Gear up with an arsenal of diverse firearms before heading into intense team-based action throughout the Middle East. A groundbreaking narrative for the shooter genre, the story of Insurgency: Sandstorm focuses on a female protagonist who is a Yazidi Kurd. Thematically, the game is inspired by real events and people, however this is a fictional story and characters.

Insurgency: Sandstorm brings extended gameplay possibilities, improved immersion, and new 4-playe co-op and versus objective-based game modes. All while retaining the lethal tactical action that made Insurgency the worldwide phenomenon it is today.

Fight across a modern battlefield utilizing gameplay mechanics that blur the lines between reality and shooter - split second decisions will mean life or death for you and your team. Each weapon has unique ballistic calculations that take into account things like bullet drop and penetration power. Choose to drop magazines for faster reloads in dangerous situations, carefully open doors to keep quiet, or bash doors down with a shoulder charge, and much more.

Participate in large-scale battles in up to 16-versus-16 skirmishes with artillery barrages, helicopter gunships, repurposed commercial drones, air strikes, and drivable land transport vehicles. Battle across expansive maps with interiors to breach and high-value objectives to control with your team. Each map’s size and play areas are adjusted specifically for each game mode and can also be played in co-op against bots.

Like its predecessor, Insurgency: Sandstorm rewards teamwork and objective play over personal success. Players will also finally see long awaited features such as character customization, ranked matchmaking, and many more.

Starting on Friday, December 7 and running through the weekend, an open beta period will invite everyone to try the game for free on Steam. The game is playable totally for free to everyone on PC for this limited period between 5pm CET/8am PST today through 6pm CET/9am PST Monday.

The new gameplay overview trailer commented by developers breaks down all the ways Insurgency: Sandstorm is unique, from the high lethality gunplay, to an atmospheric minimal HUD, to Commander-Observer tagteams calling in fire support, to the extensive character and weapon customization, to the very design of maps, modes, and even sound.

New World Interactive’s lead game designer Michael Tsarouhas narrates the action, explaining every movement, explosion, and pull of the trigger. Across eight minutes of gameplay footage he explains how New World Interactive combined the best of shooter fundamentals with a realistic approach to ballistics, equipment, and other gameplay factors, creating an incredible FPS experience. Everything you see - from weapons to vehicles to maps and modes - will be available in the Open Beta for everyone.

New World Interactive are currently putting the finishing touches on a massive update to deploy when the Open Beta starts, representing a big content upgrade on the current Closed Beta offering. This includes the full map pool, character improvements including new voice lines, an optimization pass, and much more.

Insurgency: Sandstorm is also available in an ongoing pre-order beta, with thousands of players already playing, testing, and providing feedback on everything from weapon balance to optimization improvements. Updates and patches have been regular, taking community feedback into account as well as providing new content for those players that decided to jump in early. Those who pre-order receive a 10% discount alongside their instant access to the pre-order beta, as well as an exclusive in-game tattoo cosmetic to show their veterancy in the years to come. An additional 10% loyalty discount will be given to fans that own the original Insurgency. This additional discount will be offered until the end of March 2019.

Key Features:

• Insurgency: Sandstorm brings extended gameplay possibilities, improved immersion, and new co-op and versus objective-based game modes. All while retaining the lethal tactical action that made Insurgency the worldwide phenomenon it is today.
• Fight across a modern battlefield utilizing gameplay mechanics that blur the lines between reality and shooter - split second decisions will mean life or death for you and your team. Each weapon has unique ballistic calculations that take into account things like bullet drop and penetration power. Choose to drop magazines for faster reloads in dangerous situations, carefully open doors to keep quiet, or bash doors down with a shoulder charge, and much more.
• Participate in large-scale battles in up to 16-versus-16 skirmishes with artillery barrages, helicopter gunships, repurposed commercial drones, air strikes, and drivable land transport vehicles. Battle across expansive maps with interiors to breach and high-value objectives to control with your team. Each map’s size and play areas are adjusted specifically for each game mode and can also be played in co-op against bots.
• Like its predecessor, Insurgency: Sandstorm rewards teamwork and objective play over personal success. Players will also finally see long awaited features such as character customization, ranked matchmaking, and many more.
• Light vehicles for transportation and fire support, with new game modes designed for vehicle gameplay.
• Competitive matchmaking, anti-cheat, and rankings system.

Insurgency: Sandstorm is coming to PC in Dec. 12, 2018, while PS4 and Xbox owners will have to wait until 2019.