Prologue - What We Know So Far

It appears Brendan Greene — better known as "PlayerUnknown" — is determined to leave his battle royale roots behind. Prologue, a mysterious but promising project unveiled at the 2019 Game Awards, will give players the first taste of the developer's shifting aspirations.

Sandwiched between a number of high-profile announcements — including the reveal of the Xbox Series X and Hellblade 2 — you might have missed the enigmatic Prologue teaser. Greene has kept the details under wraps, a move that has gamers clamoring for even the smallest scraps of information. 

So, what can you expect from the mastermind whose creations have already permanently altered the gaming industry? Here's what Greene has revealed about Prologue so far.

Greene and PlayerUnknown Productions have not offered an official confirmation on when Prologue will release, but it's clear the studio wants to build hype for the game. On the bare bones playprologue.com site, visitors are encouraged to enter their email for future notifications about the project. "The game still has some time to go before we are ready to share more, so please bear with us," reads the welcome email you receive upon signing up.

The studio will likely roll out more tidbits and sneak peaks of the Prologue experience as time goes on. Given the company has already announced the title, you can safely expect it to release within the next few years.

The trailer for Prologue is a teaser more than anything. It shows a stormy forest rendered in incredible detail: there are leaves whirling by, thunder grumbling above, and foliage shifting in the wind. At first, it's just a static shot. Then a dog barks somewhere off-screen, clarifying that you're seeing the storm through the eyes of someone frightened and alone. Lightning crashes and this poor, out-of-breath character looks around in panic as those barks come ever closer. The shot then cuts to black.

Though the teaser offers a scant thirty seconds of content, Greene and his team put the time to good use. The incredible graphics allude to the "new technologies" Greene has highlighted when speaking about the project.

Prologue is the pet project of Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene and PlayerUnknown Productions; however, Greene has made it clear this new game will have nothing to do with PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. Prologue isn't a prequel to the foundational battle royale game, but will center on pushing the limits of new technology.

In an interview with Forbes, Greene hinted at the power Prologue will pack, saying that his dream is to make a world so big that it's comparable to the real thing. "Hundreds of kilometers by hundreds kilometers, with thousands of people," gushed the developer. "These are hugely difficult problems to solve."

Will Prologue feature a virtual world with unprecedented scale? Greene has already left a lasting impact on gaming and seems poised to do so again.

Prologue's gorgeous graphics will require the support of some serious hardware. The game could take advantage of the upgraded capabilities of next-gen consoles, the Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5. PC, which has long out-paced the performance potential of console gaming, is also a safe bet, especially if Greene's dreams of creating worlds to scale come to fruition. Either way, you'll likely need the latest and greatest graphic cards to support this immersive experience. Judging by the studio's aspirations, playing Prologue may even require technology that does not exist yet.