New Video Game Announcement Could Be Just About Anything

Today, a company called Epic Games announced a video game called Paragon, and it might take some serious investigative reporting to figure out what it actually is. Let’s see if we’re up to the task.

We’ll have to start by reading the press release Epic sent out this afternoon, in which the company’s PR folks helpfully explain that Paragon is a “new game”—as opposed, perhaps, to a movie, or a sandwich.

Hope you are doing well. Dropping you a note to let you know that Epic Games just launched the teaser site for its new game, Paragon, which is coming to PC in early 2016. We’ll have more news in the coming weeks. Learn more at www.playparagon.com.

To accompany today’s news, the team has released a teaser video of Twinblast, an in-game playable hero in Paragon. You can also download the game’s logo here

Well. OK. We know that this is a PC game, but we’re going to have to do some sleuthing to learn more. Shall we go check out their Twitter account?

https://twitter.com/embed/status/661598854341595137

Let’s look at that again.

“Victory is earned. Join the fight. Welcome to Paragon.”

There’s lots to unpack here. We’d already learned that Paragon is a video game, but we now know that there will also be a “fight” of some sort, which is unusual for a video game. We also now know—and this may be important—that you’ll be able to proclaim “victory” in that battle, assuming you meet the conditions necessary to “earn” it.

We’re getting somewhere! Now let’s check out that website.

Hm. Plenty of informative nuggets here. Now we know this game will have heroes. We know it will have items. If we read between the lines we can even surmise that the game will allow players to achieve certain winning conditions—perhaps a reference to the aforementioned “fight”?—and that the player will have to somehow “prepare” in order to meet those conditions.

Let’s click “Begin” and see if we can find out more.

Ah. Now we have proof that the game does indeed have heroes, and we even have their names. If you don’t mind a bit of speculation, I’d guess that these heroes may even be participating in the “fight” that was mentioned above. Can’t be sure until it’s confirmed.

In the meantime, let’s see what happens if we look at that trailer from the press release earlier…

Some observations:

This trailer, which is called “Twinblast,” showcases a handsome man with a crew cut. His name may be Twinblast.

The man is carrying guns, although there’s no confirmation that he’ll use them at any point in the video game.

The man is wearing dog-tags, which would imply some sort of connection to the military. This might be a stretch, but given these military connections, perhaps he’ll enter the “fight” at some point?

The man seems to have robotic arms, which could mean that he has given up some or all of his humanity. (Unconfirmed.)

The man appears to be prepared for victory.

So what could Paragon be? Maybe it’s a photography game like Pokémon Snap, where the player has to take pictures of as many heroes as possible before time expires. Maybe it’s a city simulator set in Rio de Janeiro where you have to build enough infrastructure to prepare your heroes for victory at the 2016 Olympics. Perhaps it’s a point-and-click adventure. Guess we’ll find out soon!

You can reach the author of this post at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jasonschreier