When it comes to co-op gameplay, Starship Troopers: Extermination offers a unique base-building, bug-blasting experience, and the developers have some big plans for the future. Developed by Offworld, this squad-based FPS lets gamers customize their playstyles with six character classes as they fight to exterminate the arachnid threat that plagues the universe.
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After launching the popular multiplayer FPS game, Squad, in 2015, Offworld began development on Starship Troopers: Extermination in 2019 as their second internally-developed title, launching the game into early-access in 2023, and fully-releasing it in 2024.
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Peter Maurice, Project Lead for Starship Troopers: Extermination, to talk about the journey so far, the community, gameplay, and some exciting possibilities for the future.
Great things happen when passionate developers are dedicated to long-term development led by community feedback, and Offworld has been working at a blistering pace, delivering seven updates this year, with new modes, enemies, and weapons—and it appears they’re just getting started.
Interview With Peter Maurice Of Offworld
Q: Will you tell us a bit about your team? What’s the vibe like at Offworld?
A: Offworld is a really special place. We’re a studio made up of passionate developers who genuinely care about the games we make and the players we make them for. The vibe here is collaborative and grounded. We have a team that believes in rolling up their sleeves, helping each other out, and finding creative solutions together.
Q: For gamers not yet familiar with Starship Troopers: Extermination, how would you summarize the experience?
A: I’d describe it as an intense, cooperative, squad-based FPS where you and your friends are dropped into tumultuous battlefields overrun with hordes of Bugs, and survival really comes down to teamwork.
You’re building defenses, completing objectives, and trying to hold the line against overwhelming odds. It’s all set in the universe of the Starship Troopers sci-fi action movie, which adds that familiar mix of military grit and over-the-top alien mayhem.
Q: It’s been just over a year since the full release, what’s the journey been like so far?
A: It’s been humbling, to be honest. Watching the community rally around the game, share feedback, and grow alongside us has been incredible.
The launch was exciting but also a learning experience— we listened closely to what players wanted and adjusted along the way. Some of my favorite moments have been seeing the community share their wildest battles or coordinate against all odds during our Galactic Front Live events.
It’s the kind of passion that reminds us why we do this. Delivering seven updates this year alone — along with upgrades and especially free content drops, including new features, new enemies, new modes, and new weapons — has been a big achievement for us, and we’re proud to keep building the experience together with our players.
Q: What has been the biggest hurdle your team has overcome?
A: Scope and ambition have always been our biggest hurdles. We set out to create a large-scale co-op experience that felt both personal and epic, and doing that with a relatively small, independent team is no small feat.
Balancing our vision with the realities of development has required a lot of trust and adaptability. I’m proud of how the team has stayed united and creative through every challenge.
Q: You’ve added an impressive amount of content and features already; can you share some insight into how the game has evolved?
A: It’s grown tremendously. Early on, our game was focused on survival and extraction. Over time, it’s become a deeper, more strategic experience, with new maps, modes, missions, weapons, enemies and customization options. What I’m most proud of is how much of that evolution has been shaped by our players’ feedback.
Q: Update 1.8 is just around the corner, and I have noticed some exciting new additions. Will you tell us about them?
A: In update 1.8, we’re introducing Company Progression, a system that lets Troopers band together, level up their Company, and unlock custom emblems, frames, and other rewards. It’s all about celebrating the community aspect of Starship Troopers. We are also introducing a new Air Strike Side Objective where players can call in Tac Fighters while maintaining their Fleet Array out in the field.
Balancing our vision with the realities of development has required a lot of trust and adaptability.
Q: This interview wouldn’t be complete without some bug-banter! What is your bug-brainstorming process like?
A: Designing bugs is one of the most fun and creative parts of development. We always start with the question: What Bug from the feature films can we incorporate into the game? Whether it is the massive Tanker Bug, or the stinging Scorpion Bug, it needs to have a purpose within our moment-to-moment gameplay.
We take adding any new Bug to the game very seriously. Sometimes, if we cannot find a specific role for a movie Bug, we move on and look at creating our own and add that to the lore of Starship Troopers.
Q: Can you talk about the character classes and playstyle customization options?
A: We’ve built our class system around cooperation and identity. Whether you’re a Medic healing teammates, a Guardian holding the line, or a Ranger jetting across the battlefield, each of the 6 classes feels essential.
Layer in the weapon and class perk customization, and players can really craft a playstyle that fits how they want to contribute to the game. That diversity of roles creates those memorable “we barely made it out alive” moments that define Extermination.
Q: What are your plans for Starship Troopers: Extermination moving forward?
We’re focused on the community. That means continuing to expand content, deepen systems and constantly seek out optimization and quality of life improvements. We also want to continue to explore new types of missions and enemy encounters. And as always, our plans are shaped by our players’ voices.
Q: Is there anything I haven’t asked you about that you’d like to share?
Just a heartfelt thank you to our fans and our team. Developing this game has been a labour of love, and none of it would be possible without the passion and patience of the community. Every bit of feedback, every shared clip, every “Would you like to know more?” post, it all inspires us to keep pushing forward.
A message to the Troopers:
“From all of us at Offworld, thank you for fighting the good fight. Your support, creativity, and enthusiasm have made this journey unforgettable. Keep building, keep blasting, and keep proving that the only good bug is a dead bug. We’ll see you on the frontlines!” -Peter Maurice
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