4Loop Revealed as PlayStation's New Sci-Fi Co-Op Shooter from Bad Robot and Left 4 Dead Designer | The Game Awards 2025
J.J. Abrams and Left 4 Dead creator Mike Booth took to The Game Awards 2025 to announce that their mysterious new co-op video game is a sci-fi third-person shooter called 4:Loop.A video for Bad Robot Games' PlayStation 5 and PC project was unveiled during today’s show, revealing a twisted new version of Earth filled with deadly creatures (and a lot of purple lights). The first 4:Loop trailer teases gameplay that requires players to form a world-saving team that will live and die by how it learns from its failures."Created by Mike Booth and the interactive storytellers at Bad Robot Games, 4:LOOP is a tactical, four-player co-op shooter crafted for endless replayability and infinite ways to build the ultimate team," an official description from Sony says. "Together, if you can learn from your mistakes, you might just fail to save the world."Booth checked in with the folks at PlayStation for an interview about 4:Loop and how his work on Left 4 Dead was carried into this new project. He says one thing he and Bad Robot wanted to refine and explore was the overall cooperative experience between each player."For example, where the environments in Left 4 Dead were essentially linear paths to help shepherd the players together, the environments in 4:LOOP are wide open," Booth explains. "It’s up to the players to improvise and manage their own risk/reward as events unfold in the game. Plus, you can actually pick up and carry a downed friend in 4:LOOP, which is something I always wanted to have in Left 4 Dead."The 4:Loop trailer keeps much of its gameplay concealed behind the curtain for now, but Booth says players can expect his new game to feature some roguelike elements. He says games like the original Rogue are some of his all-time favorites, teasing that things like the teleporting Blink Berry will encourage players to get creative with the tools they find mid-game."The goal of the players is to draw the attention of the Mothership by disrupting the alien’s global mining operation, and then somehow destroy it," Booth says of the 4:Loop gameplay loop. "Each time the four-player team succeeds in a mission, they make choices to improve their equipment, building out a unique kit to survive the epic boss battle at the end of the Act. If the team completes all three Acts, they defeat the Mothership and save the world. All of this is, of course, easier said than done. There are also various layers of meta-progression as well as lots of actual details to learn about how the world works (like Blink Berries), to give you an edge for your next run."4:Loop The Game Awards 2025 Reveal - Screenshots4:Loop currently has no release date but is accepting players into its closed playtest program. If you're interested, you can sign up on its website.For all of tonight’s biggest highlights, you can check out everything announced at The Game Awards 2025. You can also keep up with our running list of all of the winners.Developing…Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
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