Overwatch's creator announces new Western shooter game.

Jeff Kaplan, former director of Overwatch , has officially announced a new game project titled The Legend of California , marking the debut of his new studio, Kintsugiyama.

The Legend of California is a first-person shooter game set in the Wild West during the Gold Rush era, but takes place on a fictional California island instead of a real location. The game combines survival elements with a vast open world where players can explore, gather resources, craft, build, hunt, and fight to survive and thrive.

According to the official description, players can choose to journey alone or cooperate with friends, with the goal not only of surviving but also of establishing their own position in this harsh world. The game emphasizes the 'multiplayer' element, allowing players to operate on long-term online servers.

One notable feature is the randomly generated map system for each play session. While the overall shape of California remains consistent, with familiar landmarks like Yosemite appearing in their correct locations, many other points of interest change depending on the map's 'seed,' creating a different experience each time you play.

Kaplan stated that the game world was handcrafted to ensure geographical consistency, yet remained flexible in terms of content changes. Additionally, the game utilizes a 'tier' system, where players level up in major stages rather than through small increments like traditional levels, with each region having a different difficulty level depending on the server. This means that a region might be suitable for beginners on one server, but become the 'endgame' region on another.

The gameplay mechanics of The Legend of California focus on precise shooting skills, while also incorporating various activities such as hunting animals for survival, attacking enemy bases to gather resources, or defending territory against other players in the optional PvP mode.

The gathering and crafting system also plays a crucial role, allowing players to transform the wilderness into survival tools such as weapons, equipment, or food. Players can also build and expand their own farms, including structures such as mines, stables, and advanced crafting stations.

The game supports online gameplay with continuously running servers, where players can build their careers alone or cooperate in teams of up to four people, sharing resources, buildings, and development progress.

Currently, The Legend of California is available on Steam as a 'Wishlist', and players can also register to participate in future beta tests.