Reaper Actual: A Persistent FPS Built on Tezos

Distinct Possibility Studios (DPS) was founded in 2025 by John Smedley, a veteran of titles like EverQuest and Planetside 2. Backed by $30.5 million in funding led by Bitkraft Ventures and Brevan Howard Digital, DPS set out to build a new kind of online game: one where player actions matter and the environment evolves continuously.

“This is a labor of love. The team and I love what we do. We’re proud of the game.”
John Smedley (1:12:35)

Now, the team at DPS is working on Reaper Actual, a large-scale multiplayer shooter built on Etherlink, a smart rollup using Tezos. It is designed to support real-time combat, player-owned economies, and persistent progression. Through Etherlink, Reaper Actual supports secure ownership, trading, and plans for creator-driven systems. While the game is designed first and foremost for traditional players, the optional version includes on-chain features that may help bridge traditional gamers into Web3 tools and ownership models. However, broader adoption still depends on overcoming lingering skepticism around blockchain in games.

Set on the war-torn island of Marova: where civilians have fled, and five AI factions battle for control. Reaper Actual places players in a world that doesn’t pause when they log off. Players take on the role of Reapers, highly trained operators who establish and defend their own bases while pursuing shifting objectives. Unlike typical match-based shooters, the action in Reaper Actual remains active indefinitely. The island continues evolving whether players are online or not.

Inside a player base on Marova. Resources are valuable, and risk follows those who gather too much heat.

While most shooters rely on round-based matchmaking, Reaper Actual embraces an MMO-like structure with ongoing progression and a world that changes organically over time. Build a base one night and come back the next to find it under siege. You might log off mid-mission and return to find your base besieged or the island’s control map completely reshaped. During the stream, Smedley described how Cerberus stirs up conflict by generating opposing missions, like sending one squad to defend an objective while another is tasked with eliminating it.

“This game is a full simulation. They all have their own motivations, and we use an AI called Cerberus to move them around.”
John Smedley (14:25)

The heat system keeps tensions high. Go too loud on a mission, and your hideout could get hit. Bases range from remote bunkers to fully equipped crafting hubs, where you can prep gear, stash loot, and get ready for the next run.

The world of Reaper Actual runs in real time. It features a complete day-night cycle, changing weather, and combat across land, sea, and air. There are no restarts or fresh matches to fall back on. Everything players earn, lose, or leave behind shapes what they come back to.

Locations like this abandoned terminal are fully explorable. Enemies can appear at any time, and missions often cross paths here.

Reaper Actual is set to launch across Steam, the Epic Games Store, and through its site at reaperactual.com. The Steam and Epic versions will not include Web3 features but will support traditional player-driven economies through the Steam Community Marketplace. The version on their custom launcher will feature the Web3-enabled marketplace built on Etherlink.

“We’re excited about what we can do with the Web3 version, but they’re the exact same things we’re planning to do through the Steam Community Marketplace.”
John Smedley (0:54)

To support this, the marketplace is powered by Etherlink, a high-performance smart rollup built on Tezos. It enables secure item ownership and peer-to-peer trading without impacting balance or fairness. Marketplace items are reviewed, and assets do not transfer between platform versions.

Learn more at reaperactual.com/game-info.

Watch the developer walkthrough (timestamps approximate; audio drops out from 30:21 to 36:18 due to a Discord glitch): Reaper Actual Developer Stream (July 2025).

Additional details referenced from the official Reaper Actual FAQ.