News

By: Jarno Kokko Apr 18, 2008

"Codename Pwnage" First Look

Cover of the Finnish GameReactor May issue. The headline; "First game from Futuremark"

Once again, the print media is getting some special treats as first bits of information on the Futuremark Games Studio project, "Codename Pwnage", are unveiled. While there are very few confirmed facts out there, something can be gathered from these very early "first look" pieces appearing in print.

According to the issue 5 of the Finnish GameReactor (translated from Finnish);

"Codename Pwnage" is a working title for a fast-paced game where players fight each other as armed astronauts. It is an online PC game that is set apart by the unique setting. Space soldiers fight among asteroids in zero gravity."

The article also mentions that the game has been influenced by such classics as Counter-Strike, Tribes and the Battlefield series. All in all, it appears that the first Futuremark game project is a somewhat traditional online shooter, placed in a very non-traditional setting.

...

The GameReactor story.

Nothing much is said about the technology, but one would obviously assume that "Codename Pwnage" project would leverage a modified version of the in-house engine used in the upcoming 3DMark Vantage benchmark. Naturally this is little more than speculation at this point. The GameReactor story is also accompanied by a release date - "2008". This is probably just a guess by the magazine, as no specific release date has been announced.

In addition to GameReactor, UK PC Gamer and German PC Games have also printed bits and pieces about the game, pretty much repeating the same information as in the GameReactor piece.

PC Gamer has just a few words, but that's about what's known so far.

German PC Games story - in German.

We tried to poke the Games Studio guys at Futuremark for more, but it appears that at this time all they are prepared to say in public has been said in these early print magazine stories. I'm sure we'll hear more as we get to the expo season later this year. It's common that if a title is planned to be published by the end of the year, it is demonstrated in detail during the summer at events like E3 and Games Convention. If that "2008" turns out to be more than just a guess, that's most likely when we'll hear and see more.