PIONER Q&A #2 – Devs Reveal PvE/PvP Mechanics of This STALKER-Like MMOFPS, Confirm Beta in 2023

wccftech.com:

While we're still waiting for a definitive STALKER 2 release date, there's another game that fans of the seminal Chernobyl-inspired shooter game should keep on their radar: PIONER. Originally surfaced in 2021, it is in development by newcomer studio GFA Games, which received a Tencent investment later that year.

The setting of PIONER is very similar to STALKER. An island located somewhere in the Soviet Union is subjected to an environmental catastrophe caused by a mysterious energy source, which mutates flora and fauna, creating various types of anomalies that players will need to investigate.

Unlike GSC Game World's game, though, PIONER was designed from the start as a multiplayer game, specifically, a Massively Multiplayer Online First-Person Shooter (MMOFPS). Beyond uncovering the narrative mystery behind the anomalies and their source, players will also have the chance to explore dungeons, take part in raids, join one of several factions, and even fight in clan versus clan battles for control and influence.

With the game due to be playable soon on PC and consoles, I've had the chance to dive into greater detail on the PvE/PvP mechanics of PIONER as well as the release plans with GFA Games CEO Aleksandr Nikitin.

You've said the game features over 50 quests and 'elaborate stories' with moral dilemmas or choices that affect the quest's outcome. Can you give some examples? Also, how long do you estimate these quests and stories will take to be completed by the average player?

We focus on several different types of quests. There are various quests in the game, both daily activities passed in a few minutes (not counted in these 50s) and more extensive and comprehensive tasks, including quest lines. For easy comparison, you