A group of human survivors retreated to an orbital station, and eventually returned to Earth, launching a war against the dinosaurs.

Because all the dinosaurs are mutated, they possess unusual features, including the ability to generate electricity to launch shock attacks.

[12][14] The game has four threat levels (low, medium, high, and emergence), which are applied to each area depending on the local dinosaur population.

[26] It was developed by Systemic Reaction, a newly formed self-publishing division of Avalanche Studios Group.

[37] In October 2023, Systemic Reaction announced cancellation of the full launch, due to a lack of necessary resources to leave early access.

The company stated that Second Extinction would be removed from sale, and that its early access servers would be shut down in 2024,[37] making the game unplayable to those who purchased it.

[39] David Jagneaux of IGN concluded, "As far as Early Access games go, Second Extinction is in excellent shape.

[40] Chris Jarrard of Shacknews praised the graphics in the Early Access version,[11] while some critics found the weapons to be dissatisfying.

[22][31] Gameplay was compared to other games such as Left 4 Dead, Destiny 2,[3][4][6][7] the Turok series, and Avalanche's Generation Zero.