Tencent Games’ “Grey State Studio” has revealed a new extraction shooter called Rules of Engagement: The Grey State, which has players facing off against “horrific monstrosities that they have to navigate on behalf of an enigmatic corporation that keeps this place a closely guarded secret.”
The team says that “Rules of Engagement isn’t just a horror story – it’s all of them”, adding that Rules of Engagement: The Grey State is set for a 2026 release on PC.
Grey State Studio was formerly known as Aurora Studio (the team behind Ring of Elysium), and is a subsidiary of Tencent. This one is going to be free-to-play and “introduces a new breed of tactical shooter, fusing deep, class-based RPG progression with a unique, ever-expanding universe of supernatural horror.”
Take a look at the reveal trailer:
Drop in, gear up, and get out. Rules of Engagement delivers a high-octane PvEvP loop where every run is a desperate race against the clock. Squads deploy with only a basic loadout, igniting a frantic scramble to hunt grotesque creatures and scavenge powerful gear before time runs out.
As the final countdown begins, a critical choice emerges: will you extract early at a safe, personal exfil point for guaranteed profit, or risk it all to hunt for the alien artifact and fight for a seat on the heavily contested helicopter? The choice is yours.
If you want to see a bit more of it in action, an official gameplay trailer has also been released. It looks rather pretty, and has some atmosphere, for sure. There’s all manner of horrors that jump out, from facehugger-style Aliens, to ghostly apparitions.
An alpha test is planned which will feature four of the classes:
- Sledge, unstoppable juggernaut that forges a path with shield and hammer
- Pyro, chaotic madman that controls the battlefield with fire and gas
- Phantom, swift assassin that strikes from the shadows with extreme precision
- A Fourth Class, to be revealed at a later date
“From the very start, our motto has been to ‘Chart the Uncharted’,” the Grey State Studio team shares. “We want to explore the corners and blank spaces of the shooter genre, and push the boundaries of what strategic gameplay looks like. Rules of Engagement was built with future in mind, and we plan to support the game for years to come with content updates, meta shakeups and player friendly free-to-play business model supported by a cosmetics-only in-game shop.”
Rules of Engagement: The Grey State is coming to PC in 2026.