrative and make that dream a reality for as many developers as we can.”

“Our industry is at a crossroads between business and talent,” said Young. ” At emptyvessel, we take a developer-first approach to our direction and execution. We understand every innovation in this industry has been led by a developer taking a risk—every new IP, every billion-dollar franchise. Gaming’s next massive hit can come from anywhere.”

The developer has revealed on Twitter that its first project is an “immersive shooter” titled The System. It’s being developed on Unreal Engine 5.