Deadzone began as a Kickstarter project in 2012, and is currently in its 3rd edition. The 1st edition was designed by Guy Haley and Jake Thornton, and began shipping to backers in November 2013. The 2nd edition was launched in 2016, and the 3rd edition of the game was released in September 2021.[1]
The game is set in Mantic Game's fictional Warpath universe, in which mankind has spread across the galaxy and established hegemony among the stars. The eponymous "dead zones" in the game's title refers to worlds abandoned, quarantined, blockaded or otherwise prohibited by the galaxy's ruling council. The players assume the role of one of ten possible factions fighting over the ruins of these dead zones for plunder, research or whatever suitably plausible narrative explanation befitting their faction's background. While the 1st edition was framed primarily in the galactic council's efforts to quarantine a mysterious alien plague, the increase in the number of factions and their accompanying background has meant an expansion in the possible locales and settings for these skirmish encounters.
