Tencent is bringing back Delta Force as a 'large-scale multiplayer PvP' shooter with a singleplayer campaign based on Black Hawk Down

YouTube YouTube
Watch On

Remember the Delta Force games? It's okay if you don't: It was a reasonably popular shooter series that debuted in the late 1990s, but the last addition to the lineup, Delta Force: Xtreme 2, came out back in 2009, and wasn't very good. The last we heard from it was in 2016, when THQ Nordic picked up developer NovaLogic and all its games. Seven years later, Delta Force is finally making a comeback, with a brand-new game being developed by Tencent subsidiary TiMi Studio Group.

The new game will feature a singleplayer campaign based on the movie Black Hawk Down, producer Shadow Guo told IGN, but it will also feature "large-scale multiplayer PvP," a central component of the original game.

"Our game designers chose to build an immersive multiplayer battleground that could accommodate even larger-scale PVP than the previous 32-player limit," Guo said. "To create a grand atmosphere of combat on ground, sea, and air, we designed a variety of methods for engagement and maps that integrate diverse terrain features such as vertical height differences and caves, as well as different vehicle routes.

"We also created unique, technologically advanced vehicles that players can use in the game, including assault vehicles, helicopters, armored vehicles, attack boats, terrain vehicles, jeeps, pickups, fighter jets, and drones. These vehicles add to the gameplay experience of large-scale PVP."

I can't help wondering, with all due respect, why TiMi Studio has chosen to resurrect this particular military shooter. Not that there's anything in particular wrong with Delta Force, it just doesn't strike me as especially laden with the power of brand recognition, and that 40% Metacritic score for the most recent game in the series isn't the sort of thing that's likely to inspire great interest among potential new fans of the series. The timing of the reveal is also interesting, given that Activision just flipped the switch on the marketing machine for a new Call of Duty.

It also wasn't initially clear why a Tencent studio is handling this reboot, rather than a THQ Nordic outfit, but a rep confirmed that TiMi Studio Group has purchased the Delta Force franchise from THQ, and now owns the rights to the old games and any future releases.

The new Delta Force will be fully revealed during Gamescom's Opening Night Live event, which gets underway at 11 am PT/2 pm ET on August 23.

TOPICS
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

Read more
Delta Force's operator Luna Kim
Delta Force's Chinese developer says it doesn't 'have an opinion' on the American military and just wants to create 'fun and meaningful gameplay' with its campaign based on the very real Battle of Mogadishu
Delta Force: Black Hawk Down
Delta Force's Black Hawk Down campaign is a bizarrely slow, serious complement to the popcorn multiplayer mode
marvel rivals
Competitive shooters are at a crucial crossroads in 2025: 'sweaty' teamplay vs. casual fun
Doom: The Dark Ages screnshot
The 11 big FPS games of 2025
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Battlefield: Bad Company 2's director had big plans for a third entry in the series, with your squad reuniting for an impossible mission amid a war between Russia and the US over Alaska
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2 will let players battle on boats and bullet-trains, with the Terminator entering the fray 'shortly after launch'
Latest in FPS
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Ogryn
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide adds a psychic horde murderzone mode and makes Ogryns even smashier
Starfield's companion robot giving a thumbs-up
Former Bethesda dev who quit Starfield to go solo says it's 'much less stressful as an indie' without daily meetings or 'office politics': it's 'very refreshing to just care about the game'
A crew of prospectors in Wildgate, featuring a robot, a rabbit man, and a small aquatic creature in a combination mech/aquarium.
Blizzard co-founder Mike Morhaime's new company is putting Sea of Thieves-style shenanigans in space with a new crew-based shooter
Team Fortress Spy being shocked
An FPS studio pulled its game from Steam after it got caught linking to malware disguised as a demo, but the dev insists it was actually the victim of a labyrinthine conspiracy
Neighbors Suburban Warfare screenshot a child aims a slingshot at a man from across a cul-de-sac.
A beta of backyard FPS Neighbors: Suburban Warfare is out now, and the balance discussion is hysterical: nerf trash can lids and children
Fragpunk
Somebody finally figured out casual Counter-Strike
Latest in News
An Enshrouded player in a recreation of Erebor from The Lord of the Rings
Kings under the Mountain! 33 Enshrouded players spent 10,000 hours to recreate this iconic location from The Lord of the Rings
A mech awakens.
Mecha Break developer is considering unlocking all mechs following open beta feedback
Lara Croft Unified Art
Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics lays off 17 employees 'to better align our current business needs and the studio's future success'
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened