"The Darwin Project" is a battle royale-like game in the vein of "Player Unknown's Battle Grounds," and it's reportedly coming to PCs and the Xbox One sometime in Spring 2018. The launch date isn't exactly happening anytime soon, but earlier on Nov. 12, the game began its closed alpha test.
Aside from the closed alpha, the developers of "The Darwin Project" also uploaded a Developer's Diary update onto their YouTube Channel on Nov. 7. The Dev diary served as an overview of sorts, and a sneak peak so players would be able to catch a glimpse of how the game was progressing.
The video described the game as third-person, action-survival game.
Vance Musgrave, the game's writer begins the dev diary with an introduction to the game's mechanics and the innovations they've made to hopefully make it a fun experience for everyone. "What makes the game unique is that it's designed as much for the spectators as it is for the players. The core gameplay is a futuristic battle royale deathmatch with a strong emphasis on tracking and survival. Our innovation on this genre is an improvement on the standard battle royale gameplay which we call the manhunt."
According to Musgrave, they noticed that the most exciting part of most battle royale-like games was when players were going toe-to-toe with each other, but because this is only a small part of the game itself, they wanted to put a spin on things and challenge the genre's norms.
In "The Darwin Project" there will be an emphasis on tracking and strategy, and instead of merely duking out, players will have to rely on clues to find their enemies on the maps. These clues range from footsteps to campfires, to the various other things the players do to change the environment.
The spectators will also be given a unique role called the "show director." The dev diary did not reveal what the show directors (spectators) would be doing.
