The Best Extraction Shooters on Steam (So Far)

Get in, shoot, loot, and get out. The core gameplay loop of an extraction shooter is something that just about any fan of the genre can get behind, which has helped it quickly become the subgenre of the moment thanks to a string of incredibly popular and successful releases, namely Escape From Tarkov. As it stands, Escape From Tarkov is not currently available on Steam, but PC gamers who prefer to limit their purchases to Valve's storefront still have plenty of excellent extraction shooters to choose from, some of which arguably outdo Escape From Tarkov to take its place at the top of the extraction shooter pile. The best extraction shooters on Steam cross a wide range of settings, perspectives, and game types, and these are just 10 of the most noteworthy so far, with new entries to the subgenre arriving throughout 2025.

• Release Date — September 24, 2024
• Developer — Fun Dog Studios
• Publisher — Fun Dog Studios
• POV — Third-person
• Steam User Score — 72% (Mostly Positive)

Fun Dog Studios' The Forever Winter is a third-person extraction shooter set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where humanity wages a war against machines. If that premise sounds eerily similar to James Cameron's The Terminator, that's because it is (and by design). The Forever Winter prides itself on some truly unforgiving difficulty early on before players start to amass worthwhile gear and acquire valuable resources, the most precious of which is water. In comparison to some of the other third-person extraction shooters, The Forever Winter also simply looks amazing, with some visuals that are almost carrying the experience.

• Release Date — June 7, 2024
• Developer — IRONMACE
• Publisher — IRONMACE
• POV — First-person
• Steam User Score — 70% (Mostly Positive)

The combination of an extraction shooter and a first-person dungeon-crawling RPG is so brilliant that it's surprising it took a developer so long to realize it. But now they have, and Dark and Darker is an extraction shooter to keep an eye on as it improves throughout Early Access. While most games in the extraction shooter subgenre use either a military or post-apocalyptic theme, Dark and Darker stands out for its use of high fantasy tropes and emphasis on the classic RPG party through co-op play. Best of all, it's free to play.

• Release Date — December 4, 2024
• Developer — Team Jade
• Publisher — TiMi Studio Group
• POV — First-person
• Steam User Score — 64% (Mixed)

Arguably one of the more prominent military-themed extraction shooters there is, Delta Force is another free-to-play game in the subgenre that, unfortunately, has a reputation for being a cheater haven. Given how rampant cheating in a PvP experience is bound to ruin it for some players, Delta Force's somewhat middling user score on Steam starts to make more sense. Taken just at face value, though, Delta Force features some incredible gunplay and a very tense, realistic tactical shooter experience that is a ton of fun to play once you find a lobby not flush with cheaters. To its credit, Team Jade is continually working on new content and fixes to the game, so expect Delta Force to only improve as time goes on.

• Release Date — August 27, 2019
• Developer — Crytek
• Publisher — Crytek
• POV — First-person
• Steam User Score — 73% (Mostly Positive)

After Escape From Tarkov debuted with its closed beta in 2017, the next major extraction shooter to arrive would be Crytek's Hunt: Showdown (now Hunt: Showdown 1896), and it has since gone on to be just as influential as Tarkov on the growing subgenre. As you might expect from the studio behind the original Far Cry and the Crysis trilogy, Hunt: Showdown's gunplay is excellent and its visuals are top notch, but it's the game's use of sound and spatial audio that truly set it apart and help elevate each of its PvPvE matches to incredibly tense gauntlets for survival. Every move you make, from running to firing a gun, is a dice roll to give away your position to a potential enemy.

• Release Date — January 14, 2025
• Developer — Heart Machine
• Publisher — Arc Games
• POV — Third-person
• Steam User Score — 64% (Mixed)

It might be a bit of a surprise to see Hyper Light Breaker on a list of extraction shooters, but the truth is that its gameplay loop fits squarely into the subgenre's definition. The roguelike sequel to Hyper Light Drifter, Hyper Light Breaker sees players take on the role of a variety of different "Breakers" who enter the game's world in an attempt to stop the Abyss King. Each time you enter the world, you'll collect gear and upgrade your abilities, gradually getting more and more powerful but also having the ability to extract and regroup if you need to. So even though you don't necessarily have to play Breaker like an extraction shooter, you absolutely should if you want to get an early leg up on its steep difficulty curve.

• Release Date — October 2, 2023
• Developer — Magnum Scriptum
• Publisher — HypeTrain Digital
• POV — Third-person
• Steam User Score — 81% (Very Positive)

Most extraction shooters feature real-time shooting combat, so to have a new genre entry that is turn-based immediately raises some eyebrows and warrants attention. Quasimorph is a turn-based tactical extraction shooter in which you and a group of cloneable mercenaries seek to reclaim corporate assets from a plague infecting the employees. Each excursion you'll deploy, take out infected enemies, collect gear, and then need to extract before increasing dimensional tears cause unprecedented levels of quasimorph activity. And don't let the "turn-based" combat throw you off; turns are so fast, and basically boil down to attacking or moving, that it's more like real-time with pause encounter design.

• Release Date — November 28, 2024
• Developer — NEGAFISH
• Publisher — NEGAFISH
• POV — First-person
• Steam User Score — 96% (Overwhelmingly Positive)

The fact that Hole is only $4.99 is astonishing, given how incredible a game it is. A minimalistic extraction shooter that blends elements of tactical FPS combat and unnerving psychological horror, Hole is like playing Escape From Tarkov inside one of those liminal space videos on YouTube. It's both fascinating and unsettling to play Hole, and it more than resembles classic titles like F.E.A.R. in its approach to mixing horror elements with traditional FPS gameplay. Hole can be incredibly hard, but few games in the extraction shooter genre match the thrill of successfully completing one of its stages.

• Release Date — October 23, 2024
• Developer — CABO Studio
• Publisher — Modern Wolf
• POV — Third-person
• Steam User Score — 85% (Very Positive)

Imagine Escape From Tarkov as a top-down shooter, and you're not far off from Zero Sievert. Now, you might look at photos of Zero Sievert and assume that its pixel art visuals indicate it's somehow less challenging and demanding than Escape From Tarkov, but you'd be wrong. Instead, Zero Sievert is every bit the tense, post-apocalyptic extraction shooter that it so clearly takes inspiration from, and its use of pixel art visuals actually contributes greatly to its sense of atmosphere and personality. Zero Sievert is a bit of a hidden gem in the growing extraction shooter subgenre that will most definitely tick all the boxes that fans are looking for.

• Release Date — September 23, 2024
• Developer — The Astronauts
• Publisher — The Astronauts
• POV — First-person
• Steam User Score — 92% (Very Positive)

Part Dark Souls, part Destiny, and part Escape From Tarkov, Witchfire feels like a game that is specifically targeted to a particular kind of gamer, and those who pick up what it's putting down will find it hard to let go of what it offers. Witchfire is one of the small handful of roguelikes that absolutely nails its sense of permanent meta-progression, and its visuals and atmosphere do a great job of immersing players in its incredibly fun and oftentimes challenging gothic fantasy world.

• Release Date — February 8, 2024
• Developer — Arrowhead Game Studios
• Publisher — PlayStation Publishing LLC
• POV — Third-person
• Steam User Score — 77% (Mostly Positive)

Arguably the best third-person extraction shooter currently on the market, Helldivers II is every bit deserving of its phenomenal success. Putting aside its brilliant overarching narrative about "restoring democracy" in space and its not-so-subtle homage to Starship Troopers, Helldivers II is simply a rock-solid third-person extraction shooter that's great when playing solo with random teammates, but a transcendent and oftentimes hilarious experience in co-op with a group of friends. Not to mention Arrowhead Game Studios' continuing support of the game and tweaks to the overarching meta, giving even the most seasoned players reasons to return to the battlefield once again.