Survival Shooter Time Takers Gameplay Revealed

At Gamescom 2025, NCSoft revealed a gameplay trailer for Time Takers, a third-person team-based shooter that has its own unique twist on the formula, basing the entire gameplay loop around time itself. NCSoft is a South Korean video game developer and publisher most widely known for making MMORPGs like Guild Wars and Aion, but the company isn’t afraid to branch out into other genres, as evidenced by Time Takers.

Prior to Gamescom 2025, though it was known that NCSoft would be appearing at the event, most were under the impression it would be only to promote Cinder City, a third-person tactical shooter MMO formerly known as Project LLL. Surprisingly, NCSoft had two announcements in store for this year’s Gamescom Opening Night Live, both shooters of different types. Where Cinder City combines giant mechs and futuristic battles in the MMO genre, Time Takers looks to be the South Korean company’s offering for hero shooter and battle royale fans.

NCSoft Reveals Time Takers Gameplay Trailer

Developed by Mistil Games, Time Takers is a free-to-play team-based survival shooter revealed at Gamescom ONL 2025 through a gameplay trailer, with a playtest that players can request access to via Steam. In Time Takers, it’s all about making effective use of what little time there is. Every player in a match has a limited amount of time that is constantly ticking down, signaling an end to their life if it counts down to zero. Time Energy can be used to restore this ticking down death timer, which can be obtained by overworld pick-ups, killing monsters, or defeating players.

Time serves as both a survival mechanic and an upgrade resource, as in-game enhancements called “apps” can be purchased by spending it, effectively discouraging hoarding. Time can even be spent on reviving teammates or refilling their Time gauge if the player has enough to spare. Like battle royales, the game encourages PvP clashes, but instead of shrinking zones or artificial barriers, survival itself pushes players to play aggressively, lest they die of natural causes.

As for the hero shooter gameplay aspect, players can pick and choose “travelers” at the start of the match, each with unique abilities exclusive to them, similar to games like Overwatch. Interestingly, all weapons are obtainable by all travelers, encouraging build experimentation to find the perfect balance.

Time Takers also borrows some RPG mechanics like skill upgrades to make things more interesting. Skill experience can be obtained through regular gameplay, like defeating monsters and enemy travelers, but like everything else in the game, players can brute force these upgrades if they are willing to make the necessary time investment.