Crucible is a free-to-play team shooter by Amazon Games and it's releasing this month

(Image credit: Amazon Games)

Amazon Games has announced Crucible, a free-to-play competitive team shooter for PC. Good news, you won't have to wait for long to try it out.

Created by Amazon Games development team Relentless Studios, Crucible will launch on May 20, 2020, and will see players take on PVP matches in three different modes. 

Set on a dangerous rogue planet on the edge of space, you take on the role of a hunter who's in pursuit of a resource known as Essence. With 10 distinctive hunters to choose from, including the likes of aliens, robots, and humans in the line-up, every character has their own unique weapon and ability. 

Amazon Games has revealed some of the hunters you can choose from to suit various playstyles, such as interstellar trucker Earl, who's said to be built like a tank with a gun to match, a robot botanist called Bugg who mainly cares about protecting plants, and a badass-sounding champion fighter called Summer who's armed with flamethrowers. 

With a team-based setup, you'll be going up against teams of other hunters in three different modes, getting stuck into Crucible's "fast-paced combat" that "requires players to constantly re-evaluate and adjust their strategies, adapting to their opponents' moves and the ever-changing planet itself." 

Here's a more detailed rundown of the three modes you'll be able to try out at launch: 

Heart of the Hives (4 vs. 4): The first team to take down massive bosses and capture three of their “hearts” wins.

Alpha Hunters (8 teams of 2): Pairs of hunters fight to be the final team standing.

Harvester Command (8 vs. 8): Teams earn points by capturing and holding Essence Harvesters - the first team to 100 wins.

With its own distinctive style and world, Crucible looks set to bring something interesting to the PVP table, and happily, you'll only have to wait for a few more weeks to try it out for yourselves. 

Want to learn more about Amazon's latest game? Check out our hands-on Crucible preview for more info on the upcoming shooter. 

Heather Wald
Senior staff writer

I started out writing for the games section of a student-run website as an undergrad, and continued to write about games in my free time during retail and temp jobs for a number of years. Eventually, I earned an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University, and soon after got my first official role in the industry as a content editor for Stuff magazine. After writing about all things tech and games-related, I then did a brief stint as a freelancer before I landed my role as a staff writer here at GamesRadar+. Now I get to write features, previews, and reviews, and when I'm not doing that, you can usually find me lost in any one of the Dragon Age or Mass Effect games, tucking into another delightful indie, or drinking far too much tea for my own good.