There are a lot of squad-based tactical shooters about right now, not just Arma, though that’s the obvious one; there are a whole host of them. Announced back in 2019 in the fallout of some developers breaking off from Tripwire Interactive following the release of Rising Storm 2: Vietnam, ’83 has had a long and somewhat troubled development. “Troubled,” according to some things I’ve read. I’ve been following it for years now, and it seems that Blue Dot Games finally has an early access release date for it. Here is what the press release says:

“Blue Dot Games are proud to reveal that their upcoming 40v40 squad-based tactical first-person shooter ‘83 is coming to Steam Early Access on April 23rd. Set in an alternate 1983 where the Cold War escalated into an all-out warzone, ‘83 is a spiritual successor to Rising Storm 2: Vietnam, with members of the original dev team founding Blue Dot Games.” The release date announcement came during last week’s Galaxies Showcase, which snuck up on everyone, with a new trailer too.

Blue Dot Games CEO, Tony Gillham, said of ’83 and its release: “Our motto for ‘83 was ‘accessible realism,’ where everything – from the uniforms to the specific sounds of and animations of firing each gun – is thoroughly researched to create a historically accurate shooter, yet we still want the game to be fun to play, with merciful respawn times. Don’t let the accessibility fool you; while anyone can pick up ‘83 and have a good time, teams will still need to communicate and perform their role well to seize a victory. ‘83 carves out specific Commander and Squad Leader roles for veterans to guide their squad, while rookies can learn the ropes from the front lines until they know the game well enough.“

I’m excited for ’83‘s launch and to see it develop throughout early access starting Thursday, April 23rd. There is nothing specific or concrete about the development, though the “how long will it take” section on Steam notes ’83 to be in early access “until mid-to-late 2027,” which can obviously change and move depending on how development goes.

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