Survarium game world detailed in new dev interview

It's nice to know that sometimes a headshot really is a headshot.

It's nice to know that sometimes a headshot really is a headshot. Vostok Games has released some new details about its in-progress survival shooter Survariumin an interviewwith Worlds Factory. Designed as a free-to-play online first-person-shooter, the development team has now hinted at just how ambitious the post-apocalyptic MMO game world will end up being.

"Survarium will be a session-based game, at least at the initial development phase," said Oleg Yavorsky, Vostok Games Marketing Director, in the interview. "Development of a persistent game world would require a lot of resources in every respect – human, time, and costs. The good thing is that the online format of the project allows us to constantly upgrade and expand the game with new features and possibilities."

Each session and map will accommodate up to 30 players, depending on the game mode, according to an "estimate" by Yavorsky. The developers have so far outlined three games modes in Survarium, including PvP fighting, co-op play within the PvE universe, as well as a "lone wolf"-oriented free-play option. But Yavorsky also pointed out the ways in which its player base may end up affecting the game universe.

"In Survarium we plan several storylines developing in parallel and joined together by one metastory," he said. "This said, we want players to be part of the process to decide upon which direction the story should further evolve. For example, if there is a story-related object on the map which the player can either destroy or save at his own discretion, we will collect the general statistics of what was the choice made by the majority of players. If the majority opted to destroy it, for example, the story will evolve in the direction where that particular object is no more."

The interview also includes new information on the game's damage system, looting, and the possibility of player housing. According to the developer's posted timelinefor 2013, a beta version should be playable by the end of the year. For another kind of survival-horror story, be sure to check out the way the Vostok Games team transitionedfrom the collapse of the STALKER series into its current Survarium project. Also take a look at some screenshotsthat have surfaced from the ongoing alpha phase of development as well as a recent dev video diary below.

Image via survarium.com