The recently dormant MechWarrior franchise will return, Piranha Games announced over the weekend, but it’s going to be more than a year before MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries is ready for release. Fortunately, we don’t have to wait nearly that long for our first glimpse of the game.
It’s been 14 years since the last single-player MechWarrior game, going back to MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries (2002), the standalone expansion for MechWarrior 4: Vengeance . Piranha revived the franchise three years ago with MechWarrior Online, but (until recently) there was no indication that we’d ever see another solo MechWarrior adventure. But the first annual Mech_Con, a one-day “celebration of BattleTech and MechWarrior ” hosted by Piranha Games, brought word that MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries is currently in development for PC.
Details on the next MechWarrior remain scarce. The game is being built with Unreal Engine 4 and will include “an immersive, career-based Mercenary campaign driven by player choice.” Players will fill the role of a novice MechWarrior mercenary, alive in the year 3015, trying to stay alive and make a fortune during the Third Succession War. Piranha says development of MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries won’t have any impact on MechWarrior Online , now entering its third year of service.
For an incredibly early look at MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries , take a few minutes to watch the pre-alpha footage published over the weekend. Then head down to the comments section and let us know if you’re looking forward to playing MechWarrior 5.
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries is in development for PC. The game is scheduled to debut in 2018.
Be sure to check back with iDigitalTimes.com and follow Scott on Twitter for more MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries news throughout the game’s time in development and however long Piranha Games supports MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries after launch.
