DEFECT devs reveal single-player details and announce NCSoft partnership

EmptyVessel, a studio made up of veterans from Call of Duty, Doom, and The Last of Us, has dropped a new trailer for its tactical shooter DEFECT alongside two pieces of news about the project.

First, the team confirmed its commitment to a full single-player experience. You play as a System Control Officer who has been marked deficient by The System – a godlike AI that governs the last city of mankind. EmptyVessel also announced a partnership with NCSoft to help build a strong foundation for that mode, with more details promised down the line.

The world of DEFECT is pure cyberpunk dystopia: an authoritarian AI holds the city's decaying sectors in an iron grip, but its control is cracking – and into that chaos pour warring factions, including The System's own police force, rogue police elements, and street gangs all fighting for dominance.

Beyond the solo campaign, DEFECT offers a PvE co-op mode built around tactical coordination, and a 4v4v4v4 multiplayer format where four squads clash simultaneously in close-quarters firefights with dynamically shifting objectives – things like smuggling weapons, assassinating targets, or arresting suspects.

Before each match, players gear up in their squad vehicle or gang hideout, and can grab pickups mid-fight that may shift the outcome entirely.

DEFECT is coming to PC, with no release date announced yet.