Croatian indie developer Fearem has announced Anchora new open world survival game. Between its post-apocalyptic underwater environment, crafting rich gameplay loop and promise of 150 player servers, Anchor could appeal to fans Rust, Subnauticsor both.
Fearem describes itself as a “tech-focused” indie studio that has primarily developed multiplayer technology for external clients since its founding in 2015. The Zagreb-based company has released one standalone title in the past decade: an asymmetrical multiplayer horror game called Demoniclaunched as part of the Steam Early Access program in August 2018.
Anchor promises large persistent multiplayer worlds
Fearem has now announced another solo project in the form of Anchor. Built on always-on servers that are constantly evolving even when players are offline, this title aims to combine elements of Rust and Subnauticspromising a survival crafting experience with an emphasis on multiplayer, satisfying people looking for PvP, PvE, or both. In addition to its persistent servers supporting over 150 people, Anchor will also be playable solo.
World Anchor is presented as the aftermath of a nuclear apocalypse that forced humanity to genetically modify itself to survive underwater. The titular Anchor is the name of a large area of 16 square kilometers, about 33% larger than the map of the first Subnautica. The game's underwater world is promised to be diverse, featuring confirmed biomes such as coral reefs, rocky terrain, and arctic zones.
Anchor aims to provide a robust artisanal and immersive food chain system
Anchor is primarily an open-world survival experience, with the gameplay loop revolving around exploration, resource gathering, and base building. One of its unique selling points is a so-called predator system targeting sharks that will hunt and feed dynamically. Much like their real-life counterparts, sharks Anchor they will be attracted to blood but will not always be aggressive.
How exactly this will work in practice remains to be seen. Although feeding motivation matters, real-life sharks are not territorial in the sense that an animal like a lion might be toward a human, and their behavior is largely dictated by sensory cues such as blood, vibrations, and erratic movements, rather than hunger itself. In the wild, even fed sharks may still investigate potential prey out of curiosity, the kind of behavior that can cause AnchorVast oceans are unpredictable and alive when translated well into gameplay. The game has only been confirmed for PC so far, its Steam page is already live. No pricing or availability details have been shared yet.
