Game Den Of Wolves Developer/publisher 10 Chambers Format PC, consoles TBA Release TBA
Outside the window of a high-rise apartment, Midway City sprawls into the distance, its skyline pierced by neonfringed megastructures. But it’s not the heights of this dystopian metropolis we’re interested in tonight. After spending a moment browsing a holographic display on a coffee table, rendering the entire city as a greyscale diorama, the 10 Chambers staffer piloting our demonstration accepts a mission located at a warehouse. He is accompanied by a colleague, their avatar outfitted in a crisp suit. For all the futuristic trappings in this firstperson action game, it’d be difficult to imagine a more classic setup for a heist.
Any possibility of a stealthy approach evaporates, however, within seconds of their arrival. Greeted by a pack of armoured security guards, they carve through a series of industrial corridors using firearms, painting the stainlesssteel walls red. A volley of bullets targeting the well-dressed man is blocked by his energy shield, encasing him in a fiery shell. This barrier soon disintegrates, though, forcing our representative to quick-step across the battlefield and save the day. As the dust settles, they gather themselves before pressing onwards. Crime waits for no man, after all.
Den Of Wolves might initially seem a departure for 10 Chambers, the Stockholm-based studio which made its name with the 2021 cooperative horror game GTFO. Until, that is, you consider the pedigree of its creators. “For me, GTFO is an extension of Payday,” Ulf Andersson explains. And he would know: 10 Chambers’ CEO and creative director served as lead designer on both projects, as well as Payday 2.
In returning to the genre he helped to define, however, we quickly discover the need to recalibrate exactly what Andersson means by the term “heist”, particularly in a futuristic context. Rather than simply breaking intoyour gun for hire can engage in everything from corporate espionage and mercenary work to counterintelligence missions and treasure hunts. For Andersson, this setting allows him to execute upon ideas originally envisioned for theoretical sequels, while breaking out of the storytelling confines enforced by that series’ real-world setting. “I love sci-fi, I love megacities – I grew up on that stuff,” he says. “For me, it’s almost like it to be a sci-fi city to be worth making another big game.”
