Watch 30 minutes of The Showdown Effect livestream footage

Well, you don't have to watch all 30 minutes (well, 28:12) of '80s-action-movie-inspired sidescrolling, but do check it out (at least stick around for the light on-camera bickering about a flag which may or may not be a feature).

It's nice to see Paradox and Arrowhead showing off this much alpha gameplay and taking questions from the community rather than being tight-lipped, as is the old norm. For more, read up on The Showdown Effect in our recent preview .

Here are a few highlights from the video:

The game will have dedicated servers, because they "aren't animals."
It might be moddable. It also might not be.
The release date is "later," but the game will have an open beta.
The engine doesn't crash and "that's a first for Arrowhead and Paradox."
"Some kind of primates would be cool, so why not? Monkeys are bananas."
Arrowhead isn't making Magicka 2 because they're "fed up with it for the time being," but they're "not done with it."

Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the '80s and '90s, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on early PCs. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, all the shooters they call "boomer shooters" now, and PS1 classic Bushido Blade (that's right: he had Bleem!). Tyler joined PC Gamer in 2011, and today he's focused on the site's news coverage. His hobbies include amateur boxing and adding to his 1,200-plus hours in Rocket League.