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Wargaming, the developer behind World of Tanks, confirmed that its new mech shooter Steel Hunters will enter early access on April 2.

Steel Hunters was revealed at The Game Awards 2024. It's quite different from the military-focused multiplayer games Wargaming is best known for, such as World of Tanks, World of Warships, and World of Warplanes. Steel Hunters fully embraces sci-fi as a mecha game that blends elements from hero shooters, battle royales, and extraction shooters. Five teams of two players fight each other to collect a resource called Starfall on Earth, and players can win by killing all of their opponents or successfully extracting.

When Steel Hunters enters early access, it will include seven different "Hunters" for players to choose from: Razerside, Heartbreaker, Fenris, Ursus, Trenchwalker, Prophet, and Weaver. Three maps scattered around Earth--Crimson Ridge, Maryland Heights, and Stonecutter Keeper--will also be part of Steel Hunters from the start of Early Access.

Wargaming explained in a Steam post that it chose to put Steel Hunters through early access because it allows the developers and players to "we can refine and expand the game together, ensuring every shot fired and every Hunter unleashed is finely tuned." While Wargaming has not outlined a specific early access timeline, it also explained that the studio's goal "is to move quickly to a full release once your feedback has helped us polish the core experience."

Steel Hunters' early-access period will begin on April 2, exclusively on PC. It will be available on both Steam and the Wargaming Game Center storefronts.