Back in 2021, we caught wind of a new Microsoft-backed MMO called Pax Dei from studio Mainframe Industries, which had been busy raising huge sacks of cash from investors like Mike Morhaime and Hilmar Petursson. As of today, we’re finally getting a full announcement of what the game actually is, and that’s… something our readers are definitely going to want to watch. For starters, Pax Dei is billed as an “immense, player-driven, social sandbox – an MMO with community and emergent gameplay at its heart.”
“Welcome to the fantastical world of Pax Dei. Inspired by the mythologies of the medieval era, Pax Dei aims to deliver an MMO experience that returns to the roots of the genre with a player-driven and community-focused design, updated and brought into the modern age in stunning visuals created using the Unreal Engine 5.”
“Pax Dei is the fusion of two high-level concepts: The vision of a living fantasy world inspired by the traditions & legends of the medieval era. Here, myths are real, ghosts exist, and magic is unquestioned. In your home valley, life is relatively safe and peaceful. As you venture out into the wider world, however, things begin to change. The further you travel from home, the stranger things get. Anything becomes possible. Our belief in human interaction as the ultimate source of fun. The most memorable game experiences are the ones you share with friends. That’s why we’re building Pax Dei as a sandbox, where players are free to set their own goals. And we’re doing it at true MMO scale. The result is an open-world playground where you can build your home, create a thriving village with your friends, and engage with thousands of other players to make this world your own. We can’t wait to see the stories that will come to life.”
The pitch promises an open-world sandbox where different playstyles complement each other and thrive, with modularly constructed player housing, villages, “extensive” character customization, PvP, and a persistent and seamless world built in UE5.
“Skinning a basilisk, choosing between war and peace, picking flowers: it all matters. In a fully player-driven world, all play styles connect and complement each other. Pax Dei welcomes players of every type to join the community and be part of the stories about to take shape,” Mainframe says.
Alpha signups are live on the official site already, though we don’t have a date for when that’s happening beyond “soon”: “Pax Dei will be coming soon to Steam for PC gamers and is in development for cloud gaming platforms to become playable on any screen.” The debut footage trailer is below.
