100 Thieves’ Project X is already in playtesting, with plenty of ideas on what the game might be

100 Thieves confirmed in May that it is making its own video game, the working title of which was simply Project X. And while it’s clear that the game is still incredibly early in development and the 100 Thieves team is still deciding what it wants the game to be, the org released an update on Project X today that also featured feedback on the game from 100 Thieves creators and early gameplay.

What is definite about Project X so far? It’s a first-person shooter, and there is a playable prototype map that 100 Thieves is using to test out ideas and gather feedback on the title. Everything else is still up in the air.

“The goal was just to build a sandbox,” 100 Thieves CEO Nadeshot said of the playable prototype featured in the Project X video. “A sandbox that could be a baseline prototype, so that we can get onto a map, shoot guns, and play a video game at the most basic level.”

The video continues with footage of 100 Thieves members duking it out in this prototype, which is a textureless first-person shooter map. The prototype is incredibly simple, as Nadeshot suggested it would be: blank walls, stock character models, and a multi-story structure where players are shooting at each other. There are a few interesting elements included that do differentiate the very arena-looking map from games like Call of Duty or VALORANT, however. Damage numbers appear over characters’ heads when damage is dealt to them, a feature more typical of cartoony shooters and battle royales. There’s even one video part where characters are seen sliding and gaining momentum from sliding down a slope like the much-praised Apex Legends movement system. 

The video also contains several suggestions from people on different hallmarks from other games that they could envision Project X taking over. From a Call of Duty Search and Destroy-type game to a system borrowing equally from VALORANT and battle royale games, it’s clear that all options are still currently on the table for what eventual shape Project X might take.

One aspect of the game that doesn’t seem to be up for debate, however, is its visual design. “Our goal is not to make… a dull, bare-bones, basic gun game,” Nadeshot said. “We’re not knocking anyone that does that, [but] out goal for Project X, years from now, is for this to be a very bright, colorful, vibrant animated game.”

That design philosophy sets Project X apart from another creator-led video game project, Dr Disrespect’s DEADROP, which has looked much grittier and like its design leans more into a futuristic realism in the limited glimpses fans have seen of the project so far. And as 100 Thieves president John Robinson noted, the org doesn’t even particularly want to contend with or compete against DEADROP.

With a community-driven mindset toward development and a couple of core ideas seemingly in place, it will be interesting to see just where Project X goes in development over the next couple of years. One thing seems clear, however. The crew over at 100 Thieves isn’t short on ideas.