Saber Interactive and Focus Entertainment stormed Gamescom’s Opening Night Live with the first gameplay reveal for John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando, confirming an early 2026 release window for the co-op shooter.
The new trailer showcases a frenetic blend of first-person shooting and off-road vehicular mayhem. The game is set in a near future where an experiment to harness the Earth’s core has gone horribly wrong, unleashing an eldritch being known as the Sludge God and turning the living into undead monsters. With the world’s best mercenaries being too expensive, the job of saving the planet falls to the Toxic Commandos.
Inspired by the buddy-movie vibes and over-the-top action of classic ’80s cinema, with direct involvement from the legendary John Carpenter himself, the game pits squads of up to four players against massive hordes of creatures. These massive encounters are powered by Saber’s proprietary Swarm Engine, the same technology used in World War Z and the upcoming Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2.
Players will choose from different classes to match their playstyle and unleash an arsenal of guns, grenades, katanas, and special abilities. The gameplay reveal highlighted both intense on-foot combat and sequences where players pile into vehicles to mow down enemies across large, slime-corrupted landscapes.
John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando will support full cross-platform co-op and is scheduled to launch in early 2026 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
