Skip to main content

PC gaming peripheral maker Roccat has a new game studio developing ‘Sick City’

roccat game studio launched sick city
Roccat Studios is widely known as one of the major peripheral makers in the PC gaming market, with its portfolio of high-quality products spanning from gaming mice to mechanical keyboards to headphones and more. But like several of its competitors, Roccat wants to branch out into other PC gaming-related areas, and is doing so starting with Roccat Games Studio and its very first PC game called Sick City. Nope, we didn’t see that one coming.

Sick City is our interpretation of a modern real-time tactical combat game,” the company told Digital Trends. “It combines the strengths of tactical classics like Commandos‘ exciting espionage maneuvers and the direct action of Company of Heroes without time-consuming foundation construction, topped with a dose of Warcraft 3’s unique heroes and powerful abilities.”

Serving as part of Roccat’s 10-year anniversary celebration, Sick City is described as a “post-apocalyptic battle” on the streets of Sick City. Players are thrown into a 4×4 squad-based fight to control the city and a mysterious crystalline energy source called Aimo. Unfortunately, Roccat doesn’t reveal any specifics about the game other than it will have two factions (“Kidz” shown below, “Legion” shown above), various game modes, characters, and maps.

“Recently with products like the Sova and the Modulok, Roccat has had very good experiences with product feedback and community involvement,” the company added. “Although we’ve always made a large effort to listen to our customers, we have really begun to bring our audience closer to our development process than ever before. This is what really inspired us as it’s something we felt was lacking in games today.”

That said, PC gamers can directly impact the development of Sick City. Starting in a closed alpha this June, Roccat will call on “early development veterans” to provide feedback and help smash game-stopping bugs. After that, Sick City will move into Early Access mode so that all PC gamers can provide their input and help shape the game.

As for additional information about the new Roccat Games Studio arm, Roccat wouldn’t cough up any details other than that the new studio will operate independently. Roccat also wouldn’t say when the new studio came online and started developing Sick City. However, according to Roccat, development has been going on for quite a while now.

The exact date of when the closed alpha begins is unknown, but PC gamers can sign up now by heading over to the Sick City website and filling out the “Join Us Now” form. The Early Access version will also be distributed through the website “hopefully” during the Gamescom convention starting August 22. After that, the game will eventually land on Steam.

Kevin Parrish
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kevin started taking PCs apart in the 90s when Quake was on the way and his PC lacked the required components. Since then…
Xbox PC Game Pass has a big problem — and it isn’t the name
Dave and GaTa at a PC Game Pass meeting.

I'm an Xbox Game Pass evangelist. I've been a subscriber for years, and I've recommended it to the point of annoyance to many of my console and PC gaming friends. Microsoft rebranded the PC version at The Game Awards. I'm still a fan, but the issues with PC Game Pass go far beyond the name.

The Xbox app on Windows 11 and Windows 10 has consistently been an issue since PC Game Pass launched in 2019. And now that Microsoft wants the PC version to sit on the same level as the console one, it's time to start addressing the problem.

Read more
Update your PC: Intel has fixed Alder Lake’s biggest gaming problem
Intel Core i9-12900K between fingers.

Intel and digital rights management (DRM) service Denuvo have fixed one of the largest issues plaguing the 12th-gen Alder Lake platform. At launch, Intel revealed over 90 games that wouldn't work with its most recent processors. A month after launch, the list has shrunk to only three.

A recent Windows Update solved the issue for the majority of titles. We checked the list about a week ago, and it was still full. Now, there are only three titles that have issues on Windows 11 and Windows 10 -- Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Fernbus Simulator, and Madden NFL 22. To apply the fix, download and install the most recent Windows Update.

Read more
Sony acquires Demon’s Souls developer, which already has new game in the works
Main character from Demon's Souls.

Sony has finally acquired Bluepoint Studios, the standout developer that's worked closely with the company for years now. Rumors of an acquisition were first leaked by Sony Japan earlier this year after the media giant purchased Housemarque. Bluepoint is already hard at work on a new, original game.

Bluepoint's acquisition should come as no surprise. The developer has a number of successful PlayStation-exclusive titles under its belt, including the PS4 remake of Shadow of the Colossus, Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, and one of the PS5's first hits, 2020's remake of Demon's Souls.

Read more