Rules of Engagement: The Grey State Channels Creepypasta Into A “Fair To Play” Co-Op Shooter

Launching in 2026, it promises no pay-to-win, only cosmetic monetization and three initial classes: Sledge, Pyro, and Phantom.

It’s Just Business

Gamers who have always wanted to play a potential copyright-infringement co-op shooter have got their prayers answered with the announcement of free-to-play “horrorverse” shooter, Rules of Engagement: The Grey State. Marketed as a tactical online shooter, it drops players into an alternate reality home to iconic monsters from a variety of media, including other video games.

Developed by Grey State Studio, a subsidiary of Tencent, Rules of Engagement: The Grey State (what a title!) puts players in the chunky army boots of a Strider, an elite operative tasked with entering the titular Grey State, an anomalous dimension home to possibly every monster ever created.

“To the public, the Grey State doesn’t exist,” the studio recently posted in its Discord channel. “To the select few? It’s the biggest and most dangerous gold rush in human history. An unstable dimension has breached our reality, revealing a lawless frontier overflowing with two things: nightmarish creatures and priceless artifacts.”

“You are a Strider, an elite operative with some very special tech. You don’t physically enter the Grey State. Instead, you pilot a disposable, bio-engineered body, a ‘shell’. It’s the only reason anyone survives this job. The catch? You’re not the only Strider on the hunt. Rival squads are after the same prize, and they will not hesitate to put you in the ground.”

Legally Distinct Terror

It’s impossible to ignore how Rules of Engagement: The Grey State is literally filled with famous monsters, from Half-Life’s headcrabs to Stranger Things’ demogorgon. Some of the creatures glimpsed in the admittedly slick announcement trailer (below) and the above gameplay video are public domain (such as H.P. Lovecraft’s Deep Ones) whereas others echo creatures seen in creepypasta-adjacent media.

Gamers have already been busy calling out creature designs that resemble entities found in the SCP Foundation, for example. This is a fictional agency designed to collect and categorize weird monsters and entities and features content sourced from hundreds of authors. As such, work published under the SCP banner is licensed under Creative Commons – in short, it can be freely used as long as the original creator gets credit.

If you’re a horror fan but haven’t seen Cabin in the Woods, do yourself a favor and go watch it right now.

Grey State Studio hasn’t explicitly stated where its creature designs come from, but has referenced the 2011 meta horror movie Cabin in the Woods as a prime influence. This film involves a shadowy agency that collects, and unleashes, entities that bear striking – but legally distinct – similarities to known monsters, from a Cenobite-like demon to evil scarecrows, and even the original Evil Dead’s possessed tree.

What to Expect From The Grey State

Grey State Studio has been more forthcoming on Discord as to what players can actually expect from the game itself. Bo Chen, the studio’s Community Lead, has been busy revealing core gameplay inspirations aside from Cabin in the Woods, how free-to-play the game will actually be, and what the main framework is regarding co-op and versus gameplay.

“The game is a PvEvP experience designed for Trios, but you can drop in Solo or as a Duo,” Chen said. “Regarding a dedicated Solo/Duo mode, it’s honestly too early to tell. We’ll be looking closely at playtest data and community feedback, and will share a definitive update on this topic closer to launch.”

Regarding what players can and will be able to spend money on, Chen said: “Our philosophy on this is simple: purely cosmetic, zero pay-to-win. The game will be free-to-play, fair-to-play, supported by things you’d expect: weapon skins, battle passes, etc. You will acquire your gear purely via skill or luck. Player power cannot be purchased. Period.”

Wendigo? Folk-horror demon? Whatever it is, it looks angry.

Perhaps surprisingly, Grey State Studio (formerly known as Aurora Studios) referenced one of its past games, Ring of Elysium, as an inspiration. Chen has also namechecked

• Path of Exile
• ,
• Team Fortress 2

, and Hunt: Showdown as core influences for Rules of Engagement’s extraction mechanics, class-based skills, and immersive gameplay systems.

Playtests, Character Classes, And Release Date

Three character classes have been revealed, with a fourth still under wraps. Once Rules of Engagement enters its playtest phase, gamers will get the chance to try out the Sledge (“an unstoppable juggernaut that forges a path with shield and hammer,”), Pyro (“an agent of chaos, that controls the battlefield with fire and gas,”), and Phantom (“a skilled assassin that strikes from the shadows with extreme precision,”).

Ah ha! That popular horror standby: pervasive alien mold. Either that, or this is a student house. Haaaaaaaa.

Chen also revealed that the core gameplay loop has a few interesting wrinkles: players will have to scour an initial map for resources and weapons, and once ready enter a new Grey State with random monsters on the other side. There, they can either use a safe extraction point and leave, or go deeper into the area and then fight it out for a place on the single extraction helicopter.

Understandably, gamers are keen to try out The Grey State but while a public playtest is being planned, a date hasn’t been set yet. A release date also hasn’t been set, but Grey State Studio has confirmed that it’ll be sometime in 2026.

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