4A Games, the studio behind the Metro series, has partnered with Del Rey Books and New York Times bestselling author Christie Golden to produce an official eBook novella that lets you dive further into the upcoming Oculus Touch first-person shooter ARKTIKA.1.
Update 07/20/17: 4A Games reached out to us to reiterate that only the eBook is available for pre-order, and that its published release date does not reflect any official launch date of the game itself.
Golden is no stranger to gaming fiction, evidenced by her previous work on novels and short stories including IP from World of Warcraft, Assassin’s Creed, and Halo. Having also written the script for ARKTIKA.1, it’s only natural she’d also write the eBook ARKTIKA.1: My Name is Viktoria, or what she calls the game’s “bible”.
In a blog post, Golden says she’s never actually had a chance to actively participate in the creation of a game, but ARKTIKA.1 let the seasoned sci-fi/fantasy author cut imbue 4A Games’ envisioned world with her own ideas, activities, and background concepts, and “weave around and through them a story with solid science fiction, clever dialogue, tension, stakes the player grows to care about, and memorable characters.”
The short story is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.com for $1, releasing October 10th, 2017. Here’s the eBook’s synoposis.
Viktoria can barely remember life before 2081. It’s painful to think of the time before the Great Freeze, when humanity finally paid its due for plundering the earth, plunging the world into frigid cold, scarcity, and decay.
Yet humanity has found a way to carry on. The remnants of civilization persist in settlements like ARKTIKA.1, where Vika tends to survivors with her Mamochka and Papochka, protecting their fledgling colony from the threat that lurks in the snows. The yaga—vicious, deformed cannibals made monstrous by disease—prey on the surviving communities, spreading their affliction as they go. And Vika’s parents are the only scientists left who can stop the contagion.
Called upon by the Citadel Security defense corporation, Vika’s family makes their way to a research facility near the Equator. Only there, with mercenary protection and superior laboratory equipment, can the two scientists hope to make the discoveries that might protect ARKTIKA.1. But when shots ring out through the cold, their research expedition becomes a mad dash for survival. Because saving the world means nothing if they can’t save their daughter.