Turok: Origins Aims to Hook a New Generation 30 Years After the N64 Classic

For many gamers, Turok is a cherished memory—a dinosaur-hunting first-person shooter that served as an alternative to Rare's iconic GoldenEye on the N64. But there's a whole new generation that has never even heard of Turok, let alone played it. So how is developer Saber planning to get younger players excited for the upcoming Turok: Origins?

According to Tim Willits, Saber's development chief, the key is co-op. At gamescom 2026, Willits told me that playing with friends is hugely important to younger gamers, so Saber has made sure to include it.

"It's been a balancing act to make sure we had enough elements to please longtime fans—like the Cerebral Bore gun, throwbacks to the original Turok, and other touches," Willits said. "You can play in first-person or third-person. We want veterans to think, 'Oh, this is cool.' And the dinosaur bosses are awesome."

"But we also want to attract players who've never touched a Turok game. My kids are 22, and they've never even heard of Turok. So we're building a game that looks stunning and plays great. You can go solo, or team up with one or two friends. We want to appeal to newcomers as well."

"That's been our guiding principle: add things that longtime fans will appreciate, but build a game that's attractive to new players."

This approach is reflected across the industry. While single-player games remain hugely popular, social games have generated billions. Battle royales like PUBG and Fortnite thrive on friends playing together. COVID lockdowns accelerated the need for games as social spaces, with Call of Duty: Warzone benefiting early on. Extraction shooters like Escape from Tarkov and Arc Raiders also rely on group play. Much of Helldivers 2's appeal came from the chaos you could create with friends.

Then there's the rise of 'friendslop' games, which are massive on Steam (Roblox clones are also incredibly popular). A recent example is Bulkhead's hit Steam game Wardogs, a shooter built around playing with friends. "I truly believe it's not about the mode, it's about letting players run wild," Bulkhead boss Joe Brammer tweeted. "The more you constrain players, the less fun it is. FPS games are social experiences, and Wardogs is closer to Mecca Chameleon than COD."

Enter Turok: Origins, which shouldn't be compared to Wardogs or a battle royale, but it does let teams of three players team up to shoot dinosaurs in the face. Think Space Marine 2, but instead of Tyranids, you're fighting dinosaurs with lasers.

"It looks amazing," Willits continued. "The giant boss fights—I'm not sure if this is a term—do you know boss run games? It has that kind of feel. And wait until you see some of our cool bosses! Playing with friends is really important to young gamers now. You and I, we play by ourselves. We're old. So you can play either way, but having the option to play with someone else is crucial for a huge audience."

"Young people use video games as a social connection more than we did, because we grew up in different times. So it looks great, plays fun. The Echoes [you collect Echoes to unlock Turok powers] are amazing. The boss runs are sweet, and you can play with your friends. I feel it has the elements to attract new people."

Turok: Origins is set to launch in spring 2027 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and Nintendo Switch 2. For more, check out our hands-on preview of Turok: Origins.