Exterminauts Revealed as a 3-Player Co-Op Sci-Fi Shooter From the Dead by Daylight Developer

Behaviour Interactive's New Game Turns Alien Pest Control Into a Chaotic Team Shooter With Weaponized Power Tools.

Their equipment reflects that idea.

Industrial tools have been transformed into weapons, missions involve repairing infrastructure and clearing dangerous worksites, and the team has to survive long enough to finish each contract.

The game was revealed during the Gamescom 2026 period and is currently planned for 2027 on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

That combination of cooperative shooting, science fiction and workplace humor gives Exterminauts a very different identity from Behaviour Interactive's previous major projects.

Behaviour Interactive Enters a New Genre

Behaviour Interactive has spent years building its reputation around Dead by Daylight, but Exterminauts represents a major change in direction.

This time, the studio is creating an original science-fiction universe centered around cooperative PvE gameplay.

According to Behaviour, Exterminauts is its most ambitious original intellectual property to date.

The project is being developed with TEAM SHOOTER & CREATIVE, while Level Infinite is publishing the game.

The basic premise is deliberately simple.

Humanity has expanded into dangerous alien environments, and somebody has to deal with the problems left behind.

That job belongs to the Exterminauts.

Their missions can involve exterminating alien creatures, repairing infrastructure and responding to unexpected emergencies.

The result is less "save the galaxy" and more "finish the work order before everything goes horribly wrong."

The Game Takes Place on Tian

Exterminauts is set on the alien world of Tian.

The planet is described as a hostile environment where alien nature, industrial structures and dangerous creatures collide.

Players will be sent from an orbiting depot into hazardous worksites.

Each deployment has objectives that need to be completed before the team extracts.

That structure gives the game a clear mission-based progression system.

Players aren't simply entering an arena and fighting waves of enemies.

They are entering an environment, completing a contract and trying to get out alive.

The world itself is also intended to be unpredictable.

The official description says Tian is a living ecosystem rather than a collection of static combat arenas.

Alien creatures have different abilities, mechanics and weaknesses, forcing teams to adapt during missions.

Three Players Form the Exterminaut Crew

The game is designed around three-player cooperative gameplay.

Each squad consists of a small crew working together to complete contracts.

That relatively small team size could make communication particularly important.

Unlike large multiplayer games where individual players can disappear into a crowd, three-player missions mean every member of the team can have a noticeable impact on the outcome.

The Steam listing describes the crew as a group of gritty workers dealing with dangerous contracts and corporate pressure.

That workplace theme also appears to influence the game's humor.

The mission isn't framed as a heroic quest.

It is a job.

And if the job goes badly, the team still has to figure out how to survive.

Weaponized Power Tools Are the Main Attraction

The most distinctive part of Exterminauts is its equipment.

Instead of relying exclusively on conventional futuristic firearms, players use weaponized versions of industrial tools.

The official material lists equipment including:

Ice Gun
Electric Gun
Anti-Gravity Gun
Foam Gun

Players can also use traditional weapons such as shotguns and rifles according to the game's Steam content description.

This gives the combat system a strange combination of serious science-fiction action and blue-collar absurdity.

A tool that might normally repair equipment can instead become a weapon against a giant alien.

The game also includes an Overdrive/Overclock-style ability system that can turn the crew's equipment into more powerful combat tools.

Movement Is More Flexible Than a Traditional Shooter

Exterminauts is not designed as a stationary cover shooter.

The developers are giving players several movement options.

The official description mentions:

Sliding
Shooting while sliding
Zipline traversal
Rolling
Special ability use

These mechanics should make encounters more mobile.

A team may need to reposition quickly when an alien swarm appears, move between elevated areas or escape a dangerous environmental situation.

Because the game emphasizes cooperation, movement can also become a team decision.

One player may draw attention from an enemy while another reaches an objective.

Another could repair equipment while teammates protect them.

Tian Is a Living Alien Ecosystem

The environment itself is supposed to be an important part of the experience.

The game's official Steam description says players aren't simply fighting enemies inside unchanging arenas.

Instead, Tian is presented as a living ecosystem that reacts to the squad.

Alien creatures have different behaviors and weaknesses.

The environments combine natural alien elements such as plants and mushrooms with industrial structures and machinery.

That mixture creates a distinctive visual identity.

It also means players should have to pay attention to their surroundings rather than focusing exclusively on enemy health bars.

Every Mission Starts With a Contract

The basic gameplay loop revolves around contracts.

Players receive an assignment, prepare their equipment and deploy from the orbiting base.

Once on Tian, they complete objectives while dealing with increasingly dangerous threats.

Successful missions provide resources that can be used to improve equipment and prepare for future deployments.

This creates a progression system built around repeated missions.

A successful team should gradually become better equipped for more difficult assignments.

The developers are also emphasizing improvisation.

A mission may not always proceed according to plan.

Players need to communicate and adjust their strategy when the alien ecosystem turns against them.

Repairing Infrastructure Is Part of the Job

Exterminauts isn't purely about killing aliens.

The player character also has responsibilities as a repair worker and first responder.

That means missions can involve fixing critical infrastructure and handling other tasks in addition to combat.

This distinction could make Exterminauts feel different from standard wave-based shooters.

Instead of entering a location with one simple objective — eliminate everything — teams may need to balance several priorities.

For example, players could have to repair an important system while protecting the teammate performing the repair.

The team then has to decide whether to continue completing optional work or extract before the situation becomes too dangerous.

Corporate Pressure Adds Another Layer

The game's setting also includes large corporations.

The Exterminauts are not independent heroes.

They take contracts and perform dangerous jobs for companies operating across the galaxy.

The official Steam description references MegaCorp contracts and an energy-resource conflict involving alien Polymorphic Plasma.

This provides the game with a workplace satire angle.

The crew is risking its life while corporations remain focused on completing contracts and securing valuable resources.

That theme could give the game's narrative more personality than a straightforward alien-invasion story.

Cooperation Is Essential

The three-player structure means teamwork is expected to be central.

The developers describe the game as highly cooperative, with players needing to communicate, reposition and adapt to changing threats.

This is particularly important because Tian's alien ecosystem can respond to player tactics.

A strategy that works against one enemy may not work against another.

Players therefore need to understand what their equipment does and coordinate their actions.

The smaller three-player team could also make individual roles more meaningful.

A player focusing on repairs may not be the same player dealing the most damage.

Another may be better positioned to control an enemy or create an escape route.

Cross-Platform Multiplayer Is Planned

The Steam listing confirms online co-op and cross-platform multiplayer.

The game is planned for PC as well as PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

That is important for a cooperative game.

Cross-platform support means players should not necessarily have to own the same platform as their friends.

The exact implementation and limitations of cross-play have not been fully detailed yet, so players should wait for more information before assuming every multiplayer feature will work identically across platforms.

Exterminauts Has a Strong Visual Identity

The game's concept is also supported by its visual direction.

Tian combines colorful alien life with heavy industrial machinery.

Instead of presenting the future as a clean, sterile science-fiction environment, Exterminauts focuses on dirty worksites, damaged infrastructure and dangerous alien ecosystems.

That fits the blue-collar theme.

The characters are workers rather than polished military heroes.

Their tools look functional first and futuristic second.

The result gives the game an identity that is immediately different from conventional space shooters.

A 2027 Release Is Planned

Exterminauts is currently scheduled for 2027.

The confirmed platforms are:

PC
PlayStation 5
Xbox Series X|S

The PC version is planned for Steam, Epic Games Store and Microsoft Store.

There is currently no confirmed release date.

The Steam page simply lists the game as coming soon, while the announcement confirms the broader 2027 window.

Players should therefore avoid treating any rumored month or day as official.

Why Exterminauts Could Stand Out

The cooperative shooter market is crowded.

Games such as Helldivers 2, Deep Rock Galactic and other team-based shooters have shown how successful cooperative PvE can become.

Exterminauts needs something that separates it from those established games.

Its answer appears to be the combination of:

Three-player cooperation + blue-collar science fiction + weaponized tools + alien ecology + contract-based missions.

That is a much more specific identity than simply being another alien shooter.

The workplace theme also gives Behaviour room to build humor and storytelling around contracts, corporate demands and the absurdity of treating dangerous alien extermination like an ordinary shift.

Confirmed Information

The following details are confirmed:

Exterminauts was revealed during Gamescom 2026.
Behaviour Interactive is developing the game.
Level Infinite is publishing it.
TEAM SHOOTER & CREATIVE is also involved.
It is a third-person PvE shooter.
The game is designed around three-player cooperative gameplay.
The setting is the alien world of Tian.
Players work as interstellar pest-control professionals.
Missions include combat, repairs and other objectives.
Weaponized power tools are central to combat.
The game includes Ice, Electric, Anti-Gravity and Foam Guns.
Sliding, rolling and zipline traversal are supported.
Players can use powerful Overdrive/Overclock abilities.
Tian contains a hostile alien ecosystem.
Online co-op and cross-platform multiplayer are planned.
PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S are confirmed.
The game is planned for 2027.
No specific launch date has been announced.

Rumors and Speculation

There is currently no confirmed exact release date.

There is also no confirmed information about a specific launch price.

While the Steam listing includes in-app purchases, the developers have not yet provided a complete monetization breakdown.

Any claims about a specific battle pass, season system, character classes or post-launch roadmap should therefore be treated as speculation until Behaviour Interactive or Level Infinite provides official details.

Conclusion

Exterminauts is one of the more unusual new cooperative shooters to emerge from Gamescom 2026.

Behaviour Interactive is taking the familiar idea of a team-based PvE shooter and giving it an unexpected workplace twist.

Instead of soldiers defending humanity, players become blue-collar interstellar workers.

Their jobs involve exterminating alien pests, repairing infrastructure, responding to emergencies and surviving dangerous contracts.

The weaponized power tools are perhaps the game's biggest hook.

Ice Guns, Electric Guns, Anti-Gravity Guns and Foam Guns give the combat system a distinctive personality, while Tian's living alien ecosystem is designed to force teams to constantly adapt.

The three-player structure also gives Exterminauts a clear multiplayer identity.

Players won't simply be shooting enemies together.

They will need to coordinate movement, objectives, equipment and extraction.

With PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S versions planned for 2027, there is still plenty of time for Behaviour Interactive to reveal more about the game's missions, progression and long-term plans.

For now, Exterminauts looks like a promising title for players who want cooperative science-fiction action but are looking for something stranger than another traditional space marine shooter.