Steam Co-Op Shooter Mixes Fallout Flavor With Helldivers-Style Procedural Chaos
Part of the staying power of a game like Helldivers 2 is how it keeps co-op matches feeling fresh, even when you’re running familiar missions. On Steam, plenty of cooperative shooters chase that same “one more run” feeling by leaning on emergent systems—mechanics that can combine in different ways from session to session. Helldivers 2 already uses procedural techniques to vary the battlefield, but an upcoming co-op title called Canyons is aiming to push that concept further, blending familiar co-op intensity with a post-apocalyptic, Fallout-style tone.
Canyons is an upcoming co-op shooter for Steam that mixes the squad-based chaos of Helldivers 2 with a world built around scavenging, danger, and survival. Players step into the shoes of a Crusader in a harsh post-apocalyptic setting, where zombie-like horrors known as Awakened threaten to overrun everything. In this world, the Order of the Double Cross—and its Crusaders—have entered Sacred Blood Pacts with powerful Awakened, allowing them to tap into those abilities during expeditions as they hunt for supplies and whatever other resources they can drag back out of the ruins.
If you’ve ever wondered what a sci-fi spin on Monster Hunter might look like, Canyons is shaping up as the closest match on the horizon—at least in terms of the loop and the threat-driven exploration it’s promising.
Canyons’s Procedurally Generated World Goes Beyond the Likes of Helldivers 2
A major reason Canyons wants to keep players coming back is its procedurally generated world. Each time you climb into your Crawler and set off into the canyons, the game aims to deliver a distinct experience. Even though the project includes some handcrafted sections, it’s the unique events and procedurally built levels that are meant to ensure no two expeditions feel identical. While Helldivers 2 also relies on procedural elements to vary its maps, Canyons is positioning itself as a theoretically endless playground—provided your survival instincts are sharp enough to make it through the dangers waiting inside.
Canyons features up to 4-player co-op PvE gameplay.
Build your perfect top ten one reveal at a time.
Your blind ranking is locked in.
Pick two spots to swap before locking in your final ranking.
In Helldivers 2, when a Helldiver drops onto one of the game’s 261 planets across 55 sectors, the map does get randomized to a degree. Object placement and points of interest come from pre-made seeds, and which enemies show up can vary depending on the mission type you pick when deploying. Still, Helldivers 2 keeps a baseline of certainty by setting mission objectives in advance based on your chosen mission format, so you aren’t completely guessing what the run is trying to make you do.
Canyons, by contrast, is leaning much harder into a free-form structure. Instead of locking players into a more fixed mission rhythm, it relies on its procedurally generated world to create more opportunities for emergent moments—situations that can evolve based on how your squad pushes forward and how the world generates itself around you. One key difference in pacing is how difficulty scales: in Helldivers 2, missions carry a time limit after which Stratagems are disabled, making the run dramatically harder as you get into the later phase. Canyons doesn’t use that same forced countdown. Players can press deeper as long as they can survive the enemy Hordes that keep pushing back. The longer you can hold the line against the Awakened, the more loot you stand to gain, and the more chances you may have to encounter new variations in how the world generates itself.
At the moment, the game doesn’t list a specific release date. However, if you want to keep an eye on development, you can wishlist Canyons on Steam.
Dynamic Horde Density Could Be the Difference Maker in Canyon’s Co-Op Gameplay
To support exploration in that ever-changing procedural setting, Canyons is also introducing a dynamic Horde density system. The idea is straightforward: the size of Horde events should change depending on how many players are in the party. Some Awakened are described as larger, more refined, and smarter—enemies that roam the canyons with purpose. The Horde, though, functions as a mindless, aggressive swarm of zombie-like creatures that can quickly overwhelm squads that aren’t ready for the pressure.
Developer RedRuins Softworks explained the system’s intent:
“Horde density adjusts dynamically based on how many players are in the team. That comes down to the game design and balance we’re trying to build.”
That sort of tuning matters because co-op games can struggle with consistency when enemies spawn in large numbers. Helldivers 2 players on Steam often report problems with too many enemy spawns at once, with the situation affected by who hosts the lobby and how strong their PC setup is. With Canyons using dynamic Horde density, it’s aiming to deliver a steadier Awakened experience across different squad sizes—while also giving the game a better chance at balancing overall difficulty more precisely.
