Left 4 Dead, Evolve developer making new co-op shooter

Turtle Rock Studios, developer of cooperative first-person shooters such as Left 4 Dead and Evolve, is working on a new “AAA IP,” reports GamesIndustry.biz. It will be published by Perfect World Entertainment, known for free-to-play titles like Star Trek Online.

"We are developing a new franchise set in an all-new universe that leverages the style of gameplay our community loves and expects from Turtle Rock Studios,” Phil Robb, co-founder of Turtle Rock, told GamesIndustry.biz. “We're focusing on what we do best — heart-pounding, moment-to-moment, online, co-op FPS action.”

The studio did not give details on the game, except to say that it currently has "a strong dark fantasy element to it."

“With Perfect World as our partner, we will always make sure that our players come first by listening to them and growing the game based on how they play and interact over what we hope are many years to come,” Robb added.

The studio’s president, Steve Goldstein, stopped short of calling the game a spiritual successor to the work they’d done previously.

"We think that kind of label has big expectations tied to it,” Goldstein told GamesIndustry.biz. “It sets an expectation that we're making something sequel-like that does not deviate too far from the original formula. And while we focus on awesome first-person shooting and co-op, we'd rather have the new game be something our players classify and designate and judge without us affixing the label ourselves.”

Turtle Rock announced in late October that it was ending development on its most recent game, Evolve. The company noted that the decision had been made by publisher 2K Games, not the studio. Evolve debuted in February of 2015, and just this summer made the move to the free-to-play model. It reviewed well here at Polygon, where we noted that it was a “distinctive take on a different kind of multiplayer shooter.”