Exodus: The Ultimate Guide for the Dedicated Futurism Fanatic.

For a distinct breed of science-fiction enthusiast, the announcement of Exodus stood as the biggest moment from a recent gaming awards ceremony. It's worth noting, those very fans might not have grasped its full implications during the initial showcase.

Exodus, the inaugural game from a new studio staffed with veteran talent from a legendary RPG developer, was originally unveiled a couple of years prior. At the latest event, the development team provided an projected release window of 2027, accompanied by a action-packed trailer. Prior to this reveal, the studio's leadership detailed some of the authentic scientific ideas that underpin for the game's universe: time dilation, human augmentation, and galactic expansion. These are all inherently complex ideas, which are inherently difficult to communicate in a brief, marketing-driven trailer.

“I wish some of those intriguing and new ideas were featured in the trailer. All I saw was ‘generic man in space,’” wrote one observer. Another quipped, “My impression was ‘this is like a well-known space opera RPG at home.’” Responses in online forums were equally mixed.

The trailer's approach certainly is understandable from a commercial perspective. When attempting to capture attention during a hours-long onslaught of game announcements, what is more marketable: Scientists discussing the intricacies of theoretical science? Or giant robots blowing up while other mechs fire plasma from their faces? However, in opting for visual bombast, the developers omitted to include the quieter details that make Exodus one of the more exciting concept-driven games coming soon. Let's delve deeper.

The Question of Humanity

Does Exodus contain aliens? Yes. The answer is nuanced. Consider that image near the start of the trailer, showing a being with gray-blue skin and cybernetic components merged into their flesh. That was definitely an alien, right? Ultimately hinges on your interpretation regarding one of the game's major existential inquiries: If you applied incremental change reasoning to the human biology, is what remains still a human being?

“We want the Celestials... for a player not intending to invest large amounts of time into learning the lore, to still understand the basic premise that they're advanced humans, recognize that they’re an foe you have to confront... But also, at the end of the day, make sure it's engaging and that they're compelling and that they function effectively to fight against,” explained the studio's head.

Grasping how these non-human beings aren't strictly aliens requires wrestling with enormous expanses of both the galaxy and temporal progression. Time dilation — the relativistic effect that time moves at a reduced rate for faster-moving objects — is an operative core tenet of Exodus’ fictional framework. Here are the fundamentals: Humanity leaves a dying Earth in the 23rd century for a distant corner of the Milky Way. Due to time dilation, some human voyagers arrive ages before others. Those firstcomers radically altered their biology and took on the “Celestial” title.

“There’s various stages of evolution. The people who arrived at the Centauri cluster first... had tens of thousands of years of evolution into the Celestials... They really see standard humans as essentially backwards, beneath them, not really fit for the higher tiers of society,” stated the game's lead writer.

Exodus is set about 40,000 years in the future. Ponder that scale — that's essentially all of human civilization multiplied ten times over. Now think about what humans would become if they spent ten entire human histories pushing the frontiers of genetic manipulation. You would absolutely not identify the result as human. You might even believe you're seeing an alien. The scariest branch of Celestial, known as the Mara-Yama, can adopt multiple forms. Some possess sharp teeth and blades and stand enormously tall. Others are covered in chitinous shells. According to expanded universe lore, when Mara-Yama travel between stars, their physical forms can atrophy into little more than a fleshy blob attached to a head.

Building a Sci-Fi Canon

Amidst the detonations, energy weapons, and combat creatures, you might have glimpsed snippets of otherworldly technology in the trailer. The protagonist, Jun Aslan, uses a chrome machine that radiates a violet glow. A spaceship flies into a portal and is gone at near-light speed. This all seems beyond human understanding, the kind of tech attributed to a Kardashev Scale-topping civilization. Yet, these are further examples of elements that seem alien but are ultimately derived in mankind's own journey.

Beyond the core development team, the Exodus lore is being authored by what the narrative lead called a duo of “sci-fi giants.” One acclaimed author has already published a doorstopper novel set in the universe, with another planned, while another award-winning writer has contributed a series of short stories. Incorporating such legendary science-fiction writers into the fold years before the game's release has allowed the studio to develop a dense fictional universe as a backdrop for the game.

“It was really a partnership. We had set some parameters, and working with him, he would have ideas... and we would work to see how they all fit together... With someone as established, you don't want to handcuff him. You want to give him room to explore,” the narrative director said of the collaboration.

One notable scene shows Jun seemingly shape the ground beneath him, forming stone into a temporary bridge. This material, called livestone, is controlled by brainwaves from Celestials or augmented enforcers — descendants of later human arrivals who were given limited technologies by the Celestials. Since Jun shows this ability, one might wonder about his nature.

“Jun's not technically a Uranic human... Jun is sort of a unique version, for want of a better term,” clarified the writer, noting that the ability to use Celestial technology is a “important element of the game.”

The vast scale of the Exodus setting — both in the galaxy and temporal scope — means there is ample room for diverse stories to coexist, pulling from the same core lore without risking overlap.

A Broad Narrative Canvas

Although Exodus has been on the radar for a couple of years and won't arrive, several stories have already begun to be told within its universe. The first major novel delves into the connection between a Uranic human and a woman whose ship arrived many millennia later than planned, making Celestials completely alien to her experience. An episode of a streaming show depicts a poignant story about a father pursuing his daughter across star systems, with time dilation causing devastating effects on their family; by the time he finds her, she has experienced many years.

The game itself is centered on “Jun’s story,” set on the planet Lidon — a world largely abandoned by Celestials that has become a bastion. A corrupting influence known as “the Rot” has begun destroying everything, including vital life support systems, and Jun must use his unique powers to {find a solution|stop