The Darwin Project is the Overwatch-Hunger Games crossover you never knew you wanted

Darwinism is the doctrine of survival of the fittest, where only the best and brightest can endure in a dog-eat-dog world where no-one is immune from peril or even death. The Darwin Project uses that infamous theory of evolutionary biology as the basis for its Battle Royale multiplayer deathmatches, where competition is the name of the game. 

Developed by Scavengers Studio, The Darwin Project is a multiplayer survival game coming exclusively to Xbox One consoles and Windows PC later this year, and appears to be Xbox’s answer to the continued demand for class-based online shooters, as most recently popularized by the likes of Overwatch and others. 

Players can adopt the role of several heroes with unique abilities in the arena, but the unique spin on the genre arrives in the form of the Show Director mode – as demonstrated by the slightly annoying shoutcaster who showed up in today’s trailer at Microsoft’s E3 press conference. 

The Show Director can observe and control the dynamics of the entire playground from a separate viewpoint, and is able to show favour or disapproval to competing players below by messing around with the environment. A neat idea to freshen up an already crowded genre, then, but it’s unclear how the presence of a God-like onlooker might negatively affect balance in The Darwin Project. 

Either way, the lively animations and display of combat depth was enough to engage my curiosity, especially as someone who plays Overwatch on a regular basis. We may have a new Xbox exclusive eSport in the making. 

Don't forget to check out our full E3 2017 schedule for all the details as they arrive, and check out our roundup of all the E3 2017 trailers so far.