Originally announced half a decade ago and surviving multiple delays, PRAGMATA is finally rocketing to launch in 2026. Set on a lunar research station, this sci-fi action-adventure game follows spacefarer Hugh and a mysterious android girl Diana as they fight the hostile AI controlling the station in order to return to Earth.
We got our hands on an early preview of PRAGMATA at gamescom asia x Thailand Game Show last month. With all the hype surrounding CAPCOM’s next original franchise, the demo wastes no time showcasing its innovative mechanics, level exploration, and previewing the heartwarming moment when our main duo first meet.
Typically, third-person shooters aren’t the most innovative genre of the bunch. But CAPCOM manages to turn a risky gameplay experiment into a surprisingly intuitive and fun experience. In combat, you control both Hugh and Diana at the same time. Each combat encounter begins by using Diana to hack into a robot’s defenses, then using Hugh to attack the robot with one of the many weapons at your disposal.
How this translates to gameplay controls is simple enough. Your left hand controls Hugh’s movements including dodging attacks in real time, while your right hand guides the cursor across a hacking grid to avoid obstacles and reach the green target tile. By moving across bonus nodes in your hack, you unlock additional combat buffs such as increased weapon damage or lowered enemy defenses.
Unlike most action-shooter games, PRAGMATA doesn’t seem to place a heavy emphasis on having good aim. Instead, it requires the ability to multitask and strategise on the fly, which can be thrilling in itself. While one half of your brain watches the battlefield to dodge incoming attacks, the other half is frantically inputting the hacking sequence in between attacks. Once you complete the hack, you earn a short breather to land a few powerful blows before the cycle begins again.
Considering its emphasis on two protagonists and their vastly different combat styles, it was surprising to learn that PRAGMATA was always intended to be a single-player experience. “Splitting control between two players would reduce the gameplay depth and break that design balance. So, we’ve focused on perfecting the one-player, two-character mechanic to deliver the most engaging experience possible,” shares producers Edso Edwin and Naoto Oyama, and director Yonghee Cho.
Even from our short romp with the demo, it is clear that the game is finely tuned. The core gameplay splits your attention, but never to the point of it being overwhelming. Weapons and bonus hacking nodes are also a limited resource, adding a much needed variance to gameplay. While the hacking mechanic itself may prove to be repetitive after awhile, the developers promise more variance and difficulty scaling in the final release.
“In Pragmata, the hacking mechanic varies based on enemy strength — weaker enemies use a 3×3 grid, while stronger ones use a 5×5 grid. This adds strategic depth and visual variety to each encounter. As players progress, they’ll face a wider range of enemies and gain new abilities, allowing for more flexible and engaging gameplay,” they add.
“The difficulty gradually increases throughout the story, but so does the player’s power, ensuring the experience stays balanced and fun from start to finish. The demo version was designed to introduce the core hacking and action systems at a slower pace, but the full game will feature faster, more challenging sequences to keep players hooked until the end.”
Outside of combat, PRAGMATA presents a narrative and setting that will seem more than familiar. The demo doesn’t showcase enough of Hugh and Diana to make them stand out from the sea of surrogate father-daughter pairings in video games, but we’ll reserve our judgement for the full release next year.
Read our full interview with PRAGMATA producers Edso Edwin and Naoto Oyama, and director Yonghee Cho here.
