Insurgency series

The Insurgency series logo.

Insurgency is a series of tactical shooter video games developed and published by New World Interactive. The series is defined by its modern setting and semi-realistic gameplay that serves to "bridge the gap" between "milsim" realistic shooters like Arma and "arcade" action shooters like Call of Duty.

Originating with the development of Half-Life mods dating as far back as 2002, the series officially began in 2008 with Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat and was followed by Insurgency in 2014 and Insurgency: Sandstorm in 2018. Day of Infamy, released in 2017, is a standalone spin-off with similar gameplay to the rest of the Insurgency series, set during World War II.

History

The Insurgency series originated in 2002 as Modern Warfare, a Half-Life military shooter mod conceived by Canadian Army veteran Andrew Spearin and developed with the assistance of military advisors. On June 18, 2003, Modern Warfare shifted development from GoldSrc to Half-Life 2 on the Source engine, and changed its name to Operation: CO-IN. The intent of Operation: CO-IN was to create a realistic team-based shooter set during then-recent counterinsurgency operations and conflicts between conventional and unconventional forces, including the Iraq War, the Yugoslav Wars, and the Chechen–Russian conflict, though the game's scope soon narrowed to focus on just the Iraqi insurgency. On July 13, 2004, Operation: CO-IN was renamed to Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat. In 2005, former Red Orchestra mod developers, including Jeremy Blum, joined the development of Insurgency: MIC. What appears to have been the first public release of Insurgency: MIC was released on January 7, 2008, and the mod was uploaded to Steam later that year on October 2.

New World Interactive, founded by the Insurgency: MIC developers in 2010, began development of a standalone successor to Insurgency: MIC in 2012. A Kickstarter campaign for the game's development failed to reach its $180,000 goal, only netting $66,000 in pledges; however, the introduction of Steam's Early Access program, which allows developers to sell unfinished games as a way to fund future development on them, allowed the game to continue development. The final game, Insurgency, was released on January 22, 2014.

With the success of Insurgency, NWI began developing a sequel, Insurgency: Exiles. Set during the Nicaraguan Revolution, the game was planned to be very ambitious for an indie studio, featuring elements such as larger "open world" maps, varying scenarios, and an assortment of drivable vehicles. However, development was canceled due to scope creep, in favor of a game closer in style and scope to Insurgency and Insurgency: MIC. Day of Infamy, a World War II tactical shooter based on a mod for Insurgency, was released on March 23, 2017 and was a modest success.

Insurgency: Sandstorm, the successor of Exiles, was planned to be set during the Iraqi insurgency with a campaign following a team of fighters who try to survive the conflict on their own quest, but various difficulties led to its cancellation before the game's release. Elements from Exiles and Day of Infamy were implemented into the game, such as Fire Support and drivable vehicles. Insurgency: Sandstorm was released on December 12, 2018 for PC. Console releases were planned at launch, but were repeatedly delayed over several years; the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 ports were released on September 29, 2021, while the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 ports were released on January 30, 2024.

As of November 2024, Insurgency: Sandstorm remains the newest entry in the Insurgency series, and is actively maintained. No news on potential further installments has been released to the public.

Installments

• Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat (2007)
• Insurgency (2014)
• Insurgency: Exiles (canceled)
• Insurgency: Sandstorm (2018)