2021 is becoming a great year for Capcom, as the Japanese developer and publisher is releasing several games throughout the year. With Resident Evil Village coming soon, and Monster Hunter Rise having great initial sales, fans aren't tired of what Capcom has to offer. Plus, now that the next-gen PS5 and Xbox Series X are on the market, fans are eager to see the company's newest titles on these systems.
Fans began speculating about a new Capcom game ever since a trademark for "Pragmata" mysteriously appeared ahead of the game's official announcement. Especially since the only place the term appears is in the Dictionary of Spiritual Terms, it immediately caught the attention of fans. Apparently, "Pragmata" refers to "transcendent realities, noetic entities, real beings." Being a Capcom game, there is no doubt the word was chosen for a reason, but the trailers so far have only added to the mystery.
Pragmata Announcement Trailer
The announcement trailer for Pragmata released during Sony's PS5 reveal event in 2020. It opens on a kind of astronaut walking around a quiet and empty city. Soon, they end up crafting and firing off some form of ballistic pistol that explodes in a shower of particles. Some form of imaging processor attached to the person's helmet reacts to the particles released, showing the outline of a mysterious child. Even with the first part of the trailer, it is clear that Capcom is hoping to tease fans about Pragmata more than it hopes to answer any questions.
The astronaut eventually comes across the mysterious child, sitting with a holographic cat. The cat clearly has a robotic exoskeleton underneath the hologram, which adds even more confusion to the mix. The two lay their eyes on some twisted jungle of metal, with a twisting skyscraper and multitudes of wires all over the place. Soon after, the sky itself breaks apart as a satellite comes crashing down, and the world is thrown into chaos. The two people somehow come to land on the moon, looking at the Earth far away. The Pragmata announcement trailer may have peaked the interest of many fans, but only gave a small idea as to the concept of the game.
Several people speculated that Pragmata was actually Hideo Kojima's next game with Sony, given that the announcement trailer gave off some Death Stranding vibes. Many compared the relation between the astronaut and young girl to Norman Reedus' character and the Bridge Baby. While Kojima doesn't seem to be involved, Capcom explained that Pragmata is a new IP set in a dystopian future on the moon.
Pragmata Extended Cut Announcement Trailer
At this time, the only other trailer for Pragmata is an extended cut of the announcement trailer. As the "extended cut" implies, it features much of the same content as the first trailer, but adds on about a minute of extra material. Right off the bat, viewers will notice a different beginning in this trailer. There are some lingering shots of the actual cityscape, empty and deteriorating. After the focus is set on the wandering astronaut, the trailer continues like before. Later on, there is extended footage of the satellite falling through the sky, as well as the astronaut and child "falling" upwards. In this trailer, the astronaut uses more of what looks like small rocket boosters on their suit to avoid colliding with a car in the sky, and make their way to the child.
While very little has been revealed about this game, there are some facts that can be gleaned so far. Pragmata will clearly be a sci-fi experience, and heavily revolved around Earth's Moon. There will probably be some sort of crafting mechanics or tools, as the astronaut's tech was used in several ways in the trailers. Fans will just have to wait longer for more information to be revealed. Unfortunately, it seems that Capcom's newest IP won't be released anytime soon though, as Pragmata got hit with a big delay. Originally planned to release in 2022, new information revealed that Pragmata would now launch in 2023 instead.
Most likely, fans can expect a bit more Pragmata news during Capcom's panels at E3 this summer. Capcom could release a new trailer, announce a creative team, or even describe the game's plot. Who knows? Capcom could even release a trailer that makes things even more confusing. Whatever the case, fans will have to sit tight until more if revealed for Pragmata.
Pragmata is in development for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.
