It has been a year since the first gameplay trailer was revealed, and now at gamescom 2025, we finally got a chance to try out a quick demo of Exoborne. In case you missed its reveal, Exoborne is the next game from Sharkmob, the studio behind Bloodhunt, the Vampire: The Masquerade battle royale.
Instead of creating another battle royale, Sharkmob is throwing its hat into the extraction shooter ring with Exoborne. As with most extraction shooters, Exoborne will feature groups of three players who must explore a map to get precious loot, all while contending with dangerous environmental hazards and enemy NPCs and players.
What helps set it apart from other extraction shooters is its exo-rigs. Players can equip these exoskeletons that can help improve their maneuverability or give them extra protection. With these, the game promises to have more dynamic exploration and combat compared with other extraction shooters, where players are limited to just basic running and jumping.
At gamescom 2025, we got to play Exoborne for around 30 minutes. As we only got to experience a small part of the game (enough for one successful run), we can’t give a proper verdict. What we can say is that the exo-rigs definitely have potential in giving this game a unique identity in the increasingly crowded extraction shooter genre.
Exo-rigs are the Highlight
Again, I only got to experience around 30 minutes of gameplay. As such, I only got to familiarize myself with the Kestrel EX3, an exo-rig with high mobility. With this, you can get a much higher jump courtesy of some boosters, as well as the ability to hover by crouching while in the air. Thanks to these, you get more options for traversal and repositioning when up against enemies. Aside from the movement abilities, this exo-rig also has useful abilities for combat, including a windblast that concusses enemies.
While I didn’t get to try the other exo-rigs, I did get a glimpse of their kit. For starters, the Kodiak OX5 is a tank-like exoskeleton that has the fortress ability that enhances armor, but consumes energy. It also has the Kinetic Leap that can increase jump height after reaching maximum speed.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is the Viper STR7, a stealthy exo-rig that lets players cloak to bypass enemies. It also has agile damage abilities, as well as the ability to jump one additional time while mid-air.
From what we’ve seen, all exo-rigs have movement-enhancing abilities. This is great as one of the things I liked about the game during my hands-on with it was how maneuverable the character is. This made repositioning a breeze. For instance, when we were attacked by some players, I was able to quickly jump up the roof of a building to snipe them from there. After which I quickly dropped down and grapple-hooked to their location to finish them off (yes, there’s a grappling hook in this game).
This maneuverability is what I enjoyed about the game the most, though movement did feel quite floaty at times. Still, it was nice to move overall while wearing the Kestrel. Thus, I’m interested in trying out the other rigs to see just how much they can change my playstyle.
Speaking of playstyle, these exo-rigs also have various mods that should transform how they feel to play even more. As such, this game has plenty of promise when it comes to customization.
My hope with this game is that the exo-rigs give the game plenty of depth to keep runs fresh. That’s because, based on my time with the game, Exoborne doesn’t seem to rock the boat much when it comes to its core extraction shooter mechanics.
Fairly Standard Extraction Mechanics
During my Exoborne demo, I experienced a run with two other players. After dropping into the map, we went to an objective to retrieve some items. Then, we proceeded to another area to get items inside a chest. Finally, with these items in tow, we went to an extraction point and waited for exfil. Along the way, we had to face off against NPCs and other players, with some particularly hairy firefights while waiting for extraction.
My description of the demo is quite similar to the gameplay loop of most extraction shooters. As such, it’s fair to say that Exoborne doesn’t exactly shake things up in this aspect. Of course, this demo is made as an introduction to the game, meaning later runs might just have more interesting mechanics.
One thing I didn’t really get to see much of are the environmental hazards. In the game’s showcases, Exoborne will have some dynamic weather effects, including tornadoes, storms, and more. With these, each run promises to feel fresh (and rather dangerous).
Hopefully, these additional hazards, coupled with the variety of the exo-rigs, can give Exoborne a unique identity, even though its core gameplay loop seems to be rather standard for an extraction shooter.
Exoborne Initial Verdict
Again, we can’t give a verdict yet since we only tried the game for a bit. Still, what we can say is that, while Exoborne flows much like you would expect a typical extraction shooter works, it does have the interesting exo-rig system that has a lot of promise in giving the game more depth.
Overall, we’re definitely interested in try the game out some more. Players will also be able to try the game out thanks to Exoborne’s second playtest, happening from September 16 to October 7.
Exoborne is set to launch on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC. There’s no word yet on a release date, though.