With The Cycle, Yager introduces the Competitive Quester, a new genre of PvEvP shooter with a strong focus on emergent social dynamics.

Welcome to Fortuna III. Far as we can tell, this rock was terraformed by aliens a long time ago. The Federation tried colonizing it, but the Cycle put an end to that. We’re talking world-spanning storms that kill anything dumb enough to set foot planetside and these storms are happening more often than not.

Your home is a spinning collection of tin cans known as Prospect Station. The main thing going for it is that it's not the surface. It ain’t pretty, but no one said life on the frontier was going to be easy.

You put up with this junk for one reason: to get rich. The planet’s full of exotic materials that the major galactic factions pay serious credits for. When the Cycle breaks, that’s your window to get down there and get to work. Just watch out for the competition – the long arm of the law doesn’t reach out this far.

Cash in your contracts and those same factions will set you up with some shiny gear. They’ve got big guns, little guns, medium guns, and a collection of gadgetry that’d make your jaw drop. Getting the job done is whole lot easier when you’ve got a jetpack and a laser cannon at your side.

Berlin-based game development studio YAGER reported it has received a strategic minority investment by Tencent.

As YAGER has moved into self-publishing, this fresh capital will be used to strengthen the company’s development and publishing activities for its current title, the competitive quest shooter The Cycle, as well as other upcoming projects.

“Tencent is not only the world’s leading games company but also a prolific investor with a stellar track record. We’re humbled to join the line-up of Tencent partners, which reads like a games industry Who’s Who,” said YAGER CEO Timo Ullmann. “We’re confident that this will greatly enhance the scope of our business, not just by getting access to Tencent’s network and resources, but by tapping the vast industry know-how Tencent possesses.”

Tencent Games is a leading global platform for game development, publishing, and operations, providing hundreds of millions of users with cross-platform interactive entertainment experiences. Tencent’s investment will leave YAGER fully independent – all operations will continue under the studio’s current corporate structure and leadership. The studio currently employs 110 people with multiple projects in various stages of development.

Key Features

• A new Frontier: Explore the world of Fortuna III - a hostile, beautiful new world, full of fortune, alien life, and other players looking to take its riches.
• Storm: The cycle leaves only a narrow window of opportunity - stay too long, and you will be trapped on the planet.
• Pacting: Players can meet on the surface of Fortuna III and join uneasy alliances with one another as they complete contracts
• Black Market: Players have a wide arsenal of weapons and gear available to them, all with different playstyles, that can be purchased during a match
• Crafting: Players can spend their precious credits on creating new gear to take into the next match
• Quests: Shooting may give you an edge - but the best prospectors are those who can take on dangerous jobs for factions during a match
• Customization: A wide selection of gear that players progress through, tailoring their character to their individual playstyle, with more options regularly added

The Cycle is in development for PC (consoles at a later date).