adminRogue Point is a cooperative PvE shooter from Crowbar Collective, the studio behind Black Mesa. Designed as a more straightforward alternative to complicated, grind-heavy online games, it focuses on short missions that friends can tackle together, whether they prefer careful tactics or a more relaxed approach.
Image credit: Crowbar Collective/Team17
Rogue Point brings back the pick-up-and-play shooter
Marketing and community manager Brad Sheremeta says the team wanted to make a game that players could quickly start with friends. The idea contrasts with competitive first-person shooters that can demand long sessions and repeated progression. Instead of making players feel they must keep grinding to reach the next reward, Rogue Point aims to make playing together the main attraction.
This accessible approach reflects the appeal of social games such as RV There Yet? and Peak, where much of the fun comes from shared, unscripted moments. The game also draws on the appeal of older, more direct action titles. Adam Engels, owner of Crowbar Collective, describes the design as a return to basics, with the core experience included in one package rather than divided across multiple paid expansions.
Engels points to Rocket League as an example of a model where players could choose to buy individual optional items. He also says the team would like to add unlockable gameplay modifiers after release, in the spirit of GoldenEye, where players earned cheats by completing challenges. These are described as future plans, not features confirmed as already available.
Short missions and replayable co-op action
Rogue Point includes eight missions across different areas of four maps. Teams of up to four players face increasingly difficult enemy waves while collecting or purchasing weapons. Missions are designed to be relatively short, making it easier to fit a session into limited free time.
Randomized objectives and objects, along with multiple difficulty levels, give players reasons to revisit missions. The game is intended to support different styles: groups can move quickly through a level or coordinate more carefully. For a first run, agreeing on a simple plan before starting can help a team manage enemies and make better use of its equipment.
Work on Rogue Point started in 2020. Image credit: Crowbar Collective/Team17
The developers also highlight the game’s peer-to-peer online setup. Engels says this approach is intended to help the game remain playable in the future without depending on dedicated servers. The installation size is around 10 gigabytes, and the team used trim sheets to reuse textures efficiently and help levels load quickly.
That focus on efficiency reflects lessons learned during the long development of Black Mesa. Engels says the earlier project did not use the same texture approach, which created difficulties for the team. For Rogue Point, the developers aimed to keep performance and file size manageable rather than prioritize visual features that would add little to the overall experience.
Funding and the challenges of development
Team17 provided funding for Rogue Point. Finding a publishing partner was not straightforward: Crowbar Collective received different proposals and had to assess which arrangement made sense for the studio. Engels says the publisher also supplied resources such as quality assurance support.
Crowbar Collective’s experience with Black Mesa helped the studio build industry connections, but Rogue Point still presented new business and production challenges. The studio was built around sharing profits with developers, a principle Engels says the team values, even though it can make running a company more difficult.
Players can plan together on a map before beginning a mission. Image credit: Crowbar Collective/Team17
Moving from Source to Unreal Engine 4
Black Mesa was made with Valve’s Source engine, while Rogue Point was developed in Unreal Engine 4. The change meant learning a different toolset, and the new game also required the team to tackle multiplayer design rather than build on a known single-player story. Development entered pre-production in 2020 and took around five years.
Although Unreal Engine 5 arrived during development, the team chose not to move the project to the newer engine. Engels says making the switch would have required substantial resources, while the game did not need the additional graphical features. He argues that a clear art direction can matter more than technical complexity, citing Titanfall 2 and Pacific Drive as examples of games with a strong visual identity.
Enemies have different behaviours: Berserkers charge directly at players, while Soldiers operate in units. Image credit: Crowbar Collective/Team17
Why Rogue Point’s smaller scope matters
Engels sees room for more AA games: projects with a focused scope that can test ideas without the budgets associated with the largest productions. A smaller game can offer developers a way to explore fresh concepts and learn what resonates before committing to a larger follow-up.
For players, Rogue Point’s appeal rests on its concise missions, four-player co-op and accessible structure. Its retro sensibility is paired with replayable objectives and different difficulty settings, rather than a requirement to invest in lengthy progression. If you are looking for a shooter to play in shorter sessions with friends, Rogue Point’s back-to-basics design is the central feature to consider.
