Spiritual successor to Dino Crisis, Instinction is an action-adventure survival horror games, with dinosaurs, lots of dinosaurs!

This beautifully crafted world contains a gripping new tale with incredibly responsive combat and weaponry, advanced dismemberment, interactive and destructible environments, leveraging off of Unreal Engines next generation technology to deliver an incredibly wholesome and engaging experience.

Play as April Summers, and progress through multiple objectives while discovering secrets, from the unknown depths of the ocean to vast grassy plains. As they unearth the true reasons for their deployment they begin to descend into inner self-doubt that will test their resolve, relationships and push them to the darkest corners of their minds. Complete objectives, find upgrades, uncover side quests and embark on an unforgettable journey. DLC’s will include the option to play in third person, additional characters, a co-op game mode and additional map expansions.

Developer Hashbane Interactive paid particular focus on next-generation consoles and GPUs. Utilizing advanced ray-tracing, DLSS 2.0, HDRI, screen space effects, shadows, reflections, and ambient occlusion. Advanced Ambisonics and Convolution Reverb provide a fully immersive three-dimensional sound experience. Environmental audio reacts relative to position and origination point.

Hashbane Interactive revealed Instinction in 2021, providing a glimpse at a vast and vibrant landscape filled with exotic locations, deadly dinosaurs, and an expansive world for players to explore.

Since the debut of the trailer above, the Hashbane Interactive team have been busy behind the scenes – working on the next phase of development for the upcoming title. This resulted in New Zealand-based investment firm Hillfarrance investing an additional $2 million into the game – providing the funds to take production to the next level.

Hillfarrance’s Managing Partner & Founder, Rob Vickery, said the following about his partnership with Hashbane Interactive: “With over 50 years of combined gaming experience at Hillfarrance, when we meet a team building a game that we cannot wait to play they certainly get our attention. This happened when Jade and Courtney presented what they had already accomplished with Hashbane’s first title, Instinction. Aside from crafting a story and gameplay demo that kept us wanting more, they had captured the imagination of millions of gamers worldwide via their launch trailer. Equally as impressive was their ability to build partnerships with some of the titans of the gaming industry – such as Epic and Intel.”

The game promises to take advantage of its roots in Unreal Engine 5 – producing a truly immersive experience which the team hope will give Dinosaur Fans the videogame of their dreams. Dinosaur fans can expect action, exploration, adventure and discovery as they get to immerse themselves in a gorgeously crafted world which takes full advantage of Unreal Engine 5.

Although news on the production is still heavily under wraps currently, Rob was also keen to share how he hopes Instinction will shape the New Zealand Game Industry: “We are delighted to increase our investment into Hashbane to $2m and help fund the expansion of our team to complete the next phase of game development. In what we believe is the largest ever video game studio investment from an NZ-based venture fund, we are helping lay the foundations for a new, Triple-A game development studio with a wildly audacious vision. This vision is attracting some of the most exciting talent in the industry to our shores, whilst also bringing the world’s eyeballs to our burgeoning game economy. Perhaps more importantly to our purpose-driven fund, Hashbane will also hopefully encourage our youth to seek out careers in game development and the creative economy.”

The investment has allowed the studio to attract world-class talent to the project. Cameron Suey has recently joined as part of the game’s narrative team – with previous working titles including Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Marvel’s Avengers. Prehistoric Planet’s Lead Creature Model & Sculpt Artist, Sanjay Singh, has also joined the Instinction team.

When asked about the newest additions to the studio, founders Courtney O’Neill and Jade Saunders said: “We are incredibly excited for Cameron and Sanjay to join our team. Cameron’s in-depth understanding of narrative design will help to enrich Instinction’s story, and Sanjay’s prior experience delivering some of the best dinosaurs for television will help to immerse our players in the encounters they have with these animals. As a studio, we are so thankful for the support Hillfarrance have given us. We hope that Instinction will be a catalyst for kickstarting the Games Industry here in New Zealand – showing that with the right projects, we can put our country on the map and create an industry which can be world-leading in its own right.”

Weapon loadouts to suit your playstyle, from melee weapons to rocket launchers with fully customisable in-game attachment, skin and reticle editor. Find and earn attachments as you progress. The game will optionally also take advantage of adaptive trigger and haptic feedback. Access quick settings and you'll also be able to toggle each HUD element on and off, items such as the mini-map, ammunition, compass, mission, hints and inventory. Everything, including HUD positioning, is fully customisable and you have the ability to choose presets or create your own.

Key Features:

• Layered Narrative: Discover the intense explorative story of April Summers, a driven and formidable adventurer deeply affected by personal demons and fears.
• Survive and Explore: Play face to face against a wide variety of ravenous prehistoric and extinct creatures. Traverse, discover, solve puzzles and complete quests filled with deadly obstacles.
• Stunning Locations: Conquer beautifully crafted interactive environments filled with ancient ruins, caves, lore, forests, grassy plains and underwater exploration.
• Take Control: Switch between third and first person on the fly, with customisable hud, weapons and skins, special items and collectibles.

Instinction is planned for release on PC (Steam), last-generation and current-generation consoles at some point in 2025.