Forget PUBG: Mavericks has 400 player battle royales in a persistent world RPG (and sounds a bit Destiny)

In a PC Gamer Weekender livestream developer Automaton has talked more about Mavericks. A 400 player battle royal with persistent world RPG ambitions that have more than a little ring of Destiny to it.

The game will be launching in two stages, starting with the 400 player battle royal this year and the persistent world RPG element next year which will host 1000 players. Key to both is that Mavericks' world has a deeper level of simulation than many other games of the type, using new SpacialOS tech. I won't go into details but it involves using cloud-based servers to let games access much more power.

Speaking on the PC Gamer Weekender livestream Automaton talked about the game proving a much deeper way of interacting with the world's environment such as its vegetation and wildlife. While you'll mainly be running around shooting everyone you can find, the promise is there will be a much deep level of simulation and strategy to it all.

The game will launch with the battle royal stuff to test the tech and get the ball rolling but it's the persistent RPG bits that sound really interesting. That takes place on a 12km square map and promises player progression through clans, factions and other allegiances, as well as a social hub called the capitol. And if that didn't already sound a bit Destiny, Automaton is planning a 10 year development cycle...

The studio isn't giving much away yet on the story or set up behind any of this, but if they can deliver half of what's been talked about it could be interesting.

Check out a full list of what's on at the PC Gamer Weekender here.