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Top-down PvPvE Battle Royale game Gene Shift Auto now free to play on Steam

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After many years of development and going through multiple different names like Subvein, Mutant Factions and Gene Shift — the online mode has gone free to play as Gene Shift Auto. Offering a lot of fun for the price of nothing, this Native Linux game is inspired by Grand Theft Auto 2 for a lot of it.

There is a single-player (with co-op) that's a paid DLC but the main part of it being the online mode has been set free in Early Access.

Here's some footage:

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Gene Shift Auto has been in development since 2009, starting off as a hobby project under the name Subvein. When it was Greenlit for a Steam release in 2014, the sole developer - Ben Johnson of Nik Nak Studios - decided to take the game full-time. Sydney is expensive though, so he quit his job and set off to code in cheap youth hostels around the world, including 18 months living in Peru. This cheaper lifestyle allowed Ben to just scrape by and launch Gene Shift onto Steam Early Access on May 23rd, 2017. Now back in Sydney, Ben is finishing up the game in preparation for the full release.

Game Features:

  • Battle Royale Turbo: Be the last man standing in the new Battle Royale mode, where each round only lasts 5 minutes.
  • Roguelite Survival Mode: Survive 4 increasingly difficult rounds by leveling up randomly generated abilities.
  • Tactical Multiplayer Combat: Fight players or bots online in modes like Capture the Flag, FFA Deathmatch, and Conquest.
  • Insane Vehicle Action: Ride with allies to do drive-by shootings, detonate car bombs and capture key objectives.
  • Over 30 Tactical Skills: Create complex skill builds as you gain experience and permanently level up your mutant.
  • Over 20 Brutal Weapons: Fire pistols, shotguns, snipers, explosives... or save up for the deadly superweapons.
  • Secret Base Building: Place hidden chemicals to gain secret benefits, like selling weapons and teleportation.
  • Deduction and Deception: Find and destroy your enemy's base by observing their movements and spying on them.
  • Competitive Servers: Earn ranks in competitive servers that balance teams with a unique ELO rating system.
  • Cosmetic Unlocks: Unlock awesome cosmetic items such as capes, glowing bullets, lightsabers, and more!

Check it out on Steam.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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7 comments

b4lv Nov 30, 2022
But it's been free to play for years. The only change here is the game's name.
scaine Nov 30, 2022
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Quoting: b4lvBut it's been free to play for years. The only change here is the game's name.

I'd assume not, given that in the developer's own announcement, they say:

QuoteGene Shift Auto is now F2P. This will massively grow our playerbase, get fresh faces into our community and allow you to play with your friends for free!
whizse Nov 30, 2022
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Quoting: b4lvBut it's been free to play for years. The only change here is the game's name.
Looks like it sold for €12.49 in the past. SteamDB can be used to check price history.

It's been given away for free (a couple of times?). Maybe that's what you're thinking of? I already had it in my library.
Mezron Nov 30, 2022
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Quoting: whizse
Quoting: b4lvBut it's been free to play for years. The only change here is the game's name.
Looks like it sold for €12.49 in the past. SteamDB can be used to check price history.

It's been given away for free (a couple of times?). Maybe that's what you're thinking of? I already had it in my library.

I played this game for free outside of Steam for a long time.
Liam Dawe Nov 30, 2022
Quoting: b4lvBut it's been free to play for years. The only change here is the game's name.
It was not. It's been a paid game for years, but you got the DLC free when you bought it. The developer mentioned many times it was going free, and they did a few giveaways previously. You can see easily on SteamDB going back years how much it cost: https://steamdb.info/app/308600/
Mezron Dec 1, 2022
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Quoting: Liam Dawe
Quoting: b4lvBut it's been free to play for years. The only change here is the game's name.
It was not. It's been a paid game for years, but you got the DLC free when you bought it. The developer mentioned many times it was going free, and they did a few giveaways previously. You can see easily on SteamDB going back years how much it cost: https://steamdb.info/app/308600/

Gene Shift Turbo was the previous name and it had a free demo on their page before going to Steam and that demo was in the same free format as this.
robvv Dec 1, 2022
I played this game back when it was simply Gene Shift, but apparently it's a bit different now to the game that I remember! I'm sure I'll give it another try at some point.
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