After several hints of a new IP, Sega has unveiled Hyenas, a multiplayer shooter from Creative Assembly, the studio behind Total War and Alien: Isolation.

At last: as part of IGN Summer of Games, Sega has unveiled its latest IP, Hyenas, developed by Creative Assembly, the studio behind Total War and Alien Isolation, as exclusive content.

Creative Assembly talked about Hyenas in a recent magazine interview, but fans didn’t know the game’s name at the time, only that it seemed to be a departure from the studio’s previous work. The game is set in a sci-fi setting where humanity has made Earth uninhabitable, forcing the super-rich to colonise Mars. The player will be one of a few mercenary teams tasked with stealing from the billionaires occupying the red planet.

More specifically, three teams of five will work against each other to steal treasure and “goods” from a spaceship.

Rather than forcing players to kill each other, Hyenas will offer objective-based gameplay, with the team with the most loot being the winner. In addition to battling human opponents, Hyenas players will also have to contend with AI enemies called MFPF or “Murphs”.

These guards are employed by the Martian billionaires and will stop anyone who tries to rob a spaceship. Considering the praise Creative Assembly has received for the AI work in Alien: Isolation, it’s possible that the ‘Murphs’ will be exciting enemies to take on alongside other players.

In Hyenas, players will have to face not only enemies but also spaceship defences. “They’re full of security,” Creative Assembly creative director Charlie Bewsher explained to IGN. “Sensors, switches, interactive systems and gadgets. It’s a great environment for this competitive game”.

With its plethora of traps waiting for players, Hyenas seems to combine a video game “heist movie” with a competitive shooter.

The cinematic trailer for Hyenas didn’t give fans a very close look at any gameplay, only telling them what they might experience during the game, such as the zero-gravity sections of the game. However, there were plenty of features to get players interested in the upcoming game, including different playable characters, classes, unique art styles and more.

Hyenas also seems to fill a new niche, as although the maps are too large to be considered typical of a PvP deathmatch, they are too small to be comparable to the map sizes of battle royale games such as Call of Duty: Warzone. With Creative Assembly’s interesting objectives and many promising ideas, Hyenas could be a refreshing title for competitive FPS players.

Source: IGN