Active Matter: an extraction shooter with a genuine atmosphere, and an economy that has already annoyed its players

It takes some nerve to release an extraction shooter in 2026. The genre is crowded, its players are demanding, and every one of them has a reference in mind they will quote at you within three minutes.

Active Matter goes ahead anyway, with Gaijin publishing, and the result is exactly what the figures suggest: something promising and unfinished.

The setting, which is its best asset

You are an operative stuck in a time loop, brought back to the same point after every death.

You enter quantum-unstable zones rich in active matter, the most valuable and most dangerous resource in the multiverse. You harvest, you loot, you extract before the zone ceases to exist with everything inside it.

And what prowls in there is considerably more interesting than mercenaries: anomalies that bend gravity and the topology of space, objects inspired by the SCP archives, and survivors who lost their minds on contact with the substance.

That identity is the game's real asset, and players say so: one French-speaking player with three hours logged highlights a level of detail rarely seen in the genre, and another describes a cross between STALKER and Tarkov with one difference that matters, it is less punishing than Tarkov. You can respawn, run back for your gear, and go again.

For a lot of people the genre used to repel, that is precisely the missing entry point.

What players complain about

The game shows 50 positive reviews out of 81, placing it at a mixed rating. And the criticisms are specific.

Gunfeel is judged generic. Several players talk about weightless weapons, unremarkable impact, and an exaggerated lean amplitude that breaks immersion.

Encounters resemble each other. The dominant pattern described is always the same: enemies sprint at you and you back away shooting. The AI is judged simple but numerous, which produces pressure without producing tactics.

And the economy annoys. Several players report very high prices and reduced earnings. That is the most dangerous complaint for a game of this kind, because an extraction shooter lives on the sense of progressing between raids.

Two additional irritants recur: the fact that no wipe followed the beta, so early players keep their head start, and the way higher editions are promoted inside the game.

Finally, players report launch problems tied to the BattlEye anti-cheat.

The other side of the scales

Let us be fair, because half the feedback is enthusiastic.

Performance is praised, including at maximum settings, which is not that common at launch. The atmosphere is unanimously liked. Quality-of-life features are cited as better than those of several established competitors. And the arsenal pleases fans of real-world weaponry.

One German player captures the middle position well: a successful universe, a build that holds up, and comfort details some competitors would do well to copy.

What I think

At 29.99 euros it is a reasonable bet if the genre appeals and you accept arriving at the start of a correction cycle.

The foundation is good: the time loop idea elegantly justifies the raid structure, the anomalies give it an identity few competitors have, and the decision to be less punishing than the genre's benchmark opens the door to people who would never have gone in.

What is missing belongs to feel, and that is the hardest thing to fix. Weightless weapons and enemies charging in straight lines are not repaired by a numbers patch.

My advice is simple: wait and see what the economy looks like in a month. An extraction shooter is judged on its progression curve, and this one needs recalibrating.

What did you extract with on your best raid? We compare hauls on the InsertCoins Discord.