Starship Troopers is getting a video game

The classic satirical masterpiece is being turned into a multiplayer co-operative shooter that lets 12 players team up to squish Bugs

Paul Verhoeven’s 1997 classic Starship Troopers has been announced to be getting a video game adaptation in the form of a 12-player co-operative shooter.

Offworld Industries have announced that it’s teamed up with Sony Pictures Consumer Products to create a new shooter based on the classic movie. Offworld Industries is the developer behind hit first person shooter Squad, as well as WW1 trench warfare game Beyond the Wire. It also acted as a publisher for Post Scriptum, a WWII simulation game focusing on historical accuracy and large-scale battles.

The new Starship Troopers game, called Starship Troopers: Extermination, will allow 12 players to team up in squads of four to “defend their base, complete objectives, gather resources, and try to kill every Bug in sight”, according to the game’s press release. Because as we know, the only good Bug is a dead Bug.

Starship Troopers: Extermination features five Bugs inspired by the films, and more will be added as the game is developed. Picture: Offworld Industries

Starship Troopers: Extermination lets players construct walls and towers to defend their bases, and players will be split up into three classes: Assault, Support, and Defense. There will apparently be five unique Bug types to take down, all inspired by the classic film, and battles will take place in five zones over a reportedly massive map.

Offworld Industries has released a gameplay teaser, which IGN has uploaded to YouTube, that shows a little glimpse of what the game will be like when it releases on PC in early access next year. Early access titles are games that aren’t quite ready for a full release, and allow players to test out the game while it’s in development but still in a playable state.

Usually video game adaptations go the other way, with games getting turned into other media. Classic Ubisoft game Splinter Cell was recently announced to be getting a surprising adaptation, with an eight-part radio drama airing on the BBC. The drama will star a number of UK radio stars, as well as TV and movie star Will Poulter.

In other video game adaptation news, The Witcher 3 developer CD Projekt showed off the game’s next-gen update recently, revealing that the game would be getting a new quest and content inspired by the series’ Netflix adaptation. The update will include new looks for Dandelion and Nilfgaardian soldiers, and let players unlock equipment for Geralt inspired by the show.

Written by Oliver Brandt on behalf of GLHF.