Summary

  • Extraction Shooters offer high-stakes PvP & PvE, mix of solo/group play, and intense looting mechanics for a thrilling gaming experience.
  • Find your way in the passionate communities of these games, whether a beginner or veteran seeking a fresh challenge in the extraction genre.
  • New updates bring more intense gunplay, realistic tactics, VR enhancements, and even turn-based RPG elements to keep players engaged.

Extraction Shooters are part of a relatively new genre that has exploded in popularity lately, challenging even long-standing genres like Battle Royales. Core aspects of the genre include looting mechanics, fast, high-stakes PvP, PvE, or PvPvE, and generally a mix of solo and grouped players, all trying to escape with loot from the map they are fighting within.

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With so many passionate communities rooting for their favorite game within the genre, it's hard to know where to start. Whether you're new to the genre trying to figure out which games look the most fun, or a veteran looking for a fresh start and a change of scenery, this list of Extraction Shooters will help you find your way.

Updated August 15, 2024, by Jack Pierik: Are you still chasing the adrenaline rush of trying to get out of a map when you know you have absolutely everything to lose? It can be a heartbreaking formula when things go wrong, but heaven on earth when you make it out knowing the odds were so slim.

So, if you’re trying to live out your wildest dreams as a loot goblin with a gun, you’re in luck; we’re adding two more extraction shooters in this update, with realistic, tactical gunplay in one hand, and heaps of bug slaying glory in the other.

11 Gray Zone Warfare

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Gray Zone Warfare

FPS Survival Open-World Released April 30, 2024 Platform(s) PC Powered by Expand Collapse

If you like the idea of dropping into a dynamic map with urban and rural environments, and going toe-to-toe in a PvPvE or PvE mode with custom loadouts, realistic bullet simulation, and no shortage of objectives to pursue, it’s time to check out Gray Zone.

The graphics can be rather demanding at times, so you’ll need to bring reasonable expectations on performance if you’re running older hardware, and sometimes the AI turn into John Wick with their accuracy, but overall, Gray Zone has a lot to admire and is steadily being improved upon.

10 Helldivers 2

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Helldivers 2

Shooter Released February 8, 2024 Platform(s) PC, PS5 Powered by Expand Collapse

Despite the focus being on PvE, your job as a Helldiver is to slam into the ground from your drop pod with your squadmates, pursue and complete objectives, liquify as many bugs as you can, and get out of there only when the job is done.

This can be easier said than done, depending on your squad’s loadout, the types of bugs in the region you’re fighting in, and how careless your team is with explosive ordinance; yes, friendly-fire is a thing. Oh, and watch out for the robots; it’s completely different when your enemies start shooting back.

9 Ghosts Of Tabor

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Ghosts of Tabor

FPS Virtual Reality Released March 21, 2023 Platform(s) PC Powered by Expand Collapse

While virtual reality isn't without its quirks or challenges, it tends to either refresh games that previously didn't have VR functionality, such as Skyrim, or bring that format into game genres that other studios were originally unwilling to invest in.

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The developers of Ghosts of Tabor likely saw the immense success of Escape From Tarkov and figured that tactical, high-stakes gunplay could be further enhanced by VR. If you thought EFT was hard, try managing a wound or manually loading a new magazine from your tactical vest into your weapon in the middle of a PvPvE firefight.

8 Quasimorph

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Release Date:

2023

Available Platform(s)

PC: Steam, GOG

Okay, Quasimorph isn't going to be the game for everyone since it shakes up the Extraction Shooter genre to an extent. However, despite being turn-based with RPG elements, it still hones in on high-stakes gameplay where you play as a PMC and the gear you bring in will be permanently lost if you die.

Also, the game is set in a futuristic space age where you manage your own Private Military Company, meaning that over time, as you're raiding planetary bases or fighting over spaceship wreckage, you can take the DNA of your best warriors and clone them.

7 Deceive Inc.

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Deceive Inc.

First-Person Shooter Released March 21, 2023 Platform(s) PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S Powered by Expand Collapse

Deceive Inc. is a bit like Team Fortress 2, but if the only playable character was the Spy. Well, that's only mostly accurate, since you and other players in a match can choose which agent they like best. Once everyone is loaded in, you'll use your espionage tactics and gadgets to nab the objective and get out.

While this game doesn't have the more hardcore mechanics from the genre, like a separate stash or the ability to lose specific items permanently, this could be a great game to try out if you're new to the genre.

6 Escape From Tarkov

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Escape from Tarkov

Shooter Survival Released July 27, 2017 Platform(s) PC Powered by Expand Collapse

Escape From Tarkov is one of the oldest, well-respected Extraction Shooters on the market. Created by Battlestate Games, EFT has achieved a cult following, attracting hundreds of thousands of players captivated by the world of Tarkov. Its most desirable features include an incredible level of depth, multiplayer functionalities, tactical gunplay, and a harsh learning curve.

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On its own, the game makes no effort to hold your hand; even if you have a friend or Sherpa to help you learn the ropes, you're going to die in this game - a lot. This difficulty and learning curve, though, makes all the loot you manage to escape with all the sweeter.

5 Hunt: Showdown

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Hunt: Showdown 1896

First-Person Shooter Extraction Released February 22, 2018 Platform(s) PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC Powered by Expand Collapse

If you've ever had the oddly specific urge to play as a bounty hunter hired to banish monsters with paranormal abilities in the Louisiana swamps, Hunt: Showdown delivers on all that and more. Highly competitive through its PvP and PvE elements, you'll be thrown into a dangerous world, forced to navigate a variety of threats and enemies.

With up to five teams of two, and a common goal of banishing a finite amount of monsters, heart-racing PvP is inevitable. Also, if you manage to banish a monster, if there are any other hunters still in the match, you'll have a bounty on your head until you extract. Similar to Tarkov, this game is the definition of high risk, high reward.

4 Deep Rock Galactic

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Deep Rock Galactic

FPS Released May 13, 2020 Platform(s) PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One Powered by Expand Collapse

Although it is strictly a PvE game, that doesn't mean Deep Rock Galactic isn't a fantastic, space-themed Extraction Shooter with co-op functionality. As an ambitious dwarven miner, you can play solo or with a jovial team of friends. Together, you'll work towards completing assigned main missions, optional side objectives, and mining various resources.

There are a few classes to choose from, like the Gunner or the Scout, and the more you play, the more weapons and tools you'll unlock. Most of the resources you mine, such as Bismor or Croppa, can be used to unlock rare, class-enhancing upgrades and cosmetics.

3 Marauders

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Marauders (Game)

FPS Released October 3, 2022 Platform(s) PC Powered by Expand Collapse

Marauders is a sci-fi, tactical Extraction Shooter centered around aggressive PvP. You're a space mercenary, and whether you decide to do it solo or with a group of up to three others, one of two scenarios is guaranteed: you'll be raiding others, or they'll be raiding you.

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In this gritty, steampunk world, you've fled to the stars in your spaceship for a new life on what you could call the new and dangerous galactic frontier. As you progress, you'll use your hard-earned loot to upgrade your spaceship, gear, and weapons. A forgiving feature is that EXP and some gear is persistent.

2 Dark And Darker

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Dark and Darker

Action RPG First-Person RPG Released August 7, 2023 Platform(s) PC Powered by Expand Collapse

Before you grab your pitchforks, Dark And Darker really is considered a shooter, even if it does have the appearance of an old-school RPG. With a few different classes to choose from, you'll be able to sling spells, shoot arrows, or pick up your favorite melee setup and jump into a PvPvE, Battle Royale-inspired match.

You can play either solo or with a small group. As time goes on, you and other players will be funneled towards a specific point on the map by a damaging zone. Ultimately, you'll be forced to grab a little bit of loot and extract early, or risk it all, descending to the next, more dangerous floor below you.