SINGAPORE — August 18, 2026 — Publisher 4Divinity and developer Hoothanes are bringing The Defiant to gamescom 2026 in Cologne, playable in the West for the first time. The 15-minute demo of the first-person shooter, set in the Second Sino-Japanese War, runs at Hall 7- B021 from August 26 to 30.
Most World War II shooters return to Normandy, Stalingrad or the Pacific islands. The Defiant explores one of the war's least represented fronts in video games — the Chinese resistance to the Japanese invasion between 1937 and 1945. The campaign follows ordinary soldiers across the regions, seasons and years of the war in China. The game's public demo debuted at ChinaJoy 2026 in Shanghai last week, shown to the audience closest to that history.
Missions run behind enemy lines, through occupied villages, frozen forests, guarded supply lanes and cities under Japanese control. Players sabotage, infiltrate, gather intelligence, and snipe targets from cover, while holding ground in open combat when the quiet approach is not enough. Hoothanes recreated real locations of the conflict and modeled the arsenal of historically accurate weapons, including the Hanyang Type 88, a domestic copy of a German rifle.
The Defiant is set to launch on PC via Steam and consoles. Players can wishlist it now on Steam. For more information on The Defiant, players can follow 4Divinity on YouTube | X | Instagram | Facebook | Discord | Website
About Hangzhou Hoothanes Technology Co., Ltd.
Hoothanes is a China-based game development studio known for its innovative gameplay systems and immersive storytelling. With "The Defiant", the studio aims to deliver a premium cross-platform experience that blends tactical depth with cinematic narrative.
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