The developers behind the Arma series and DayZ announced the surprise release of the latest entry in their line of military tactics shooters, Arma Reforger, as well as its sequel Arma 4. Czech Republic-based development studio Bohemia Interactive revealed that Reforger, the “first milestone on the road to Arma 4” would be available immediately in early access on both PC and Xbox series X|S.
The initial announcement of Reforger came in the form of a teaser trailer for Arma 4, which takes a look back on the evolution of the series since the initial release of Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis in 2001. Although little information about Arma 4 is currently available, Bohemia Interactive stated that it will run on a more advanced version of their new Enfusion game engine, which was used to create Reforger.
Like its predecessors, Reforger is a first-person military combat simulator that takes place on the fictional island of Everon, a heavily-contested area for the U.S. and U.S.S.R. during the Cold War. Players can take control of either an American or Soviet soldier and participate in large-scale, realistic battles in first-person. Unlike previous Arma games, however, the primary focus of Reforger is to act as a showcase for the Enfusion engine and a “creative platform” for players to create mods with using an in-game developer toolkit.
The official Arma Youtube channel uploaded a trailer for the new game to coincide with its release just one hour after the Arma 4 teaser, showing off its highly detailed new graphics engine. Reforger is now available on Steam and Xbox Game Preview with price tag of $30, albeit in a rather buggy state, as some players have been quick to point out.
The title’s arrival on Xbox consoles marks the first time in 12 years that an Arma game has appeared on any other platform than PC, with the last being Operation Flashpoint: Elite on the original Xbox in 2005.