Insurgency: Sandstorm is a multiplayer tactical
first-person shooter video game developed by New World Interactive and
published by Focus Home Interactive. The game is a sequel to the 2014
video game Insurgency. Set in an unnamed fictional Middle Eastern
region, the game depicts a conflict between two factions: "Security",
loosely based on various world militaries (specifically NATO forces,
United States SOCOM, Iraqi Armed Forces, Afghan Armed Forces, Syrian
Armed Forces, and Kurdish YPG and YPJ), and "Insurgents", loosely based
on various militant groups (specifically ISIL, the Taliban, and
Al-Qaeda).
Insurgency: Sandstorm was
officially announced in February 2016, for Microsoft Windows. It was
released on December 12, 2018 for Windows, with a delayed release for
console, macOS and Linux builds of the game. In December 2019, it was
announced that the Linux and macOS builds of the game were cancelled.
The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions went through various delaysand
were released on September 29, 2021. These versions are also playable on
PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, with updates scheduled to release
sometime in 2022 to take advantage of the next-gen hardware.
Insurgency: Sandstorm received
critical acclaim for its realistic gameplay, level design, sound
design, atmosphere, graphics, and fluid animations, but was criticized
for its technical issues and optimization, with some lamenting the
cancellation of the planned story campaign.