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11 This article covers how a session of Fragmentary Order is intended to play. The developers frame the project as a hardcore combat simulator with depth across weapons, health, and economic systems rather than a streamlined extraction shooter for casual audiences. Pacing is targeted at roughly two to three times the speed of Escape from Tarkov, positioning the design as a counterweight to lighter shooters in the same space. In a mid-2026 interview, Buyanov reinforced that hardcore framing, calling the game more complex, more punishing, and more painful, with correspondingly bigger rewards. He has described it as heavier than Escape from Tarkov rather than a softer version of it.
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33 That difficulty is presented as a means rather than a goal in itself. The stated aim is to build something new inside the genre rather than rebuild a familiar format in a different setting, and the science fiction layer is meant to carry real weight in that: the team's target is a simulated future grounded enough that players believe in it. The systems described below lean toward plausible near-future engineering for that reason. See Nikita Buyanov for the fuller statement of that design direction.
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55 Core Loop
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77 Each session is built around a four-step rhythm. A player accepts a contract from a corporate or factional employer, drops a Replicated Entity into a contested zone, fights or sneaks toward the objective, and tries to reach an extraction point alive.
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99 StepWhat Happens1. InfiltrateDeploy a clone into a contested zone after accepting a contract from a corporation or faction within the CORIE framework.2. Complete ObjectivesCarry out the contract: hit task locations, recover items, gather intelligence, or eliminate targets.3. ScavengePick up loose resources, equipment, and gear to feed back into the economy and personal stash.4. Extract AliveReach an evacuation point and leave the zone with whatever the clone is carrying. Dying loses the run.
1010 The loop is not strictly linear. Many runs mix all four activities rather than handle them one at a time. Nothing comes home unless the clone reaches an extraction point intact.
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1212 Session Structure
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1414 In June 2026 the studio shared the first concrete figures for how a session is sized and paced. They confirm a player-versus-player-versus-environment structure with a dedicated player-versus-environment option at launch.
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1616 AspectDetailPlayers per mapUp to 40 to 50 operators on a single map at once, plus non-player locals, drones, and other artificial units.Session lengthA long-term model where players can stay in the same raid for one or two hours, rather than being forced toward a quick extraction.Mode structurePlayer versus player versus environment (PvPvE). A PvE-focused mode is confirmed for launch, with more modes planned.ExtractionReaching an exit is the way to bank a run, but the studio has said players do not necessarily have to extract at all, so a session can be played for objectives or survival rather than a forced evacuation.
1717 The studio has since said the survival model will be more flexible than a single infiltrate-then-extract rhythm. Buyanov has stated the game will not necessarily follow the classic scheme of infiltrating and then extracting, and that there will be several survival options and different ways to stay alive. A run can end by clearing out an area or by surviving the session rather than racing for an evacuation point, and the team wants to move past the predictable pattern of entering a zone, looting, and leaving that shaped earlier extraction shooters.
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1919 Combat
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2121 The core threat in any session is other players. The hostile operators you meet in a contested zone are not scripted story bosses; they are other people piloting their own clones from their own bunkers, and when two operators clash, both stand to lose the gear their clones are carrying. Around that player-versus-player core, the world is also populated by non-player bodies (local inhabitants, drones, and other artificial units), which makes the game a player-versus-player-versus-environment design rather than pure deathmatch. The studio has confirmed a PvE-focused game mode at launch for players who want the contracts and survival loop without facing other operators directly.
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2424 Health is a complex, layered system rather than a single hit-point bar, intended to reward careful play and proper field treatment of injuries instead of run-and-gun trades. Weapon behavior is similarly advanced, with realistic handling and a heavy emphasis on simulation rather than arcade feel.
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2626 Weapon Customization
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2828 The team has positioned weapon modification as a centerpiece of the experience, using the word excessive to describe the depth of attachment, internal part, and behavior options on offer. The stated goal is a system in which two operators can carry the same base weapon yet build it for very different roles: long-range marksmanship, close-quarters breaching, or suppressed scouting. No specific firearms or attachment slots have been publicly confirmed.
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3030 Maps and Mobility
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3232 World design is split into two broad bands. See Maps and Scale for the full discussion. Larger maps are intended to be roughly four to five times the size of the largest maps in Escape from Tarkov, with vehicles confirmed for traversal. Smaller close-quarters maps are also planned, so encounters can range from long-distance ambushes on the big maps to dense interior firefights on the tighter ones.
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3434 Economy and Progression
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3636 Long-term progression is built around what the team has called a neo-economic structure. Players accept contracts, build reputation with each employer, accumulate credits, and gradually unlock new layers of the world. The flow of credits between players, factions, and infrastructure is central to the design. The CORIE framework structures and prices the contracts; its guiding principle that value is defined by risk shapes which jobs pay well and which ones are routine.
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3838 Faction standing influences what gear becomes available, what zones are reachable, and which storylines open up next. The backdrop is the year 2251, under a fracturing Core monopoly.
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4040 How RepEnts Fit
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4242 The player never deploys in person. Every action in a contested zone is carried out through a Replicated Entity, a disposable clone soldier piloted remotely from a fortified bunker. When a clone dies, that body is gone, but the operator lives on and deploys a fresh one into the next contract. This separation lets the design commit fully to high-stakes loot rules without ending a career on a single bad fight.
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4444 Squad Size
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4646 The studio has stated that party play is built around groups of four operators. Nikita Buyanov framed the choice plainly in the April 2026 reveal coverage: "Maybe four, because, for example, in Tarkov, I think we'll change it to four. Five is too much." The wording leaves the door open to solo, duo, and trio play around that anchor, but four is the upper end the team is aiming for.
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4848 Per-session player counts have now been disclosed: a single map is built to hold up to 40 to 50 operators at once across all squads, on top of the non-player bodies that share the zone. How that total is split between the larger and smaller map bands has not been broken out.
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5050 Weapon Categories
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5252 No individual firearms have been confirmed publicly, but the developer has named three broad categories that the in-game arsenal will draw from. Buyanov referenced all three directly in interview coverage of the reveal:
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5454 Kinetic weapons: conventional ballistic firearms, the closest analogue to the modern military hardware Buyanov's earlier projects centered on.Powder-based ignition weapons: distinct enough from generic "kinetic" to warrant separate naming in the same quote, suggesting a separate operating principle or ammunition type within the broader ballistic category.Railguns: confirmed by name as part of the arsenal, fitting the hard science-fiction setting where electromagnetically accelerated projectiles are a plausible 23rd-century military technology.
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5656 The customization layer applies across all three categories, so an operator can take the same base weapon and reconfigure it for very different roles. Specific manufacturers, model names, attachment slots, ammunition variants, and per-category balance details remain unconfirmed.
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5858 Combatants You Will See
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6060 The developer has been precise about the kinds of bodies that move on the battlefield. Buyanov listed them as "artificial units, robots, drones, clones," which expands the picture beyond purely human-controlled RepEnts. Drones in particular have been mentioned alongside vehicles as part of the wider equipment set; whether they act as deployable companions, environmental hazards, or contract objectives has not been broken out publicly. The opposing operators in any given session are still other players piloting their own clones; the rest of the listed entity types fill out the world around that core PvP loop.
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6262 Unconfirmed Details
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6464 Because the project is still pre-alpha as of the April 2026 reveal, large parts of the design have not been described. Open questions include:
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6666 Named maps, biomes, or locations.Named weapons, manufacturers, or attachment slots.Specific vehicle types and controls.Contract templates and mission archetypes.Currency naming and any secondary currencies beyond credits.The internal structure of the health system.