It is time to open the doors to the YAGER Pitch Archives for the third time!
As we continue celebrating our 25th anniversary, we will look at a project very dear to our heart. Scavenger.
Though, for the folks joining in for the first time, let us quickly get you up to speed about the word “pitch”.
What is a pitch?
A game pitch is a wonderful way to get your idea out there and find the perfect partners to help you make it a reality. In game development, we, at YAGER, love to bring ideas to life and try new things. Some of the projects in this series were already in the works, while others were the start of something great – like partnering with a publisher or another studio.
So far, we covered two of our old pitches, that you can check out when you click on their respective names:
Scavenger
We travel back in time to the year 2014. The prototype called “Scavenger” was meant to be an immersive first-person action RPG.
You roam the galaxy as a rogue treasure hunter – or Scavenger – and explore derelict spaceships. Of course, you do not only explore these ships, but you also perform illegal salvage operations there, you are a treasure hunter after all.
If you want to take a closer look, make sure to watch the video:
As you move about the galaxy, you visit outposts to pick up new gear and supplies, rumors, and quests, leading you to the locations of abandoned shipwrecks. These ships are designed for co-op play, with custom gameplay areas and objectives.
When you launch a mission, you check the blueprints to plan your route from entry to extraction, you and your co-op partner can pick your loadout and class afterwards, to make sure they fit your mission and playstyle. Due to the nature of the game, there were zero gravity zones that helped you sneak past guard droids and opened new paths for you.
Hacking into security systems, cutting through the thick steel walls of the spaceships or just shooting the guards of the place, all valid options on your hunt for riches in Scavenger. Be careful though, the galactic police force, the Authority, can notice your presence and once they do so, their troops can dock the ship, and their only focus is to eliminate you and your peers. Suddenly, the game becomes a race to the extraction point to survive with all the loot you could grab.
Additional Thoughts
As you can see, Scavenger never made it past the prototyping stage, but the influences on The Cycle and The Cycle: Frontier are visible in some of the designs. YAGER also foreshadowed the core gameplay feature of the modern extraction genre in this title, but in a full co-op PvE environment.
While it never made it past the prototype stage Scavenger still shows off some of the amazing work of our time and features some brilliant design ideas that inspired later projects of YAGER.
Thank you for checking out part three of our YAGER Pitch Archives. We will be launching the next episode in two weeks, so stay tuned and check our website regularly so you do not miss out.
