Digital Frontiers: Distinct Possibility Studios Reveals Ambitious Military Shooter “Reaper Actual” with Blockchain Integration

Distinct Possibility Studios, after two years in stealth, today announced its flagship product: “Reaper Actual,” an open-world, first-person military extraction shooter incorporating blockchain elements.

A pre-alpha “Foundation” version—featuring basic blockchain elements and limited on-chain assets—is scheduled for release “in the coming weeks.” This initial access will be limited to PC via direct purchase.

Located in Seattle, Distinct Possibility is founded by John Smedley, a veteran in the game industry who previously worked for Sony, Amazon Game Studios, and established titles including the 1999 MMORPG EverQuest.

A “Living World” Defined

Described by the studio as an “open-world persistent shooter,” “Reaper Actual” aims to depart significantly from contemporary shooters like “Call of Duty: Warzone” and “Fortnite.” Players—known as “Reapers”—will inhabit a single, persistent world where environmental changes and player actions have lasting repercussions. Unlike the temporary, static maps found in Battle Royale games, “Marova”—the game’s vast island map—will be dynamic, evolving when players log off.

The game’s ambition is emphasized by the expectation that “Marova” will exceed the scale of maps seen in comparable shooters like the “Call of Duty” franchise, featuring a blend of “PvPvE” (Player-vs-Player-vs-Environment) mechanics.

Funding and Team Scale

Distinct Possibility has secured $30.5 million in funding, a notable amount in the crypto-gaming sphere. The investment was led by Bitkraft and Brevan Howard Digital, with participation from the Tezos Foundation, Delphi Ventures, Shima Capital, Hashed, and others.

This substantial investment totals nearly $30M, a figure often deemed ambitious for blockchain integration in a genre typically requiring massive marketing budgets—rivaling titles with budgets exceeding one billion dollars. The company, as noted by an independent source citing Iron Belly, employs over 40 staff and leverages additional development resources from firms including Iron Belly, Big Moxi, and Secret Dimension, bringing the total project workforce (based on website data) to approximately 93 individuals.

Blockchain.Optional

The blockchain infrastructure for “Reaper Actual” utilizes Etherlink (derived from Tezos Rollup tech) from providers like Sequence. While in-game items will initially be tradable on the blockchain, the studio explicitly positions this aspect as non-essential to the core gaming experience.

Reflecting this stance, studio head John Smedley stated, “We look at it as an awesome game first full stop. Then we have enabled an amazing ecosystem that is entirely optional.”

The question remains whether integrating cryptocurrency elements will broadly appeal to mainstream audiences, or face regulatory or adoption hurdles.

The timing of upfront purchase fees, coupled with the incorporation of blockchain features, represents yet another challenge for the studio within a competitive and evolving landscape.