Cognition Dissemination: So, What IS Pragmata?

Several games showcased at Sony’s virtual PlayStation 5 showcases remain unreleased after so much time, to little surprise from events intent on teasing potential owners enough that they’ll want to purchase the system — if they can. One among them still has me intrigued more than any other: Capcom’s Pragmata. The game is, according to details provided by Capcom, a kind of adventure game set in a dystopian future that will utilize the power of new-generation platforms. It will be the first new non-mobile IP from the company in several years, since — if you can believe it — the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 days. Plenty of talent has come and gone from the company since then, and overall expectations for video games have changed. This could be a very different experience compared to their previous titles.

The level of vagueness in that last paragraph is noticeable, because the first trailer and its extended director’s cut showed nothing about what the game could be, and we still don’t know anything after about a year-and-a-half. All that Capcom has confirmed since then is that the game was delayed until 2023. If the game was originally planned for a 2022 release, notably this year, they must have some idea of what they want it to be. These kinds of teasers are made to start guessing games, so let’s take the bait.

It’s clear this will be some kind of sci-fi game, but clues regarding its true identity are vague. The photos and images of the dilapidated “dystopian” world give off serious Hideo Kojima vibes, enough to make me think this could be an attempt at a modern Kojima-type game. By that, I could only mean Death Stranding. The art direction and character models for Mr. Space Man and little girl wouldn’t look out of place within that game, along with its setting of a post-apocalyptic and malformed United States. An astronaut remains Kojima Productions’ mascot.

Pragmata will clearly not be identical to Death Stranding through the focus on Earth and outer space, which implies how the adventure could occur between both. The world appears to be largely bereft of people if the unmoving and silent Times Square shown is a good indication, and the few that remain apparently reside in hidden indoor locations. It could be our protagonist’s job to reconnect and reunite them, with encouragement from the possibly-not-wholly-human young girl. She’s unlikely to be the only supporting character for our currently-faceless spacesuit-wearing person, but she might be the most important.

Perhaps the part of me hoping this is a so-called “Strand” game has overtaken my sense of logic. Death Stranding was hardly the first modern delivery game, but no other title skillfully combines that with a post-apocalyptic sci-fi setting. The new generation of consoles will need as many risky big-budget games as it can get thanks to development and resource costs continuing to rise. It would be nice if Capcom presented their own spin on the formula that Kojima Productions largely established, even if it only takes inspiration from it.

This guess is, I will admit, my imagination running wild. I’d like to see another game like Death Stranding that doesn’t come from Hideo Kojima. The game wasn’t a running success, but there’s similarly nothing suggesting it was a failure. Yet no one should ever doubt the potential of a game being introduced with a teaser that has little to do with the final product outside its setting, which could apply here.

There’s also a chance that I could be guessing what the game was, and not what it is. The collective visions for games in development can change over time, often due to the original ideas not working out or staff changes, or both. It would help explain the delay until 2023 if this is what occurred, alongside the expected woes that have come with developing a game during the perpetual COVID-19 pandemic. This could also give the team more time to work on it while Sony and Microsoft take time to iron out the continued shortage issues with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series systems, for a game being made to take advantage of the power in both systems — and, of course, PC. Those are unlikely to be resolved by the end of 2022.

I absolutely don’t expect Pragmata to become the new Deep Down, a game Capcom announced in an uncertain form for PlayStation 4 before the console launched but fell into development hell and burned to a figurative cinder. I once had a semi-yearly feature chronicling its development status, but stopped it after I no longer had much new to say. I, deep down, do not believe that will happen this time. If Capcom originally dated Pragmata for 2022 and only recently delayed the game, it has to be somewhat functional. There’s a good chance they’ll talk about it soon, perhaps during the summer of announcements that will be made in lieu of E3 2022, if not actually show it.

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