Changing the Game: FragPunk's Innovative Edge in the FPS Arena

It’s Xbox Games Showcase time again, and Bad Guitar Games have teamed up with Netease to make a big announcement. FragPunk is going to be the big new challenger to the staid world of the competitive shooter with its tactical hero FPS, framed as a 5v5 fraggin’ experience. Oh, but there’s a twist, and this is a big one – the game features shard cards, an inclusion that is going to change the way we think about 5v5 tactical hero FPSs, and will ensure that no two games of FragPunk will ever be the same! FragPunk will launch on PC and Xbox Series X|S in 2025.

The Shard Card Mechanic: FragPunk's Unique Edge

A key part of FragPunk’s appeal is the shard card system, which lets you utterly transform the rules of the engagement with a few swift taps, offering dozens of cards at launch that, for example, flip the battle arena upside down, let you summon a grim reaper to stalk your enemies, turn your opponent’s attacks back on themselves, let you enlarge your enemies’ heads to make them easier to hit—the list of chaotic possibilities goes on. These ruleshift cards make it a far more entertaining game and get around some of the main pitfalls of replayability: now games will always be unpredictable, because the powers you and your opponent had in the match that won you gold in lvl 30 won’t necessarily apply next time.

Unleashing Creativity in Combat

Xin Chang, Bad Guitar’s creative director and producer, tells me about how excited everyone is about FragPunk’s prospects to release a new kind of FPS: ‘With shard card, you don’t just make your hero, you make your weapon, and you open the product (inspiration) that combines all of them. All combinations are unique, and the game is never stale.’

A Fast-Paced Fight for Victory

Rethinking Traditional 5v5 Shooter Dynamics

Possibly the most radical innovation FragPunk offers is its pace. In contrast to the long matches of its genre contemporaries, matches in FragPunk are over in two and a half minutes. At that breakneck speed, players must be agile with their choices, utilising their heroes’ abilities and shard cards to outmanoeuvre the competition in short order.

Meet the Heroes

FragPunk will start with a diverse range of heroes, each with different strengths they can bring to a team. The first few heroes revealed are Broker, Nitro and Axon, and they are a mere taste of the variety to come from the ability systems and strategic mindgames that the full roster could unlock. More heroes will be announced in the lead-up to the game’s launch.

A Partnership Forging New Frontiers

It’s tempting to see NetEase Games and Bad Guitar’s partnership on FragPunk – ‘hyper-realistic fast-paced shooting’ which ‘gives players a never-ending world of possibilities’ – as a marriage of successful minds. ‘We are excited to work with Bad Guitar to bring a high-quality, next generation, fast-paced shooter to players around the world,’ said Ethan Wang, SVP of NetEase Games. ‘[This game] is breakneck pace driven by the next generation of beautiful graphics powered by Bad Guitar’s amazing art skills.’ With innovation and excellence as foundation, FragPunk is about to shine.

Anticipation Builds for 2025

No release date has been set yet, but future play tests for PC and Xbox Series X|S have been announced, offering a preview of the highly advanced gameplay and new mechanics that are set to redefine gamers’ expectations of what a tactical hero FPS should be.

The Future of Competitive Shooters

All that awaits is the world premiere of Bad Guitar Games and NetEase’s upcoming title FragPunk. As the world’s biggest games companies compete for our attention, it’s time to drop party control for good.

Exploring the Edge: FragPunk's Game-Changing Mechanic

FragPunk is a glimpse into the next generation of gaming, where shard cards let you play on the wild side. Shard cards are not just adding variability to gameplay, they’re also allowing players to modify the battlefield in unexpected ways. FragPunk is the first-person shooter of 2025, where you can only be limited by your own ingenuity. Load up, play your shard, and get ready for the future of first-person shooter gaming: a new game every match, on the cusp of game design.