A genetic research accident at the Agamemnon facility released a gene sequence altering peptide into the general population. The entire exposed population — eventually almost everyone — now requires a continuous supply of L.E.D. (Life Evolution Drug) simply to survive. L.E.D. is synthesized from a rare plant that cannot be cultivated fast enough to meet global demand. This scarcity made the drug the most valuable resource on Earth, and the corporations with private armies capable of seizing L.E.D. plant territory became the only powers that mattered. The player controls one of those forces, with the goal of conquering the world's entire supply before a rival does.