Brutal 2026 RPG Is A Worthy Alternative To The Last of Us Part 3

It’s widely believed that The Last of Us Part III is quietly in development at Naughty Dog, although confirmation could be some way off.

The studio remains focused on its upcoming new IP, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, with that set to be followed by an Uncharted soft reboot.

You could get your The Last of Us fix from the upcoming third season of HBO’s TV adaptation, which is in the midst of filming, or you could check out Techtive Games’ Ardem.

Ardem is an “immersive open-world survival RPG” set within a world ravaged by a deadly virus which, admittedly, if you read the news, maybe isn’t what you want to hear right now.

It can be enjoyed solo or with friends with players of Ardem tasked with gathering resources, building bases, repairing vehicles, and exploring abandoned locations, all while trying to rebuild humanity.

As you’ve likely guessed, this deadly virus hasn’t just wiped out the vast majority of humanity; it’s also left behind zombie-like creatures.

“When the RHAB-14 virus broke out, the world fell within weeks. Cities fell silent, order collapsed, and humanity turned into restless, mutated beings driven by hunger and rage,” the synopsis reads.

“Years later, civilisation is nothing but a memory. Nature has reclaimed the land, power grids lie in ruins, and every day is a fight to survive.

“In Ardem, you decide whom to trust, where to seek shelter, and how to survive in a world where every breath could be your last.”

As mentioned, Ardem is an open-world with players having a 64-kilometre-squared handcrafted map to explore.

You can “permanently alter the conditions and structures of the world”, which boasts hundreds of unique locations, hidden paths, and remnants of life before.

Restoring humanity will see you repair bridges and power grids, while you’ll also partake in your fair share of fishing, hunting, and farming.

Register Your Interest On Steam To Participate In Playtesting

For now, Ardem is only confirmed to be launching on PC via Steam and it’ll do so in the latter half of 2026.

You can actually try it out for free ahead of time via the ongoing series of playtests running via Steam.

If you head on over to Ardem’s listing, you’ll find the ‘request access’ prompt which will allow you to apply to be involved in playtesting.

Unfortunately, the next public playtest isn’t set to kick off until 31 August, but you may as well register sooner rather than later so you don’t forget and miss out.

The reason behind the lengthy gap between this and previous playtests is that Ardem recently received new private funding, allowing the team to progress from what they called “a passion project to a ‘real studio’”.

“While structuring a studio takes time, this heavy focus on deep pre-production and organisation is already paying off,” Techtive Games said in a Steam update.

“Our growing team is setting everything up perfectly so that once full-scale development kicks off, we can hit the ground running. With this new foundation being laid right now, you can expect a much higher frequency of sneak peeks, concept updates, and devblogs moving forward.”

With Ardem already having welcomed 320,000 wishlists, it’s great to see online hype leading to new funding for an indie project.