At one point, the Crossfire series competed with League of Legends and World of Warcraft, taking in over $950 million in 2013 alone. While it remains one of China's biggest multiplayer staples, recent entries like CrossFireX failed to make a lasting impression. Crossfire Rainbow could be the kick the series needs, as Smilegate reveals a surprising tonal shift in newly released gameplay footage.
Out of nowhere, Tencent and Smilegate are lifting the curtain on the forthcoming shooter, which appears to blend Resident Evil: Village vibes with Crossfire's tactical approach. Capcom's unique folk horror aesthetic is all over the Crossfire Rainbow's first glimpse of gameplay, but to my eye, there's a dash of movies like The Blair Witch Project and Kill List in there.
It seems that Remedy Entertainment's influence is rubbing off on Smilegate, as the manipulation of light as a core mechanic echoes Alan Wake 2. Monsters appear fleetingly, bursting in and out of the environment. Armed with a digital camera that can pick up heat signatures, gadgets could be a key part of your survival against these unknown threats. The footage shows the game running on Unreal Engine 5, so there's a good chance it could throw your Steam Deck under the bus performance-wise.
Strangely, there's no mention of any multiplayer modes so far. It'd be a drastic change if Crossfire Rainbow is a purely single-player game, as Smilegate's bread and butter is in online firefights. You can expect to play it on iOS, Android, and PC, but there's no confirmation of a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X|S port.
In a recent list of game approvals from China's National Press and Public Administration database, Crossfire Rainbow's listing appeared on June 23, 2025. CrossfireX dropped in 2022, so it looks like Rainbow's development has been quietly brewing since then. Despite a few misfires as of late, I can't understate Crossfire's appeal. In the days of free-to-play shooters such as War Rock and Team Fortress 2, Crossfire offered a sturdy alternative to Counter-Strike.
Its popularity endured against the biggest FPS games in the world at the time, and all seemed well as the money kept pouring in for Tencent. But Smilegate is at a crossroads, especially after the bizarre pivot to tackling the RTS space with Crossfire Legion. Maybe a shift to horror is exactly what it needs to get back on track.