ShooterofIO: Dark Warfare III

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ShooterofIO: Dark Warfare III
Promotional artwork for ShooterofIO: Dark Warfare III, depicting a covert fireteam entering a burning underground facility beneath a storm-dark city.
Developer(s)Air Studios
Publisher(s)Mob Productions
Director(s)Nathan Crowe
Producer(s)Elise Warren
Designer(s)
  • Caleb Voss
  • Miriam Hale
Artist(s)Victor Lang
Writer(s)Rachel Kerr
Composer(s)Adrian Locke
SeriesShooterofIO
EngineSOI Engine
Platform(s)
Release
  • WW: TBA
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)

ShooterofIO: Dark Warfare III is an upcoming first-person shooter video game developed by Air Studios and published by Mob Productions. It is planned for release on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.[1] It is the sequel to ShooterofIO: Dark Warfare II (2012) and the third main installment in the Dark Warfare sub-series of the ShooterofIO franchise.[2]

The game features Campaign, Multiplayer, and Zombies.[3] The Campaign continues the covert operations style of Dark Warfare II, following a renewed Task Force Bravo investigation into surviving Havel Program fragments and the hostile networks attempting to recover them. Multiplayer returns with class-based competitive play, darker map design, and a revised skill-based matchmaking system intended to place stronger emphasis on connection quality and playlist stability.[4] Zombies continues the Aetheris storyline following the events of The First Door and returns to gameplay closely based on Dark Warfare II, with GobbleGums, Weapon Kits, Cursed mode, and Relics as its main additions.[5][6]

Dark Warfare III is the first Air Studios-led ShooterofIO game developed on the SOI Engine, following the technology's use in ShooterofIO: Modern Ops 3 and ShooterofIO: Guardians.[7] Air Studios revealed the launch Zombies maps as "The Hollow Observatory" and "Blackwater Facility".[8]

Gameplay

ShooterofIO: Dark Warfare III is a first-person shooter with Campaign, Multiplayer, and Zombies. The game uses the weapon handling, movement, progression, and mode structure of the wider ShooterofIO franchise while returning to the darker tone and covert combat identity of the Dark Warfare sub-series.

Movement includes sprinting, crouching, going prone, mantling, climbing through low openings, and sliding after sprinting. Compared with Guardians, the game is designed around tighter combat spaces and more controlled pacing. Sliding remains available, but the gameplay style places greater emphasis on cover use, angle control, interior routes, sound awareness, and coordinated pushes through dangerous spaces.

Weapons are divided into standard classes, including assault rifles, submachine guns, shotguns, light machine guns, marksman rifles, sniper rifles, pistols, and launchers. Attachments alter recoil, handling, mobility, range, magazine capacity, suppression, and optic clarity. The weapon sandbox is built around close-to-mid-range firefights, with stronger emphasis on readable recoil, route control, and deliberate positioning than the larger combat spaces of Guardians.

Progression is shared across Multiplayer and Zombies where supported. Players earn experience through eliminations, objectives, cooperative actions, weapon challenges, and mode-specific tasks. Profile progression unlocks weapons, equipment, attachments, perks, scorestreaks, cosmetics, and seasonal rewards.

Campaign

Campaign is the single-player story mode of Dark Warfare III. It continues after the events of ShooterofIO: Dark Warfare II, in which Task Force Bravo destroyed a coastal communications relay tied to older Havel Program infrastructure but failed to prevent fragments of the recovered archive from being moved elsewhere.[9]

The Campaign follows Task Force Bravo as it investigates a new covert threat linked to the remnants of the Havel Program, the Veyron Group's surviving contacts, and black-market intelligence brokers attempting to reconstruct classified research from incomplete data. The announcement trailer shows Bravo operating through underground laboratories, storm-drained city streets, abandoned safehouses, a derelict offshore platform, and a fortified data vault built beneath a civilian district.[10]

Campaign missions are built around covert raids, surveillance, infiltration, hostage recovery, sabotage, close-quarters combat, and evidence extraction. The mode does not use the wide Open World Combat structure of Guardians. Instead, it returns to compact mission spaces with multiple entry points, dark interiors, security systems, hidden routes, optional intelligence, and enemy patrol patterns. Several missions allow players to disable alarms, cut power, breach alternate doors, recover side intel, or choose between quiet infiltration and direct assault.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer returns as the competitive online mode of Dark Warfare III. It includes custom classes, weapon progression, perks, equipment, attachments, scorestreaks, public playlists, private matches, challenges, and seasonal progression.[11]

The mode is designed around smaller and denser maps than the larger Open World Combat maps introduced in Guardians. The map philosophy emphasizes contained routes, lighting contrast, sound cues, vertical pressure, and objective control. Multiplayer maps are planned to include safehouses, research facilities, industrial compounds, storm drains, data centers, rooftops, and fortified urban zones.

Class creation uses primary weapons, secondary weapons, tactical equipment, lethal equipment, perks, and scorestreaks. The perk system is designed around stealth, awareness, survivability, movement, and objective play. Scorestreaks reward eliminations, assists, captures, defends, reconnaissance actions, and support play. Objective actions grant increased score, encouraging players to interact with the mode objectives rather than relying only on eliminations.

Skill-based matchmaking returns in public playlists, but with several changes from Modern Ops 3 and Guardians.[4] In standard public playlists, connection quality, region, latency, playlist population, and party size are prioritized before skill evaluation. Skill is still used to prevent extreme mismatches, but matchmaking bands are broader than in Guardians, allowing a wider range of opponents and reducing the feeling that every public match is strictly competitive. Competitive playlists use tighter skill evaluation and more restrictive team balancing.

Lobby persistence is increased. Public lobbies are more likely to keep the same player group together between matches unless players leave, change playlists, or experience connection issues. Party matchmaking uses weighted party evaluation, making larger parties more likely to face other parties or stronger average teams, while solo players are less likely to be repeatedly placed against coordinated full parties.

Spawn logic accounts for enemy sightlines, recent deaths, active objectives, and explosive danger zones. Objective scoring is increased in several modes to make captures, defends, plants, defuses, and escort actions more valuable. Hit detection, host migration, party stability, end-of-match stat tracking, mini-map behavior, and directional audio are also adjusted around the tighter combat style of the sub-series.[12]

Zombies

Zombies returns in Dark Warfare III as a cooperative round-based survival mode.[5] The mode is designed to play similarly to Zombies in Dark Warfare II, with players surviving escalating rounds of undead enemies, opening areas of the map, buying wall weapons, using a Mystery Box-style weapon source, purchasing perks, upgrading weapons, activating traps, completing hidden objectives, and progressing through main quests tied to the Aetheris storyline.

The launch maps are "The Hollow Observatory" and "Blackwater Facility". "The Hollow Observatory" is the larger story-focused launch map, while "Blackwater Facility" is a mid-sized map with a shorter but still narrative-focused role.[8] Zombies is available across the announced platforms, with the same core maps and modes planned for Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.[6]

The mode includes standard round-based play and Cursed, a higher-difficulty variant built around Relics.[6] Standard play uses the normal Zombies structure, allowing players to survive rounds, complete quests, buy perks, upgrade weapons, and pursue high-round attempts without Relics. Cursed keeps the round-based structure but allows players to equip Relics before entering a match, increasing difficulty in exchange for access to stronger reward tiers.

Relics are optional difficulty modifiers. Players are not limited to a fixed number of active Relics; instead, each equipped Relic adds to a Cursed percentage bar before the match begins. Relics are divided into three tiers: Grim, Sinister, and Wicked. Grim Relics apply smaller difficulty increases, Sinister Relics apply stronger conditions, and Wicked Relics apply the most severe modifiers. The Cursed bar determines the reward tier active during the match.

Cursed has three reward tiers. Tier 1 usually requires three Grim Relics, two Sinister Relics, or one Wicked Relic to become active. Tier 1 grants Golden Armor Plates, which allow armor plates to recharge automatically. Higher Cursed tiers grant stronger rewards, but they require more severe Relic combinations and higher completion requirements. A player may equip additional Relics beyond the first reward threshold to push the Cursed bar toward the next tier.

Each Zombies map has six Relics, with two Grim Relics, two Sinister Relics, and two Wicked Relics per map.[6] Relics are unlocked through hidden in-map quests. These quests vary in difficulty; some are easier and can be solved through exploration and basic objective completion, while others require difficult puzzle steps, specific round conditions, obscure interactions, or high-risk combat challenges. Grim Relics require players to reach Round 20 in a Cursed match, Sinister Relics require Round 40 and access to Tier 1 Cursed, and Wicked Relics require Round 60 and access to Tier 2 Cursed.

GobbleGums are single-use consumable abilities that players can equip before a match and activate from GobbleGum machines during gameplay.[5] They provide temporary or situational effects, such as granting bonus points, improving movement for a short time, instantly repairing barricades, forcing a power-up spawn, helping revive teammates, or temporarily strengthening weapons. Players build a GobbleGum pack before starting a match, giving them a limited set of tactical options without replacing the core round-based survival loop.

Weapon Kits are a progression system for Zombies weapons. As players use weapons in Zombies, they earn weapon experience that unlocks attachments, optics, cosmetic variants, and small handling options for use in future matches. Weapon Kits do not remove wall buys, the Mystery Box, or Pack-a-Punch-style upgrades; instead, they allow players to customize the base version of eligible weapons before entering a map. The system is intended to give Zombies long-term progression while keeping in-match weapon acquisition and upgrading central to the mode.[5]

Perk machines return and function similarly to previous Dark Warfare Zombies entries. Players purchase perks using points earned during the match, with each perk granting a specific survival or combat benefit. Weapon upgrade machines, environmental traps, power switches, buildable items, story radios, hidden symbols, and Easter egg-style main quests also return. The mode supports solo play and cooperative squads, with enemy health, spawn pressure, and revive importance scaling around player count.

Synopsis

Dark Warfare III takes place after ShooterofIO: Dark Warfare II and follows the consequences of Task Force Bravo's final raid on the coastal communications complex. Although Bravo destroyed the relay and extracted part of the archive, the ending of Dark Warfare II revealed that fragments of the data had already been moved through older Havel Program channels.

The Campaign centers on Task Force Bravo's attempt to locate the missing archive fragments before they can be reconstructed by a new hostile network. Early story details identify the enemy as the Eidolon Directorate, a secretive organization built from former Veyron Group financiers, rogue intelligence handlers, and private military operators who believe the Havel Program's research can be stabilized and weaponized. Unlike the Veyron Group, which attempted to exploit old systems for profit and leverage, the Eidolon Directorate is described as more ideological, treating Havel's failed work as the foundation for a new form of covert control.

The announced story follows Bravo through black sites, compromised safehouses, abandoned laboratories, and civilian districts hiding military infrastructure beneath them. The Campaign centers on the danger of incomplete classified research being rebuilt by people who do not fully understand what they have recovered.[9]

The Zombies storyline is separate from the Campaign and continues the Aetheris arc. Following the events of The First Door, the closure of the breach network leaves behind fragments of Aetherglass, unstable memories, and pieces of locations that should no longer exist. The announcement suggests that the crew's actions did not end the threat, but instead trapped part of Aetheris closer to Earth.

Air Studios Intel Drop 01 revealed that not every Zombies map in Dark Warfare III is planned to carry the same amount of narrative weight.[8] Some maps serve as shorter, self-contained survival chapters, while others carry longer story beats, main quest developments, and major Aetheris revelations. The first and final Zombies maps are intended to remain the largest narrative anchors of the game's Zombies storyline, while several middle maps may vary in scale depending on their role in the release cycle.[8]

"The Hollow Observatory" serves as the first major Zombies chapter of Dark Warfare III. It follows the aftermath of the burned Aetherglass shard shown in the announcement trailer and returns the story to an observatory space fractured by Aetheris residue. The map is positioned as the opening statement for the new Zombies arc, connecting the end of The First Door to the new breach behavior seen in Dark Warfare III.[8]

"Blackwater Facility" is the second launch Zombies map. It is described as a mid-story map centered on a smaller containment site where Aetheris residue has contaminated water systems, research tanks, and old transfer chambers. Rather than acting as a full opening chapter, the map expands the new rules of the breach network and shows how Aetheris fragments have begun affecting separate locations after the First Voice was silenced.[8]

Development

ShooterofIO: Dark Warfare III is being developed by Air Studios, returning as lead developer after previously developing ShooterofIO: Dark Warfare and ShooterofIO: Dark Warfare II.[2] The game follows ShooterofIO: Guardians, which was developed by War Games and received mixed reviews for its ambitious but divisive Open World Combat structure and redesigned Zombies mode.

Air Studios described Dark Warfare III as a response to the need for a more focused franchise entry after the experimental design of Guardians.[2] The studio stated that it did not want to simply recreate Dark Warfare II, but wanted to restore the sub-series' strengths: covert operations, claustrophobic spaces, darker atmosphere, readable combat flow, and a stronger sense of mystery across Campaign and Zombies.[2]

The game uses the SOI Engine, making it the first Air Studios-led ShooterofIO title to use the shared technology introduced with Modern Ops 3.[7] Air Studios stated that the engine allowed the team to build more detailed interior spaces, improved lighting transitions, stronger animation blending, denser environmental storytelling, and larger Zombies maps while still supporting PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions.[7]

Air Studios confirmed that the game would move away from the broad Open World Combat philosophy used by Guardians.[9] The Campaign is being built around contained mission areas rather than large multi-sector combat spaces, Multiplayer is being designed around tighter competitive maps, and Zombies is returning to dedicated round-based maps rather than the hub-and-arena model. The studio described the design direction as focused scale, meaning that environments are larger and more detailed than earlier Dark Warfare games but still built around controlled pacing and strong atmosphere.[2]

For Zombies, Air Studios stated that it wanted Dark Warfare III to avoid the feeling that every map needed to carry the same dramatic weight.[8] The team planned the mode around varied story pacing, allowing some maps to function as shorter survival-focused chapters and others as longer narrative-heavy releases. The studio said this approach would help the Zombies season avoid exhausting every map with the same level of exposition while preserving the first map and final map as major story anchors.[8]

The Zombies reveal clarified that Air Studios was not attempting to reinvent the mode after the divisive Zombies structure in Guardians.[5] Instead, the studio used Dark Warfare II as the baseline and limited the major systemic additions to GobbleGums and Weapon Kits. Air Studios described this as deliberate restraint, arguing that Zombies needed stronger maps, atmosphere, story pacing, and quest design more than another full structural overhaul.[5]

Air Studios Intel Drop 02 explained that Multiplayer matchmaking was being revised in response to player criticism of the strict public matchmaking in Modern Ops 3 and Guardians.[4] The studio did not remove skill-based matchmaking, but redesigned its casual playlist implementation to behave less like a ranked system. Air Studios stated that the goal was to preserve new-player protection and reduce severe lobby imbalance while allowing more varied public matches, more persistent lobbies, and better connection quality.[4]

Air Studios Intel Drop 03 introduced Cursed and Relics as optional Zombies systems rather than replacements for standard round-based survival.[6] The studio framed Cursed as a way for experienced players to add long-term challenge without forcing every player into harder rules. Relics were designed to reward exploration and hidden quest solving on individual maps, while the three-tier Cursed bar gave high-skill players a reason to stack difficulty modifiers and attempt higher-round challenges.[13]

The same update confirmed that Zombies would maintain core content parity across all announced platforms.[14] PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions retain the same Zombies maps, modes, Relic structure, and quests, although visual density, loading behavior, texture quality, and some enemy presentation details are adjusted for older hardware.[14]

Marketing and release

ShooterofIO: Dark Warfare III was announced on May 12, 2015, through a cinematic announcement trailer and publisher blog post.[1][10] The announcement confirmed Air Studios as lead developer, Mob Productions as publisher, the title, platform lineup, SOI Engine support, and the return of Campaign, Multiplayer, and Zombies.[3]

The announcement trailer opened with footage of a blackout spreading across a city as Task Force Bravo entered an underground facility beneath a civilian district. The trailer showed brief scenes of close-quarters combat, surveillance footage, storm-lit rooftops, a derelict offshore platform, and a data vault sealed behind multiple blast doors.[10] It ended with a Zombies teaser showing a cracked observatory floor and a burned Aetherglass shard.[10]

On June 16, 2015, Air Studios released Air Studios Intel Drop 01: Zombies Lore.[8] The update confirmed that the full Zombies reveal would take place in July 2015, revealed the two launch Zombies map names, and explained that the Zombies storyline would use varied map-by-map story pacing. Air Studios stated that "The Hollow Observatory" would be the larger opening story map, while "Blackwater Facility" would serve as a mid-story-focused second launch map.[8]

On July 14, 2015, Air Studios released the full Zombies reveal for Dark Warfare III.[5] The reveal confirmed that the mode would play similarly to Dark Warfare II, returning to dedicated round-based maps, perk machines, weapon upgrades, traps, hidden quests, story radios, and map-specific main quests. It also confirmed GobbleGums and Weapon Kits as the only two major new Zombies systems at launch.[5]

On August 11, 2015, Air Studios released Air Studios Intel Drop 02: Multiplayer SBMM and Enhancements.[4] The update detailed the revised skill-based matchmaking model, broader casual matchmaking bands, stronger connection priority, increased lobby persistence, party matchmaking changes, and several Multiplayer improvements related to spawns, objective scoring, host migration, hit detection, mini-map behavior, and audio readability.[12]

On September 8, 2015, Air Studios released Air Studios Intel Drop 03: Zombies Modes and Platform.[6] The update introduced Cursed mode and Relics, explained the Grim, Sinister, and Wicked Relic tiers, described how Relics fill the Cursed bar, and confirmed that each Zombies map would include six hidden Relics. The update also confirmed Zombies content parity across the announced platform lineup, with Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 all planned to receive the same launch Zombies maps and modes.[14]

Early coverage of the announcement focused on Air Studios' return, the darker tone, the move away from Guardians's Open World Combat structure, and the confirmation that Zombies would return to dedicated round-based maps.[15] Coverage of the first Intel Drop focused on the return of larger story-driven Zombies maps and the decision to vary narrative scale across the mode's map lineup.[16]

Coverage of the Zombies reveal was positive among outlets that had criticized the Zombies mode in Guardians.[17] Several previews praised Air Studios for focusing on the established Dark Warfare II formula instead of building another large structural experiment, while some noted that GobbleGums could become controversial if their strongest effects were difficult to earn or too disruptive to high-round play.[17]

Coverage of Intel Drop 02 focused on Air Studios' attempt to address the franchise's growing matchmaking controversy.[18] Several outlets described the update as a cautious compromise, noting that Air Studios had not abandoned skill-based matchmaking but was clearly trying to avoid the strict public-lobby feel that had frustrated players in the previous two games.[18]

Coverage of Intel Drop 03 focused on Cursed as a high-skill Zombies mode and on the return of hidden quests tied to meaningful gameplay rewards.[19] Previews praised the idea of optional difficulty modifiers, although some expressed concern that the Round 40 and Round 60 Relic requirements could make Sinister and Wicked Relics inaccessible to more casual Zombies players.[19]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mob Productions (May 12, 2015). "ShooterofIO: Dark Warfare III Announced". Mob Productions. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Air Studios (May 12, 2015). "Air Studios Returns With Dark Warfare III". Air Studios. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Mob Productions (May 12, 2015). "Dark Warfare III Modes Confirmed". Mob Productions. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Air Studios (August 11, 2015). "Air Studios Intel Drop 02: Multiplayer SBMM and Enhancements". Air Studios. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 Air Studios (July 14, 2015). "ShooterofIO: Dark Warfare III Zombies Revealed". Air Studios. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Air Studios (September 8, 2015). "Air Studios Intel Drop 03: Zombies Modes and Platform". Air Studios. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Mob Productions (May 12, 2015). "Dark Warfare III Uses SOI Engine". Mob Productions. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 8.9 Air Studios (June 16, 2015). "Air Studios Intel Drop 01: Zombies Lore". Air Studios. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Air Studios (May 12, 2015). "Dark Warfare III Campaign Teased". Air Studios. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Mob Productions (May 12, 2015). "ShooterofIO: Dark Warfare III Announcement Trailer". Mob Productions. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  11. ↑ Mob Productions (May 12, 2015). "Dark Warfare III Multiplayer First Details". Mob Productions. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Air Studios (August 11, 2015). "Dark Warfare III Multiplayer Enhancements Detailed". Air Studios. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  13. ↑ Air Studios (September 8, 2015). "Cursed and Relics in Dark Warfare III Zombies". Air Studios. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Mob Productions (September 8, 2015). "Dark Warfare III Zombies Platform Details". Mob Productions. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  15. ↑ Russell, Mark (May 13, 2015). "ShooterofIO: Dark Warfare III Announced by Air Studios". Console Insider. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  16. ↑ Martin, Joel (June 17, 2015). "Dark Warfare III Intel Drop Reveals Launch Zombies Maps". Game Frontier. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Martin, Joel (July 15, 2015). "Dark Warfare III Zombies Returns to Dark Warfare II Roots". Game Frontier. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Russell, Mark (August 12, 2015). "Dark Warfare III Revises SBMM After Guardians Backlash". Console Insider. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Harris, Dean (September 9, 2015). "Dark Warfare III Zombies Adds Cursed Mode and Relics". Video Game Weekly. Retrieved September 9, 2015.

External links

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