Piranha Games, developers of Mechwarrior Online, have announced Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries is in development with a tentative 2018 release date. As was the case with Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries back in 1996, this title will be a single player Mech game.

You’ll be stepping into the shoes of “a rookie MechWarrior pilot thrust into combat as the Third Succession War continues to fracture the Inner Sphere,” and taking mercenary contracts from the factions of your choosing. The career-based campaign will be driven by “player choice,” while the spoils of your tactical encounters with other Mechs will be spent on maintaining and customising your own.

Piranha say Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries is being worked on by a dedicated team, so Mechwarrior Online will be continuing as normal. Here’s some ‘pre-alpha’ footage from the title; it’s on Unreal Engine 4.