Last Flag has just been announced during expected games for Summer Game Fest.

During its third-person gameplay, players can pick different characters to use, each with their own set of abilities. These skills will help players fight their opponents as they try to locate the flag or escort it back to their base. It’s possible to swap characters during matches, which allows for different strategic approaches to gameplay. Ahead of its reveal during the Summer Game Fest livestream, Screen Rant had the opportunity to sit down with Night Street Games’ Diei Aquino and Jonathan Jelinek at Gamescom Latam 2025 to chat about Last Flag.

How Imagine Dragons’s Dan & Mac Reynolds’s Childhood Dream Became Last Flag

The Title Is Inspired By The Siblings’ Capture The Flag Games As Kids

The idea behind the new game is quite simple yet endearing. General Manager Jonathan Jelinek explains that making a game has always been a dream for Dan and Mac Reynolds. “So they got together, Mac and Dan, and they self-funded a prototype of the game. [...] it was a dream that was inspired by when they were kids playing capture the flag in the woods at night.” After the concept had been established, the Reynolds siblings reached out to Big Craft to establish a partnership and get extra funding to start working on the Last Flag’s development.

“I had a conversation with Mac, wondering how serious they were about games. I didn’t know about Imagine Dragons, but that they were involved with music,” says Jelinek. “Then I realized they actually do development and that they’re committed. Every day, Mac is with the team, working to bring this to life.” Being an avid Quake, Team Fortress, Unreal Tournament, and Overwatch fan, Jelinek tested the game, was sold on the idea, and ed the team at Night Street Games. While Jelinek was unaware of Imagine Dragons’ reputation, the band has intertwined itself with the gaming industry over the years.

The band has produced several hit songs, especially for Riot Games’ productions, such as 2014’s Warriors for League of Legends and 2021’s Enemy for the League of Legends-inspired Netflix animated series Arcane. “It’s been a real pleasure working with them and their deep commitment to making games, but also bringing that deep music background and making sure we have games, music, and sound effects, not as an afterthought, but as a core idea from the beginning, has been really incredible,” says Jelinek.

How Last Flag’s Gameplay Works

Capturing The Flag Isn’t The Only Priority

During the interview, Game Producer Diei Aquino explained that the capture-the-flag experience in Last Flag is set in an in-game reality TV show. The contestants, who are the playable characters, come from all over the world, so players can expect units with different nationalities, and designs that reflect that – much like the characters from Overwatch, in a sense. As a Brazilian, Diei voices the Weapons Engineer, Camilla, a Brazilian character. Once the match starts, each team’s designated flag holder needs to head off into their half of the map and hide the flag within it.

“You can’t throw the flag and you can’t put it at the top of a tree, for example. You have to actually place it,” explains Diei. The team expects that the fact that you have to place the flag each match will increase the game’s replayability. Meanwhile, other teammates can hunt down Cashbots, small robots that grant the entire team some money once they are destroyed. With the money that’s acquired, you can upgrade your character’s abilities. Once the hiding period begins, players can start their mission of stealing the enemy team’s flag.

You can still farm Cashbots after the hiding period is over, meaning you can still upgrade your abilities as the match progresses.

Alternatively, players can head toward Radar Towers that are located right in the intersection between each team’s side of the map. In total, there are three Radar Towers, each of which is responsible for a sector of the map. “As long as you control a Radar Tower, it’s going to ping a map zone that does not contain the opponents’ hidden flag,” explains Diei. During my preview session with the game, I found this feature to be extremely helpful. Instead of randomly wandering alone in enemy territory, I’d be able to narrow down my search for their flag.

The Radar Towers operate as zones that need to be conquered and controlled by players. If your team successfully claims a Radar Tower, it will periodically fulfill its function. However, enemies can try to take over the control of your Radar Tower, and if they do, it will start working in their favor. While capture-the-flag is the core goal of the game, controlling these zones is also vital, and my experience with the game has proven that some of the most intense team fights happen around the Radar Towers in Last Flag.

Aside from helping narrow down your search for the opponents’ flag, controlled Radar Towers can restore HP for characters that stay within their zones. Additionally, you can also use it as a respawn point if it’s under your team’s control, which plays a vital role when you’re trying to reach the enemy’s side of the map.

When the opponent's flag is found and captured, the goal is to bring it back to your base. Once you cross the map’s halfline, your opponents are notified of the flag-bearer’s exact position, allowing them to quickly respond to your threat. Once you reach your base, you’ll need to place it there and hold down the flag’s position for sixty seconds, during which the enemy team has the opportunity to recover it. If the flag isn’t recovered, your team wins. If it’s recovered, it’s returned to its original hiding spot, but now you know where it is located.

How Last Flag Is Different From Other Team-Based Games

The Game Will Be Released In 2026

“What’s foremost is trying to have that overall capture the flag experience that's going to feel very different from any of those other games where you might have that same experience,” says Jelinek. “Where you're hiding and trying to find the flag is always going to create a different experience. In other games, you have capture the flag, control points, escort the payload, bomb defuse, and collection of resources. Because all of those are now in one game mode, you actually discover that Last Flag feels familiar but different, every single time.”

During my gameplay session, I found this to be true. I played several matches, and each of them felt wildly different from the previous one. This was impacted by where the flags were placed, how the team approached the control of the Radar Towers, and how different characters’ abilities are. During a match where our flag was captured, I was in the respawn zone, which enabled me to change to the Master Thief. This character has enhanced movement skills that allowed me to reach our stolen flag just in time, something that wouldn’t be possible with other units.

My short experience with the game was extremely positive, especially for a retired Overwatch aficionado who left Blizzard’s team-shooter on the sidelines due to how stressful its competitive aspect is. In counterpoint, Last Flag offered me a much more desirable and fun experience, even when our team was on the brink of losing or having lost matches. There’s a lightheartedness in Last Flag’s gameplay that really speaks with its replayability factor.

The 5v5 game does not yet have an official release date, though it is arriving in 2026. The title will be available for PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, though the studio has already confirmed that console versions are in the works. Diei has confirmed that the team is also looking at integrating cross-play for all platforms.

The team hasn’t yet revealed the game’s price, but has mentioned that it will be “affordable.” I’m a bit concerned about the title’s product model in a scenario where other team-based games like Overwatch and Marvel Rivals are F2P, but I can’t help but be excited about playing Last Flag with my friends.