In the wake of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' meteoric success, we've pondered which games might benefit from introducing a battle royale mode. GTA Online has since added Motor Wars to this effect, while new games are inevitably now coming to the fore—the latest of which comes courtesy of Automaton Games.

Powered by Improbable's cloud-based SpatialOS tech and the CryEngine, the currently in-development "cutting-edge" and untitled MMO tactical shooter will support 1,000 concurrent players within a shared world, however will also include a last-person standing, PUBG-like arena combat mode that supports up to 400 players "in direct combat".

What's more, said world will boast a huge 144 squared kilometer playing area (12km x 12km, against PUBG's 8km x 8km space), and will promote character progression and social hubs.

For the sake of reference, know that SpatialOS already powers the likes of Bossa Studio's in-development Worlds Adrift and Spilt Milk Studios' Early Access-able Lazarus.

Here's a wee bit of blurb as to what SpatialOS is doing for Automaton:

[The game has] unprecedented world simulation and effects, including environmental destruction, roaming wildlife, dynamic weather, foliage displacement, tracks, blood trails, fire and water effects, fully immersing players into the experience of being the hunter—or the hunted.

SpatialOS is Improbable’s distributed operating system for game development and operation in the cloud, which allows developers to exceed the power of a single game engine or server. By building games with standard tools and deploying on SpatialOS, developers like Automaton Games can build virtual worlds that offer permanent, persistent and engaging experiences.

Automaton's as yet untitled survival MMO is due at some point in 2018. The developer hopes to have something playable in Spring.