The horror game that will be unplayable after 200M player deaths launches next week

If you want to try The Flock, and there are many reasons why you might want to, I suggest getting in quick.

The Flock is an asynchronous multiplayer horror game, which by itself is a hell of an interesting pitch, but the thing that has really got people interested is the fact that it's only good for a certain number of player deaths, after which it will be withdrawn from sale, and existing players can tune in for a climactic final phase. When that concludes, The Flock will be unplayable.

As long as you know this before you pony up your ticket price this is a pretty compelling idea. Good news: you can start whittling away at the game's limited population next week. Polygon reports The Flock will release via Steam on August 16 for $17.

The Steam product page isn't up yet, but the Humble Store has gone live. Pre-orders will include a second Steam key apparently, which is important as The Flock is all about multiplayer.

The game's starting population will be 215,358,979 - but while that sounds like a lot now, if you consider the millions of hours totted up during closed beta testing, and that dying is kind of the point of a round of The Flock, we can expect that figure to slim down pretty quickly. For more information on this unique feature, check out a handy FAQ which covers things like suicide trolling and includes some great discussion of why Vogelsap want to do this:

"Most indie multiplayer games lose their player base within a year. Even heavy hitters such as Titanfall and Evolve have a fast dwindling player base," the team wrote.

"The most popular games such as League of Legends and Counter-Strike still have a somewhat anticlimactic ending of their players’ experience. Because in the end at some point – and this can be after five years or two months – you’ll stop playing because you either got bored of it, you’ve seen it all or you, or your friends have no longer time to play.

"We want to tackle that problem, and make sure The Flock ends with a climax after which the game will be fondly remembered. Much like a lot of single player experiences where you have a huge battle or a boss fight."