Some of you in the community might have already seen the new trailer developer RedRuins Softworks dropped. And, if you’re anything like me, wondered what in the heck did I just watch. Anyone remember the game Stubbs the Zombie? This reminds me of that, mixed with Mad Max. And honestly, I need more zombie games that poke fun at themselves.

Canyons is an upcoming co-op PvE survival adventure set in a procedurally generated wasteland filled with hostile creatures known as the Awakened, religious factions, and massive vehicles called Crawlers. Players can explore the world solo or in squads of up to four, taking on the role of Crusaders from the Order of the Double Cross while using weapons, relics, and supernatural Blood Pacts to survive expeditions across the desert.

In a new development update, the team behind Canyons shared more information about the game’s Horde system, which is expected to play a major role in combat and survival. According to the developers, hordes of enemies won’t appear as occasional scripted encounters. Instead, they’re intended to become a regular threat throughout the world, constantly forcing players to adapt while traveling and completing objectives.

The Horde consists primarily of weaker Awakened enemies that gather together in large numbers. While stronger Awakened creatures are described as more independent and often roam alone, the smaller enemies form dense crowds that overwhelm players through aggression and sheer volume. The developers explained that this design is meant to shift combat away from precision shooting and toward coordinated survival tactics.

The studio also confirmed that Horde density will scale dynamically depending on the number of players in a squad. Larger groups of players can expect larger enemy waves, with the system designed around teamwork and specialized roles during combat. In one example outlined in the update, a player uses a mounted machine gun attached to the team’s Crawler to slow advancing enemies while teammates plant explosives to collapse terrain and block enemy movement.

According to the developers, getting the Horde system functioning properly is currently one of the project’s biggest milestones. The team noted that balancing many of the game’s mechanics depends heavily on how well these large-scale enemy encounters perform in real gameplay. They added that once the system is stable and reliable, they’ll be able to focus more heavily on balancing combat, survival systems, and progression.

The update also revisited some of the game’s broader survival mechanics. Players will be able to build and upgrade a settlement called the Haven of the Covenant, constructing workshops, garages, defenses, and other facilities while recruiting survivors and supporting their crew. Moral decision-making is expected to factor into gameplay as well, with players sometimes forced to choose how to deal with desperate survivors encountered during expeditions.

No release date was announced for Canyons yet, but the game is on my radar. Now, maybe I should play Stubbs while waiting for it?