Ready or Not (video game)

File:Ready Or Not 1.0 Screenshot.png]]

In Ready or Not, the player leads an American police tactical unit within the Los Sueños Police Department (LSPD){{cite web |date=November 3, 2023 |title=Vol.63 - Ready or Not Development Briefing- Commander Mode and Narrative |url=https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1144200/view/3801661174266563080 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20231103201154/https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1144200/view/3801661174266563080?l=english#selection-925.0-600.120 |archive-date=November 3, 2023 |website=Steam |publisher=VOID Interactive |quote=How your team conducts itself in a mission and the scenarios they encounter can lead to a psychological effect on your officers that is critical to address to ensure proper effectiveness in the field. Your officers will receive check-ins with a Mental Health Unit attached to your team who relays the outcomes in their respective files. If an officer’s mental status becomes unbearable it may even lead them to quit, or worse.}} against criminals and terrorists. The player deals with various types of situations, such as robberies, mass shootings, sex trafficking, and drug busts. As a tactical shooter, realism is a central pillar of gameplay, with both players and enemies being killed in only a few shots; therefore, tactical strategies and careful planning are emphasized.

The player is given a wide selection of rifles, submachine guns, shotguns, and handguns to choose from, with various options for attaching optics, scopes, muzzle devices, and overbarrel or underbarrel attachments. Equipment such as stun grenades, stinger grenades, fiberscopes (known as the "optiwand" in-game), ballistic shields, and breaching devices are key items available for the player and their team to equip and use.{{Cite web |last=Vernon |first=Ross |date=December 4, 2022 |title=READY OR NOT First Impression: Unprecedented SWAT Tactics |url=https://gametyrant.com/news/ready-or-not-first-impression-unprecedented-swat-tactics |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329073830/https://gametyrant.com/news/ready-or-not-first-impression-unprecedented-swat-tactics |archive-date=March 29, 2023 |access-date=2023-01-10 |website=GameTyrant |language=en-US}}

As the player is part of a police unit, apprehending suspects alive is greatly encouraged; therefore, a variety of less-lethal weapons such as tasers, riot guns, and pepper spray are available as alternatives to lethal force, and players are awarded more points for arresting suspects instead of incapacitating or killing them. However, some less-lethal weapons such as beanbag shotguns can incapacitate or kill people depending on how it is used. In order to score the highest grade (S) on a mission, all suspects and civilians must be detained alive and unharmed which is only possible by using less-lethal equipment.

All weapons and equipment are available to the player at the beginning of the game. The player can unlock further cosmetic items when they complete specific requirements, such as completing a specific mission with a minimum required grade, or beating the game on Ironman mode. Players can also unlock evidence for each mission which provides more context to the specific missions they score on. The higher the player scores on the mission, the more evidence is available for that mission.

In single player, the player commands a squad of four SWAT members which is split into two "elements", designated "red" and "blue". The player can command the entire team, "gold", at once to perform actions, or order elements separately from each other. AI teammates will follow the instruction of the player, such as breaching a room, but will also act independently without player input in some situations such as shooting active threats and arresting suspects.

Suspects have a variety of behaviors when encountered by the player such as faking their deaths when shot, pretending to surrender and then pulling out a weapon, and using bystanders as human shields. Their equipment can vary from using knives and old handguns, to being equipped with body armor and automatic firearms. Ready Or Not recommends players to fire at the suspect's center of mass when using lethal force.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82XSPA5C2zE&t=120s Ready or Not - Blood and Gore Improvements (Adam Update)] ([https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/82XSPA5C2zE Archive])

Civilians also have a variety of behaviors when encountered or issued a verbal command by the player such as resisting, reaching for their phone to take a picture (which can be mistaken for the drawing of a handgun), and running away. The player can use a melee strike or less-lethal equipment on uncooperative civilians to increase their likelihood to comply with verbal commands.

Fire discipline becomes especially essential to completing missions, as players who shoot restrained suspects, civilians, or AI team members will be engaged by police as punishment for violating those rules and ethics within the universe of the game.

File:ReadyOrNot NeonTomb 01a.jpgs are used to give orders to non-player teammates in Ready or Not.]]

Missions are played in single player with AI teammates, or cooperatively with up to 5 players through online multiplayer. A competitive player versus player mode is planned for sometime after the 1.0 release.

Four singleplayer modes are available at the start, those being the Commander, Quick Play, Ironman Mode, and Training.

Training is a tutorial that takes place in the firing range of the LSPD station that teaches players the basics of the game, such as using basic equipment and how to issue commands.

Commander is the main single player mode. The player manages a SWAT team and after every mission, the mental states of officers will deteriorate. Mental state deterioration rate depends on a variety of factors, such as killing suspects instead of arresting them or if a fellow SWAT team member dies. Team members can be sent to therapy by the player or forced into therapy if their mental state gets too low, making them unavailable to deploy for some time. Only three team members can be in therapy at once. If a team member fails to have their stress levels reduced, they will resign. If individual team members are used for long enough, they will eventually unlock a trait which will alter the team dynamic such as increasing the overall accuracy of the team or making suspects more likely to surrender.

Ironman Mode is the same as Commander Mode, however if the player dies their entire progress is reset from the beginning.{{Cite web |last=Ganguly |first=Sharmila |date=2024-01-01 |title=How to enable Ironman mode in Ready or Not |url=https://dotesports.com/ready-or-not/news/how-to-enable-ironman-mode-in-ready-or-not |access-date=2024-02-24 |website=Dot Esports |language=en-US}}

Quick Play removes the management system from Commander, but otherwise plays the same. Since the management system is removed, team members will not have access to traits.

Ready or Not is set in the city of Los Sueños, California (based on Los Angeles), in an alternate United States experiencing major social and economic decline; Los Sueños is particularly affected by the decline which, by the mid-2020s, results in massive spikes in violent crime and extremism. The player character, Commander David “Judge” Beaumont, is assigned to lead the Los Sueños Police Department's D Platoon, SWAT. The game does not have a linear plot, but multiple levels are interconnected with each other to provide an overarching story.

In 2025, LSPD SWAT stops a group of methamphetamine addicts who commit robberies to fuel their addictions. In response, SWAT raids a meth stash house and learns Los Locos Del Pacificos, a street gang connected to drug cartels, is responsible for the meth distribution.

Later, SWAT responds to an alleged homicide and hostage situation committed by an online streamer, revealed to be a swatting; however, the team is attacked by gunmen in his apartment complex. SWAT arrests the streamer after finding evidence of illegal crypto mining, child sexual abuse material possession, voyeurism, and illegal firearms. Police investigations connect Mindjot, an unscrupulous free speech absolutist data hosting service, to the child pornography scheme. SWAT raids Mindjot's heavily guarded data center, and seizes numerous servers. Evidence recovered from the raid traces the CSAM production to a youth "talent agency" called Brixley Talent Time, which SWAT also raids. The LSPD learns that the entire operation is financed by Amos Voll, a mentally unstable pornographic film director. SWAT raids Voll's mansion during a birthday party for his daughter. During the raid, SWAT discovers evidence seized from a secret basement that Voll uses adult pornography to launder his activities while engaging in child exploitation, murder, and incest.

"The Left Behind," a group of disillusioned anti-government veterans, target presidential candidate Senator Fremont for proposing cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs, but their assassination attempt fails, attracting the attention of SWAT. Fremont and his family are placed into protective custody by the Secret Service, but The Left Behind activates sleeper agents within his Secret Service security detail who attempt to kill Fremont, but SWAT intervenes and saves him. Elsewhere, Gerard Scott, a schizophrenic former agent of the United States Intelligence Agency (based on the Central Intelligence Agency) who is unusually familiar with Judge, bombs a police station on the outskirts of Los Sueños, prompting SWAT to raid his fortified cabin and apprehend him.

Some time later, "The Hand", a radical Islamist terrorist group, commits a mass shooting at the Neon nightclub in retaliation for U.S. airstrikes against them in Yemen. SWAT intervenes and arrests Zahir "Quadamah" Asadullah, the leader of The Hand's American wing, but prison guards brutalize him in custody and he is transferred to Coastal Grove Medical Center, which The Hand promptly attacks to free Quadamah; SWAT deploys to defeat the terrorists, defuse bombs they placed in the hospital, and recapture Quadamah.

LSPD detectives and Federal Investigation and Security Agency (based on the Federal Bureau of Investigation) Inspector Jack Adams are attacked by Los Locos, an organized drug cartel. SWAT secures the scene, a post office, and apprehends Adams on FISA's orders for weapons trafficking. Later investigations uncover a Los Locos smuggling operation using tunnels under the Mexico–United States border, and SWAT deploys alongside BORTAC to clear the tunnels and end the smuggling operation. SWAT also stops a mass shooting at Watt Community College and defeats the "Carriers of the Vine", a pagan misandrist cult led by Elaine Raskin, who is revealed to be part of a psychological operation somehow involving Judge.

Later, SWAT raids a Vietnamese-American family linked to Los Locos for producing 3D printed firearms and learns that the source of their weapons is a car dealership used as a front by Los Locos and the Russian mafia. Detectives and an undercover agent move on the dealership but are fired upon; SWAT deploys to defeat the criminals, finding the undercover agent dead, as well as documents related to a human trafficking operation at Port Hokan. There, the LSPD, FISA, and the ATF conduct a joint raid on the port, but in the LSPD's sector of responsibility, SWAT uncovers a group of human trafficking victims in a container. Judge tries to rescue them, but FISA insists that SWAT leaves the victims where they are and overlook them, citing a larger investigation. Judge reluctantly acquiesces and continues with the raid.

Development began in June 2016 and a reveal trailer was released on YouTube on May 3, 2017.{{Cite web|last=Burns|first=Ben|date=May 5, 2017|title=Tactical FPS Ready Or Not announced via gritty teaser trailer|url=https://www.pcgamesn.com/ready-or-not/ready-or-not-teaser-trailer|url-status=live|access-date=January 1, 2022|website=PCGamesN|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221116185419/https://www.pcgamesn.com/ready-or-not/ready-or-not-teaser-trailer|archive-date=November 16, 2022}} An alpha version of the game was made available on August 19, 2019{{Cite web|last=VOID Interactive|date=August 19, 2019|title=READY OR NOT SUPPORTER ALPHA AVAILABLE NOW TO PLAY. ALPHA IS LIVE UNTIL JUST BEFORE OUR BETA IN 2020|url=https://twitter.com/voidinteractive/status/1163246743590440960|url-status=live|access-date=January 1, 2022|website=Twitter|language=en|archiveurl=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/1wAwA?wr=false|archive-date=June 8, 2023}} for owners of the Supporter Edition under a non-disclosure agreement. Supporters and select YouTubers were invited to a PvP test in April 2020 and were allowed to publish footage.{{Cite web|last=Rogue-9|date=April 29, 2020|title=Ready or Not (Alpha) Loadout Options|url=https://www.rogue-9.com/ready-or-not-alpha|url-status=live|access-date=January 1, 2022|archiveurl=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/5d6MR|archive-date=June 8, 2023}}[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff7kff8ECSg All Guns and Equipment! - Ready Or Not Alpha] ([https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/Ff7kff8ECSg Archive]) The game was released on Steam Early Access on December 17, 2021.{{Cite web|last=Chris J|first=Capel|date=December 18, 2021|title=Rainbow Six and SWAT heir Ready or Not is out now in early access|url=https://www.pcgamesn.com/ready-or-not/early-access-release-date|url-status=live|access-date=January 1, 2022|website=PCGamesN|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331094552/https://www.pcgamesn.com/ready-or-not/early-access-release-date|archive-date=March 31, 2023}}

At The Game Awards 2023, VOID Interactive announced that 1.0 would be released on December 13, 2023.{{cite web|url=https://www.pcgamer.com/controversial-swat-team-fps-ready-or-not-announces-a-december-release-date-promising-an-intense-gaming-experience-that-challenges-you-on-the-world-you-know/|title=Controversial SWAT team FPS Ready or Not announces a December release date, promising 'an intense gaming experience, that challenges you on the world you know'|first=Jody|last=Macgregor|work=PC Gamer|date=December 8, 2023|accessdate=December 10, 2023}} The full release included missions dealing with swatting and illegal crypto mining.{{cite AV media |date=June 29, 2023|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbUREARHH7w|title=READY OR NOT: Streamer|publisher=VOID Interactive|via=YouTube |access-date=June 29, 2023|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/DbUREARHH7w|archive-date=June 29, 2023|url-status=live|quote=Introducing Streamer, our ambitious upcoming map that will be available with the arrival of the 1.0 release.}} The 1.0 release also addresses overhauls to the effectiveness of less-lethal equipment, mental health in law enforcement, inter-agency cooperation, and officer personality traits.{{cite web|url=https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1144200/view/3710460111434346509|title=Vol.61 - Ready or Not Development Briefing: Police Trailer Units, Less Lethal QOL Overhauls, Blocking Volumes, Farm Level Overhaul, and VFX improvements|date=October 6, 2023|publisher=VOID Interactive|website=Steam|quote=[Internal gameplay] found that pepper spray was sometimes too powerful for use against armed suspects in combat contexts. Now, instead of a full stun, suspects who are affected with pepper spray will cover their eyes, experience an accuracy reduction, and have a morale drop. In this blinded state they are still capable of shooting the player up close.}}{{cite web|url=https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1144200/view/3801661174266563080|title=Vol.63 - Ready or Not Development Briefing- Commander Mode and Narrative|date=November 3, 2023|publisher=VOID Interactive|website=Steam|quote=How your team conducts itself in a mission and the scenarios they encounter can lead to a psychological effect on your officers that is critical to address to ensure proper effectiveness in the field. Your officers will receive check-ins with a Mental Health Unit attached to your team who relays the outcomes in their respective files. If an officer’s mental status becomes unbearable it may even lead them to quit, or worse.|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20231103201154/https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1144200/view/3801661174266563080?l=english#selection-925.0-600.120|archive-date=November 3, 2023}} Similar to SWAT 3, Ready Or Not 's 1.0 release will include sophisticated AI that performs actions such as restraining suspects and taking cover autonomously rather than relying on player input.{{cite web|url=https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1144200/view/3801661174266563080|title=Vol.64 - Ready or Not Development Briefing- SWAT AI Overhaul|date=November 17, 2023|publisher=VOID Interactive|website=Steam|quote=[Y]ou have over almost every tactical facet of your SWAT AI officers, you should also know that they are tactical professionals, effectively fully functional on an autonomous level as well. They don’t require constant commands or handholding. They will make callouts, move, prioritize contacts in a room in accordance with your orders, lean around corners, stay alert to openings, make arrests, check hiding places, and more based on their own astute tactical awareness.|archiveurl=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/ZWeVk|archive-date=November 18, 2023}} {{cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/1999/12/01/swat-3-close-quarters-battle|title=SWAT 3: Close Quarters Battle|last=Blevins|first=Tal|publisher=IGN|date=November 30, 1999}}

Two additional DLCs for the game were released later in 2024. The first, released in Spring, named Home Invasion, contains new maps, along with new weapons.[https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1144200/view/4196861557830831882 Volume 68 - Ready or Not Development Briefing: 2024 Roadmap] Steam. February 16, 2024 The second, released on December 10, 2024, named Dark Waters, contains additional maritime maps, along with new weapons and new mechanics. [https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1144200/view/6634459680135446665 Vol. 80 - Ready or Not Development Briefing] Steam. November 22, 2024. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbxznEErPZQ Ready or Not: Dark Waters - Official Trailer] VOID Interactive. December 5, 2024

A partnership with Team17 to publish the game under their label was announced on March 22, 2021.{{Cite web|last=Nelva|first=Giuseppe|date=March 22, 2021|title=Squad-Based Tactical Shooter Ready or Not Will Launch Under Team17's Label|url=https://twinfinite.net/2021/03/ready-or-not-team-17/|url-status=live|access-date=January 1, 2022|website=Twinfinite|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221116185416/https://twinfinite.net/2021/03/ready-or-not-team-17/|archive-date=November 16, 2022}} On December 20, 2021, VOID Interactive announced that their partnership with Team17 had ended and that they would no longer be publishing the game. Speculation suggested that this was due to the developers teasing a school shooting level on Reddit one day prior,{{Cite web|last=Jeremy|first=Winslow|date=December 22, 2021|title=Game Loses Publisher Days After Devs Remind Fans About Apparent School Shooting Level|url=https://kotaku.com/game-loses-publisher-days-after-devs-remind-fans-about-1848258819|url-status=live|access-date=January 1, 2022|website=Kotaku|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315003220/https://kotaku.com/game-loses-publisher-days-after-devs-remind-fans-about-1848258819|archive-date=March 15, 2023}} although this was denied by VOID.{{Cite web|last=Chalk|first=Andy|date=December 24, 2021|title=Ready or Not studio says planned 'school shooting' level did not cause split with publisher|url=https://www.pcgamer.com/ready-or-not-studio-says-planned-school-shooting-level-did-not-cause-split-with-publisher/|url-status=live|access-date=January 1, 2022|website=PC Gamer|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230427210626/https://www.pcgamer.com/ready-or-not-studio-says-planned-school-shooting-level-did-not-cause-split-with-publisher//|archive-date=April 27, 2023}}

On June 16, 2022, Ready or Not was delisted from Steam after a takedown request was issued against the game for trademark infringement relating to a level set in a nightclub.{{Cite web |last=Bankhurst |first=Adam |date=2022-06-19 |title=Ready or Not Back on Steam Following a Takedown Request Concerning Trademark Infringement |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/ready-or-not-back-on-steam-following-a-takedown-request-concerning-trademark-infringement |access-date=2023-01-10 |website=IGN |language=en|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230110144648/https://www.ign.com/articles/ready-or-not-back-on-steam-following-a-takedown-request-concerning-trademark-infringement|archive-date=January 10, 2023}}{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Graham |date=2022-06-18 |title=Ready Or Not is back on Steam after being removed for alleged trademark infringement, devs say |language=en |work=Rock, Paper, Shotgun |url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/ready-or-not-is-back-on-steam-after-being-removed-for-alleged-trademark-infringement |access-date=2023-01-10|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230110144655/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/ready-or-not-pulled-from-steam-after-adding-nightclub-shooting-level|archive-date=January 10, 2023}} Though media reports suggested it was connected to the level's release date—June 12, the anniversary of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting{{Cite web |date=2022-06-20 |title=Ready or Not pulled from Steam after adding nightclub shooting level |url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/ready-or-not-pulled-from-steam-after-adding-nightclub-shooting-level |access-date=2023-01-10 |website=GamesIndustry.biz |language=en|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230110144655/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/ready-or-not-pulled-from-steam-after-adding-nightclub-shooting-level|archive-date=January 10, 2023}} (VOID did not comment on why this date was chosen)—it was noted that the name of the in-game nightclub, "Pryzm", was also the name of a British nightclub chain owned by Rekom UK.{{Cite web |title='Ready Or Not' Was Not Pulled Due To Nightclub Shooting Map, Says Developers |url=https://www.gamingbible.co.uk/news/ready-or-not-not-pulled-due-nightclub-map-20220618 |access-date=2023-01-10 |website=GAMINGbible |date=June 18, 2022 |language=en|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230110144656/https://www.gamingbible.co.uk/news/ready-or-not-not-pulled-due-nightclub-map-20220618|archive-date=January 10, 2023}} The game returned to Steam on June 18 with the infringing elements removed.

On June 27, 2025, after the announcement of Ready or Not for consoles, VOID Interactive announced visual changes to the game, toning down dismemberment and nudity due to stricter rules for publishing games on consoles, though the Windows version was also affected.{{Cite web |last=Blake |first=Vikki |date=2025-07-02 |title=Ready or Not Review-Bombed on Steam as PC Players Claim Shooter Was 'Censored' to Satisfy Console Makers |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/ready-or-not-review-bombed-on-steam-as-pc-players-claim-shooter-was-censored-to-satisfy-console-makers |access-date=2025-07-12 |website=IGN |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Blake |first=Vikki |date=2025-06-29 |title=Ready or Not adjusts in-game violence and nudity on PC to secure PS5 and Xbox release |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/ready-or-not-adjusts-in-game-violence-and-nudity-on-pc-to-secure-ps5-and-xbox-release |access-date=2025-07-12 |website=Eurogamer.net |language=en}} The changes were negatively received by the players, who called the actions censorship, though some noted that the removed content could still be modded in.{{Cite news |last=Gould |first=Elie |date=2025-07-09 |title=Ready or Not's review bomb campaign may have been short-lived, as player count subsequently doubles on Steam and it tops PlayStation's pre-order list |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/ready-or-nots-review-bomb-campaign-may-have-been-short-lived-as-player-count-subsequently-doubles-on-steam-and-it-tops-playstations-pre-order-list/ |access-date=2025-07-12 |work=PC Gamer |language=en}} The backlash resulted in the Steam version of the game getting review bombed.{{Cite news |last=Gould |first=Elie |date=2025-06-30 |title='The censorship is a step too far': Ready or Not is getting review bombed after developers sanitise the game to adhere to stricter console standards |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/the-censorship-is-a-step-too-far-ready-or-not-is-getting-review-bombed-after-developers-sanitise-the-game-to-adhere-to-stricter-console-standards/ |access-date=2025-07-12 |work=PC Gamer |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Pitts |first=Lan |date=2025-07-02 |title=Ready Or Not Censoring Content To Get Certified For Console Release, Upsetting Fans |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ready-or-not-censoring-content-to-get-certified-for-console-release-upsetting-fans/1100-6532917/ |access-date=2025-07-12 |website=GameSpot |language=en-US}} VOID later provided comparison images, clarifying that they "only made changes where absolutely required" and that "the game’s tone, atmosphere, and graphical impact remain intact";{{Cite web |last=Blake |first=Vikki |date=2025-07-03 |title=Ready or Not Dev Releases Before-and-After Screenshots as It Battles Against ‘Censorship’ Backlash and Steam Review-Bomb Campaign |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/ready-or-not-dev-releases-before-and-after-screenshots-as-it-battles-against-censorship-backlash-and-steam-review-bomb-campaign |access-date=2025-07-12 |website=IGN |language=en}} the statement did not appease the fans.{{Cite news |last=Wolens |first=Joshua |date=2025-07-03 |title=As fans lose it over sanitised nudity and violence, Ready or Not devs promise they haven't changed their 'creative vision': 'We’ve only made changes where absolutely required' |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/as-fans-lose-it-over-sanitised-nudity-and-violence-ready-or-not-devs-promise-they-havent-changed-their-creative-vision-weve-only-made-changes-where-absolutely-required/ |access-date=2025-07-12 |work=PC Gamer |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Benfell |first=Grace |date=2025-07-08 |title=Ready Or Not Dev Clarifies Content Changes, Rejects Accusations of Censorship |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ready-or-not-dev-clarifies-content-changes-rejects-accusations-of-censorship/1100-6533027/ |access-date=2025-07-12 |website=GameSpot |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Phillips |first=Victoria |date=2025-07-03 |title=Ready or Not developer seeks to alleviate "censorship" concerns following community outcry |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/ready-or-not-developer-seeks-to-alleviate-censorship-concerns-following-community-outcry |access-date=2025-07-12 |website=Eurogamer.net |language=en}} Despite the community backlash, Ready or Not quickly became the most pre-ordered game on the Playstation Store.{{Cite web |last=Pureza |first=Gabriel Machado |date=2025-07-10 |title=Ready or Not Sees Huge Player Count Boost Despite Review Bombing |url=https://gamerant.com/ready-or-not-steam-player-count-boost/ |access-date=2025-07-12 |website=Game Rant |language=en}}

Home Invasion released on July 23, 2024. The release also upgraded Ready Or Not to Unreal Engine 5.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hncp01oVykU Ready or Not: Home Invasion - Official Gameplay Trailer]

The DLC missions are available to play once all of the base game missions are completed. Three missions are included, which takes place after Los Sueños has experienced a Category 5 hurricane. Three new weapons and multiple customization items are also included.

The DLC missions are as follows:

• Dorms: A dilapidated dorm building has been taken over by homeless people and drug addicts, and the building needs to be cleared out.
• Narcos: An undercover agent has been compromised, and must be rescued from the Los Locos Del Pacificos cartel.
• Lawmaker: Eco-terrorists have taken an oil lobbyist and his family hostage in his home.

Dark Waters released on December 10, 2024. The second DLC, in addition to new marine-themed maps, contains updates to clothing, a new aerial thermal camera mechanic, new animations, new AI behaviors, and new weapons. [https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1144200/view/525328778479535178 Dark Waters Release Changelog] VOID Interactive. December 10, 2024. Steam

The DLC missions are as follows:

• Mirage at Sea: A son of a Qatari oligarch buys a yacht named The Seraglio. A woman being held against her will on the yacht calls 911.
• Leviathan: An oil rig is attacked by the United Planet Front, an eco-terrorist group.
• 3 Letter Triad: A Latin American pirate group, Los Navegantes del Caos (The Navigators of Chaos), meets the Black Sentinel mercenary group at the abandoned Elysian Hotel. The meeting concerns a "high-value" trade.

Ready or Not currently has a score of 79 on Metacritic, indicating "generally favourable reviews".{{cite web |title=Ready or Not |url=https://www.metacritic.com/game/ready-or-not/ |access-date=14 February 2024 |website=Metacritic |publisher=Fandom}} It was the best selling game on Steam in the week after its release, and has been favorably described as a spiritual successor to the SWAT series and early Rainbow Six games.{{Cite web|last=Bailey|first=Dustin|date=December 27, 2021|title=The best-selling game of the Steam Winter Sale isn't on sale|url=https://www.pcgamesn.com/ready-or-not/steam-winter-sale-best-seller|url-status=live|access-date=January 1, 2022|website=PCGamesN|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323175143/https://www.pcgamesn.com/ready-or-not/steam-winter-sale-best-seller|archive-date=March 23, 2023}}{{Cite news |last=Schwarz |first=Christian |date=2022-01-21 |title=Ready or Not im Test: Der Taktik-Shooter ist SWAT (noch) nicht würdig |language=de-DE |work=GameStar |url=https://www.gamestar.de/artikel/ready-or-not-test-steam-review,3377104.html |access-date=2023-01-10|trans-title=Ready or Not in the test: The tactical shooter is not (yet) worthy of the big SWAT|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317163557/https://www.gamestar.de/artikel/ready-or-not-test-steam-review,3377104.html|archive-date=March 17, 2023}}

Ethan Gach, writing an early review for Kotaku, called Ready or Not a "tactical horror game", "an unsettling SWAT fantasy" and "edgy copaganda", he criticized the game's realism as "effective enough to disturb but too shallow not to descend into farce, or worse, Blue Lives Matter cosplay with fascist overtones and alt-right dog whistles". Gach highlighted supposed references to alt-right memes such as the use of "Jogger" as a racist euphemism (in reference to Ahmaud Arbery), citing a pillbox in the game with the words "Redpill" and "NOGGINJOGGERS" labelled. VOID responded to Gach's review, denying any connection to extremism, saying that the alleged dog whistles were coincidental, and stating they would remove the references in question.{{Cite web |last=Gach |first=Ethan |date=January 6, 2022 |title=Controversial Steam Best Seller Ready Or Not Is An Unsettling SWAT Fantasy |url=https://kotaku.com/controversial-steam-best-seller-ready-or-not-is-an-unse-1848317351 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230427184206/https://kotaku.com/controversial-steam-best-seller-ready-or-not-is-an-unse-1848317351 |archive-date=April 27, 2023 |access-date=January 9, 2022 |website=Kotaku}}

In its review of the Home Invasion DLC, PC Gamer praised the gameplay and weapon additions while criticizing alleged class bias surrounding the Dorms level, in which the player forcibly evicts homeless people taking shelter from a hurricane. {{Cite news |last=Tucker |first=Jake |date=2024-07-25 |title=Ready or Not's new expansion takes the tense shooter action to new heights, but the politics hit rock bottom |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/head-ready-or-nots-new-expansion-takes-the-tense-shooter-action-to-new-heights-but-the-politics-hit-rock-bottom/ |access-date=2024-10-15 |work=PC Gamer |language=en}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Official website|voidinteractive.net/}}
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5Cr1u8ulZQ VOID Interactive January 7, 2023 AMA] ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e01ujOTsNEU Afterparty AMA])
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g9K32DEElw VOID Interactive April 22, 2023 AMA]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUijxHCTSoU VOID Interactive Law Enforcement AMA August 2, 2024]

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