Brendan Greene, famously known as PlayerUnknown and the creator of the groundbreaking battle royale game PUBG, is taking on an ambitious new challenge. Greene’s studio, PlayerUnknown Productions, has been developing a massively multiplayer sandbox project called Artemis, designed to be a digital world the size of an actual planet. Today, during the PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted, Greene revealed the next step in this ambitious endeavor: a hands-on tech demo titled Preface: Undiscovered World.
Preface is a free-to-download tech demo showcasing the cutting-edge engine powering Artemis. Greene explained that the engine uses machine learning and natural Earth data to generate entire planets in “latent space.” According to Greene, “In Preface, users can witness an Earth-scale world generated in real-time by our machine learning agents directly on their GPU, along with some simple systems to allow you to explore it.”
The demo is available now on Steam, offering players a glimpse of a planet-sized experience rendered in real time.
From Orbit to Terrain: Exploring Planetary-Scale Worlds
Early demonstrations of Preface showcased its remarkable capabilities, illustrating how the engine can generate a fully viewable planet from outer space before seamlessly transitioning to detailed terrain, including mountains, valleys, forests, and rocky landscapes. First demonstrated at GDC 2023 and later during a studio visit in July, the engine impressed with its ability to create vast and dynamic environments.
Images released alongside today’s announcement further emphasize the engine’s potential, depicting lush forests, expansive plains, and planetary views from orbit. Greene’s ambition extends beyond crafting a game engine—he envisions a “world engine” or “digital place engine” that functions as a virtual space for limitless creative experiences, akin to a real-life holodeck.
A Long-Term Vision for Artemis
Greene has set a long timeline for the creation of Artemis, estimating a development period of five to ten years. He emphasized that Preface is just the beginning, offering a foundational taste of what the studio’s technology can achieve. “This is a five or ten-year journey,” Greene noted, hinting at the immense scale and complexity of the project.
Announcing Prologue
In addition to unveiling Preface, Greene made another announcement during the PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted. He confirmed that Prologue, an open-world survival game currently in development by PlayerUnknown Productions, will enter early access on Steam next year. Prologue marks a significant milestone in the studio’s ambitious efforts to redefine what’s possible in gaming.
For now, players eager to explore Greene’s vision can dive into Preface: Undiscovered World and experience a digital sandbox unlike anything before it. As Greene’s journey to build Artemis continues, the gaming world waits with bated breath to see how far his ambition can take us.