The Cycle Begins in Early Access on Epic Games Store Today

The Cycle is out today in Early Access on the Epic Games Store.

The Cycle, from Spec Ops: The Line developer Yager, launches in early access on the Epic Games Store today. The launch got announced during the Gamescom Opening Night Live presentation. Yager is serving as both developer and publisher for the project, an online co-op/competitive hybrid shooter that the studio is calling “PvPvE.”

Jonathan Lindsay, the game’s executive producer, was on hand to explain exactly how this works and what makes the game different from other online shooters. In The Cycle, there are no formal teams, only short-term pacts. At any time, players can form agreements with one another, allowing them to group up and share progress on various objectives. But just as quickly, they can break a pact and turn on their comrades for a more significant share of the prize.

The objectives here involve setting up drills to extract resources, taking down high-level monsters, claiming communications arrays, and defending infrastructure. The ultimate goal of each match is to collect as many resources as possible and escape the battleground before a massive storm hits, restarting “the cycle.”

Some players have already gotten their hands on The Cycle, through limited weekend-long alpha tests. The game features several classes, playing quite differently from each other as each has unique abilities. Some even have a different movement based on the armor they’re using. There’s also a decent selection of weapons, which players earn by leveling up from match to match. Players purchase these weapons during a match with the resources they’ve acquired.

The Cycle still has a lot of time left in development. But the early version of the game looks promising. There’s high-tension gameplay as players decide the risk and reward of every situation to see if they’re ready to turn on their allies or not. Keep your eye on The Cycle as more learn about the risky title, and the audience starts to build.