By Gaming Industry Desk
Published: October 2023
Main Facts: A Franchise Landmark
Nearly 25 years after the initial launch of the franchise that redefined the old-school, arena-style first-person shooter, developer Croteam and publisher Devolver Digital have officially announced the early-stage development of Serious Sam: The Third Encounter.
Despite the franchise’s convoluted, tongue-in-cheek numerical nomenclature—which often plays fast and loose with chronological linearity—The Third Encounter will serve as the seventh mainline entry in the storied series. According to joint statements released by the development and publishing partners, the upcoming title aims to strip away experimental side-mechanics and spin-offs, returning the franchise to its core identity: massive open battlefields, thousands of on-screen foes, an arsenal of over-the-top weaponry, and the relentless, blood-soaked pursuit of the intergalactic tyrant known only as Mental.
While Croteam has confirmed that the game is presently in the earliest phases of pre-production, the announcement has immediately energized veteran players who spent the last two decades blasting through legions of headless kamikazes, Gnaar, and Bio-Mechanoids.
Chronology: Navigating a Twisted Timeline
Understanding where Serious Sam: The Third Encounter fits into the grand narrative schema of the series requires a brief history lesson in what can charitably be described as a timeline completely devoid of logic.
The chronological evolution of the Serious Sam franchise highlights just how bizarre the series’ structure has always been:
- 2001: Serious Sam: The First Encounter – Released by an independent Croatian developer named Croteam, the game introduced players to Sam "Serious" Stone, an Earth defense force operative sent back in time to ancient Egypt to stop the alien overlord Mental.
- 2002: Serious Sam: The Second Encounter – Serving as a direct continuation of the first game, Sam traveled from the ruins of ancient civilizations through Mesoamerica and medieval Europe.
- 2005: Serious Sam 2 – Despite the numeral, this was a stylized, cartoonish sequel that pushed the story forward rather than acting as a prequel.
- 2011: Serious Sam 3: BFE (Before First Encounter) – A prequel set during the final days of Earth’s occupation by Mental’s forces, detailing how Sam made it to the time-lock portal in Egypt.
- 2020: Serious Sam 4 – Functioning as a prequel to Serious Sam 3, this installment expanded sandbox environments and introduced the "Leigon System" to render thousands of enemies simultaneously.
- Recent Years: Various spin-offs, VR adaptations, and cooperative side-projects filled the interim years, culminating in the recent cooperative roguelite, Serious Sam: Shatterverse.
- The Present: Serious Sam: The Third Encounter is announced as the true, direct narrative continuation following the events of The Second Encounter, bridging long-standing gaps in the series’ lore.
Croteam has emphasized that The Third Encounter is entirely a "true continuation" rather than a side story or spin-off. The narrative premise is simple: Sam is finally taking the fight directly to the heart of Mental’s Horde.
Supporting Data: The Evolution of Arena Shooters in the Modern Era
The announcement of a traditional mainline entry comes at a fascinating inflection point for the first-person shooter genre. Over the last decade, developers have increasingly experimented with infusing classic franchises with modern progression loops, live-service models, and run-based roguelite mechanics.
The reception to recent iterations indicates a growing fatigue among hardcore fans regarding these hybridized genres:
- The Serious Sam 4 Reception: While Serious Sam 4 successfully scaled up enemy counts using modern hardware, some critics and fans felt the title lost a fraction of its distinct identity, particularly after dropping the much-hyped Planet Badass subtitle during production.
- The Shatterverse Experiment: The recent release of Serious Sam: Shatterverse—a co-op roguelite developed by Behaviour Interactive—met with a lukewarm critical response. Early reviews pointed to constrained level designs, underwhelming enemy densities, and progression-locked weapons that hindered the chaotic, sandbox freedom that defines the IP.
- The Hardware Leap: With modern PC architecture and current-generation consoles (PS5 and Xbox Series X/S) capable of rendering thousands of independent AI entities natively without performance degradation, Croteam is uniquely positioned to deliver the scale they originally envisioned at the turn of the millennium.
Official Responses and Developer Intent
In their official communications accompanying the teaser trailer, representatives from Croteam reiterated that The Third Encounter is a deliberate nod to what made the original 2001 release a cult classic.
"The only thing standing between you and thousands of enemies is your weapon, and the only thing that matters is who pulls the trigger first," noted a Croteam spokesperson in a press release. The studio stressed that the development team is listening closely to the community’s desire for unadulterated, pure-action gameplay free from overly complex role-playing skill trees or restrictive inventory management.
Devolver Digital, known for its irreverent marketing style and long-standing partnership with Croteam, leaned into the hyper-masculine, tongue-in-cheek absurdity of the franchise in their promotional material, promising fans that Sam Stone’s return will be appropriately loud, messy, and unapologetically retro in spirit.
Implications: What The Third Encounter Means for the Franchise
The greenlighting of Serious Sam: The Third Encounter carries several critical implications for Croteam and the broader retro-FPS revival movement:
1. A Rejection of Modern Trends in Favor of Purity
The success of games like Doom Eternal, Prodeus, and Ultrakill proves there is a thriving, multi-million-player market for high-octane movement shooters that prioritize twitch-reflex gunplay over cinematic storytelling. By stepping away from the roguelite formula seen in Shatterverse, Croteam is doubling down on traditional single-player and cooperative arena survival.
2. Narrative Closure (or More Chaos)
With a title like The Third Encounter, fans are speculating whether this project will finally bring a definitive conclusion to the sprawling war against Mental, or if it will simply introduce even more timeline gymnastics. Given the series’ history, closure is unlikely, but the promise of striking Mental’s domain directly suggests high stakes for the universe.
3. A Lengthy Development Horizon
Because Croteam explicitly noted that the game is currently in "early development," industry analysts advise tempering immediate expectations. A release window within the next 12 to 18 months is unlikely, meaning fans will have to exercise patience while the studio builds out the engine, enemy hordes, and vast sandbox arenas necessary to do the franchise justice.
Ultimately, Serious Sam: The Third Encounter represents a homecoming for both developer and protagonist. As the industry grows increasingly saturated with live-service experiments, the prospect of stepping back into Sam Stone’s heavy combat boots with a pocketful of explosive weaponry and an endless sea of aliens to obliterate remains as appealing as ever.
