Extraction Shooters Need to Evolve the Formula

(Intro)

The extraction shooter genre is in its infancy, and already there are some signs of fatigue with the current formula. If developers want to get into this genre and make games, I’m all for it. But it cannot be the same loop that we have seen from many other titles both currently playable and no longer around. There are some core components that must be in the game, and we recently talked about some of those ideas in a previous video. The primary focus of today, is to see where games can iterate on already existing ideas; what works, what’s ambitious and what simply needs to be put away for good. This genre is certainly tough to get into, but some developers think it’s hard for the wrong reasons. It’s not about making a game that is easier or accessible to the masses, it’s about creating an environment that people can get lost in; have a gameplay loop that sinks its teeth into you and gives you a level of satisfaction that many other genres simply can’t. Players are more than willing to give a game a chance that has promise; we’ve seen that with Arc Raiders. That game looks phenomenal, and I can’t wait to play it. Not only does it look fun to play, but there are things within the game that tick all the boxes on how to move this genre forward, even just a single step. It doesn’t have to be a perfect game, just something that people want to keep playing.

(Where can this genre evolve?)

The first major question that needs to be asked is where can this genre iterate or evolve in such a way that is both compelling but also feels good to play? At its core, an extraction game is about entering an area, world or zone, collecting items either directly from that world, or from the inhabitants that reside in it, either AI or other players. Then you take that stuff, leave the area and either store it away in a stash, or sell it for more currency to be used for other purposes later. Wash, rinse, repeat. And while that loop isn’t bad on its own per se, there are potentially parts of it that can be spruced up, if you will. One example and probably the hardest and least realistic for a development team, is trying to make a true open world for an extraction shooter. So far, it hasn’t happened; instance-based areas of play have been as far as people can push the genre. Tarkov at one point was trying to make it a reality, but the odds of that coming to fruition are almost zero.

The next best thing in that case, if open world just isn’t on the table, is persistent worlds. Basically, areas that don’t always start with a fresh world every single time you load into them. The Cycle Frontier was the first extraction game to get this right, and they did almost perfectly. Raids were multiple hours long, with world events forcing players to certain locations, allowing the map to refill with loot and any other items that can be collected. It’s the only game to attempt this so far, and again, they got it right. A shame that game isn’t around anymore, but if there is one lesson to be learned from it; allowing people to load into a world that has been live for over an hour and not knowing where anyone might be is important for making this genre feel more dynamic. If you always know where people spawn around you, it takes some of the emergent gameplay away. There is a certain level of tension that is lost when people have fixed spawn locations that can be learned overtime. However, if every single time you load into a world you don’t know where anyone can be, that’s a much different story.

(Expanding in-raid team ups)

One element of this genre that gets overlooked by many, is how if an extraction game has VOIP in it, you can create stories live and in the moment with other players you meet randomly. You might start a fight with someone because they startled you, but through some effective communication skills, you are able to salvage the situation and turn it into something temporarily beneficial for the both of you. But as far as a verbal mutual agreement goes and working with other players you did not initially queue up with, there isn’t much more that happens after. What would be interesting to see an expansion on, is allowing random players to assimilate into your group. You verbally agree to work together, and then one of you initiates a prompt that asks if you want to formally group up. If both players confirm, then your information is relayed to your new friend in real time. They’re added to your hud and vice versa.

Now, that wouldn’t mean you weren’t able to betray them, or accidentally shoot them with friendly fire, but having the visual confirmation that you and everyone else want to work together would make those moments so much more impactful. On one hand, you get to learn their name, see their health and other important information shown via the hud, but on the other hand, should that new teammate fall in combat, watching their health drop to zero and then disappear from your hud would feel like a gut punch. I bet it would make for a lot of funny and dramatic moments in game that players would certainly ham up. This is something that Tarkov does… kind of. You can approach a player and ask to cooperate, and if they accept you see their name in the bottom right corner of your screen. But it’s only for a moment, and while that game doesn’t have any hud elements for you or your teammates, I suppose that alone is enough for what EFT is trying to accomplish. But for every other game that still wants traditional hud elements, a player's name and health would go a long way.

(The length of enjoyment)

Another major problem many of these games run into is how long the fun can last for a majority of players. Like many games out there, whenever you first get into them, they can feel overwhelming because so much information is being thrown at you, but the process of learning a new game is fun. If it really checks all the boxes for you personally, you will enjoy the game even when things aren’t going so well. But with many titles, after you spend enough time with them, the loop can become somewhat stale. In particular with the extraction genre, the crutch of wipes has plagued many of the games in it. Of course, no game is meant to be played forever, which is the opposite of what big game companies want you to do. While yes, wipes are a time to celebrate what usually coincides with new content, having to always restart with every major update can be draining if the process of starting over isn’t altered in any meaningful way. The best example of this is of course, Tarkov.

How many years have we been getting that damned pocket watch as our second or third quest in the game? This is mainly what I mean; in order to level up you do quests for the traders. But for almost a decade, we have been doing the same quests over and over in the same order. Sure, we got ground zero and a few new starting quests on that location, but once that initial hurdle is over, it’s back to business as usual. I know technically, these aren’t the main story quests and everything we’re doing is filler, but it would’ve been nice if at some point we get our quest order shaken up a little bit. Or at the very least, give us a like a dozen quests we can do at the start, and let us pick what we want to accomplish first. There are only so many available when the game resets, adding just a few more would make it so much nicer to not have to the same thing every single time. I guess at the end of the day, you would still need to do them anyways so it’s like what’s the point, but just an attempt to shake up the formula would be greatly appreciated.

(Perception versus reality)

One smaller but still prevalent problem I see from different games in this genre but especially Tarkov, is people that play religiously versus the average Joe that plays when they can. The gap between those two experiences is vast, as you’d expect. But sadly, as more and more people share their online experiences with these games, that experience you are watching kind of becomes the expectation. The expectation that you should either win every fight or have tons of money. Whereas for a lot of people, just being able to get a couple rounds in is the true experience of the extraction genre. These games are commitments by their difficult nature. It’s very challenging to experience an extraction shooter in short bursts; even if you want to either get better or level up to experience more of what the game has to offer, if you simply don’t have the time to invest for whatever reason, you won’t really be able to get to endgame.

You sadly won’t be able to have the fun you see others online having because they can invest more time into the game. A lot of people know and understand this concept, but it still creeps up every now and again. And the answer to it is a rather simple but harsh reality check: don’t compare your experiences to anyone online, except for those that you directly play with. Funny moments and highlights aside, like most things in life, there is always someone who is going to be either a little bit better than you or have more time to focus on that thing. And it can be tough to not get discouraged or upset because you don’t have whatever it is that they do. But extraction games are a special experience that need to be felt in the moment. Whether it's you clutching up for your team and taking out your opponents or having a devastating loss right as you were about to extract, every experience is impactful in these games. And to deny yourself the ability to enjoy those moments because of what others are doing is a waste of time. We’re all a little too fixated on what everyone else is doing; focus on yourself.

(Outro)

The extraction genre is still very much early on, and there are a lot of people floating ideas around and trying to make something that is liked by those who enjoy these games. And while plenty of ideas are ambitious and fresh, there are still lots of others that are already king of dried up and in need of a shakeup. This genre feels in a very similar place to where survival games are currently. Lots of fantastic games with their own ideas and solutions to different problems, but we still haven’t had that one game that simply just wows everyone. We all hoped the day before was going to be that game from the initial trailers years ago. But it was just a farce which sucks. Either way, this genre still has plenty of distance it can travel, even though for many, they are already sick of it. Or perhaps, they are sick of half-baked games and ideas. Again, we just need that one game to really iterate and evolve the formula. Only then will people get a second wind from the extraction genre. When is that game going to happen? Who knows. Thank you very much for taking the time out of your day to watch this video. Let me know down in the comment section below your thoughts on what this genre does right and wrong, how you would iterate on the formula and be sure to subscribe for more videos about much broader, birds-eye view conversations about genres and ideas related to the games and genres we’ve come to love. I hope to see you in future ones.