Hyenas is Sega’s new pop culture-infused sci-fi FPS

Make war for nostalgia’s sake

Sega unveiled the new game it had previously teased today, and it’s a bit out of left field. Hyenas is a new sci-fi FPS from Creative Assembly, where players compete to steal and plunder caches of merch for the rich.

The premiere arrives as part of IGN’s Summer of Gaming, and was teased yesterday with a little sound bite.

Hyenas pits packs of players against each other in a bid to steal some merch. Old pop culture collectibles have become priceless artifacts in this world, so the goal is to plunder more memorabilia than the other crews and get them out.

It looks like Hyenas is really leaning into the pop culture and “irreverent” tone, as creative director Charlie Bewsher describes in a post-premiere interview. Zero-G movement and combat also look to play a factor. Each playable Hyena also has unique abilities, to cater to whatever playstyle you’d want.

Scraps of nostalgia

Hyenas really looks to be another entry in the Tarkov-influenced extraction shooter genre. We’ve seen plenty of these, from Rainbow Six Extraction to Battlefield 2042‘s Hazard Zone.

What seems to be setting Hyenas apart is the tone itself. It’s taking a bright and brazen approach that feels right in line with the likes of Borderlands. That, plus hoards full of nostalgic loot and references, like the Nixon mask and a Rubik’s Cube.

Creative Assembly has made some stellar games, including Alien: Isolation and the Total War games, but I can’t really say I’m sold on Hyenas just yet. It will have a chance to prove itself ahead of its 2023 launch though. Sign-ups for the Alpha Test are live right now over on the game’s website.

Otherwise, Hyenas is aiming to launch in 2023 for PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, and PS5.