Beta + Cancelled online Video Games

Project 1V1 is a cancelled Free-To-Play multiplayer First-Person Shooter/Collectible Card Game hybrid developed exclusively for PC by Gearbox Software, from, at least, 2017 until 2022.

The game tried to be a competitive Esport Arena shooter, similar to titles such as Quake 3: Arena and Unreal Tournament, that faced two players against each other, each with three cards that confered special abilities.

Project 1V1 was officially revealed by Gearbox in August 2017 while, in the same time, announcing that they were holding a closed beta test for the game:

Borderlands and Battleborn developer Gearbox Software is working on a competitive first-person shooter that “combines the action of fast-paced 1v1 first-person combat with the metagame strategy of a collectible card game,” according to the project’s website. Gearbox is calling the in-development game Project 1v1.
Gearbox said on its website that it’s holding a short, closed technical test for Project 1v1. Players who are interested in taking part can sign up for the beta on Gearbox’s Shift website. (…)
The Project 1v1 website doesn’t offer much detail on the game beyond naming a trio of modes (ranked, challenge and arena) playable in the technical test. Players will apparently be able to earn crates and new cards by defeating opponents in Project 1v1’s ranked mode. (…)

Shortly after, some gameplay videos of the beta were uploaded on YouTube, before being taken down. Other than that, Project 1V1 didn’t resurface before E3 2018 where the title was showcased behind closed doors:

Borderlands fans will be frustrated to hear that Gearbox is showing a new shooter at E3 2018 to press – but it’s not the highly-anticipated Borderlands 3. Instead, Gearbox is showing it’s 1v1 multiplayer shooter and card hybrid. It’s a relatively secretive project, having been in a closed technical test last August. No footage of Project 1v1 will be shown outside of the closed doors presentation at E3, although you can expect some hands-on written impressions. Presumably we’ll also learn it’s proper name. (…)

Just after E3, numerous previews were indeed written. Thus, for example, Mediastinger wrote:

In Project 1v1, Gearbox is attempting to merge the competitive arena shooter genre with the growing popularity of watching esports. In the Arena Hangout mode, multiple players queue into a room while the game stays in windowed mode on PC. Players who are not going head-to-head in the arena are able to watch the current 1 vs. 1 battle in spectator mode while still chatting and cycling through all of the game’s menu options such as abilities, cosmetics, deck-buying/building, and more.
Other modes are planned to offer more serious instant action while the actual gameplay is what you would expect from an arena shooter that plays very smooth like a game of Deathmatch in Quake or Unreal Tournament – except with unique powerups such as turrets, tracking satellites, and even powerful swords that can be called down and need to be protected for a brief period before being picked up and used to instantly slay foes.
While gameplay was fun, Project 1v1 seems like Gearbox’s attempt to salvage their hard work from Battleborn… and I’m not sure how it can be successful in the current gaming market. The game’s main gimmick is focusing on 1v1 gameplay, a concept that is the opposite of the current demand from gamers who want instant large-scale action — which battle royale games have recently become so successful delivering.
Project 1v1 is still in a very early stage and could change drastically in the future as new modes are added. Right now, the game is currently only planned for PC and still has no release date, or even any actual footage available to be shown online.

For it’s part, Twinfinite was more enthusiastic:

(…) At E3 2018, I visited the folks at Gearbox to sit down and play an alpha build of Project 1v1 that was being shown to the press. It was the very first time the game was being shown outside of the studio.
You can imagine my surprise, then, as I discovered a game that already felt incredibly well-polished. Of course, 1v1’s UI will likely go through a number of iterations before its eventual release, but a slick menu already presented several different character designs, allowed me to experiment with a range of different weapons and abilities, and play a handful of different maps. But it was in the gameplay that things felt impressively far along. Project 1v1 is sublime to play; the gunplay and traversal felt great, there were no bugs or crashes, and each match ran as smooth as silk.
The arsenal of weapons included plenty of your typical FPS selection, but there were some inventive standouts too. Beyond light machine guns, shotguns, and rocket launchers, there were neat weapons like the railgun – a super powerful rifle with a secondary fire option that allowed you to shoot across the map with the bullet by pressing the right mouse button. And it was a similar story with abilities, too. Three cards can be selected for special skills, activated at the press of a key and differing in cooldown according to strength. These ranged from passive recovery buffs to sentry guns that could be placed to cover a choke point. My absolute favorite was the Excalibur – a sword that, once planted in the ground for a few seconds, could be wielded to devastating effect. Slightly OP, perhaps, but hilariously fun to shoot across the map and instant frag an opponent.
1v1’s maps are like a condensed version of a classic arena-shooter, complete with a balance of cramped hallways, mini choke-points, a wide open space or two, and designed with plenty of verticality. It would take you less than a minute to circumnavigate any one of them, but they all had been crafted in a way that let you quickly put distance between you and your opponent by dashing around a corner or hopping onto an above ledge. Some had strategically located springboards so you could quickly ascend to a map’s highest level. Aesthetically, some were more interesting than others, but I absolutely adored one, in particular, set against the backdrop of a dystopian futuristic city.
The local network I was playing on consisted of only four players at any one time, which worked well for 1v1’s curious multiplayer setup. Given that the game is specifically designed for duels, other players spectate while waiting in a queue. With a limited number in the server, the wait was never long, but I do wonder how things are supposed to work when there are three, four, or ten times that number. Gearbox didn’t have an answer for me when I enquired as to many players are likely to be pooled in a single server moving forward.
As it turns out, each match was so intense that I genuinely enjoyed my time spectating, and it was super fun to hear people gasp and cheer at my own efforts. But not every 1v1 match is going to be so entertaining, and the novelty of the format would only last so long. It remains to be seen how this all translates to a full release. Not to mention, while I definitely appreciated the bespoke 1v1 map design and the entertainment value of duking it out with a single opponent, I can’t say that the game wouldn’t be just as fun with a few more players in a server with me. 1v1 is great, but why not 2v2 and 3v3 as well?
As of right now, the foundation is in place for Project 1v1 to make a big splash on the free-to-play scene. I thoroughly enjoyed the gameplay, the performance was exemplary, and the card system is a blast. It needs fleshing out, of course, but assuming that there’s an audience out there ready to embrace it, the future looks bright for Gearbox’s unorthodox shooter.

Finally, a similar feeling was also shared by WayTooMany.games:

(…) I have managed to play the game for around half-an-hour (and countless rounds) at a private appointment at Gearbox’s room during E3, and I have to admit, I did enjoy what I saw. I did see a lot of potential in what they’re creating, but with a few concerns.
The gameplay is great. The game is extremely fast-paced, just like an old Unreal Tournament, the matches are very quick, the respawn times are nonexistent and the few weapons I could test were diverse, balanced and fun to use.
Just like older Unreal Tournament games, there is no aim button, there’s no auto-healing (you can heal by picking up health icons scattered throughout the stage), and there are lots of traps scattered throughout the stage, such as pits. The level design is creative, even though I have only managed to play on three different maps. Besides your two weapons, you can equip yourself with different perks, such as an ultimate rocket attack and an extra jump. Whenever you use your special moves, you need to wait for them to recharge. You can also pick up a card icon to get an instant recharge. From what I could play, Project 1v1 looked promising: a nice throwback to simpler, arcade-oriented shooters, with a lot more emphasis on chaotic fun than realism.
With that being said, I still have a few concerns about the game.
One of the main concerns is regarding waiting times. As previously mentioned, the game is based around 1 vs 1 matches, meaning that everyone else in your room needs to wait for quite some time before being able to play the game. Depending on the amount of people inside your lobby, you’ll have to wait for up to 15 minutes in order to play a 5 minute round. The game automatically shrinks its screen size during the waiting moments, most likely in order to let players mind their own business surfing through the internet or doing something else on their PCs while they wait for their turn.
I feel some balance needs to be made regarding it, with multiple duels happening at the same time, in order to keep people busy. That’s also a great way to promote championship creations. I don’t know if Gearbox has this plan in mind, but I really hope they come up with something like this when the game finally comes out. (…)

After that, Project 1V1 felt again into oblivion, only being briefly mentionned in July 2019 by French website NoFrag.com, announcing that a new closed beta test was on its way:

(…) If you are a fan of Randy Pitchford‘s games, or frankly have some time to kill, you will be delighted to learn that this future Free-to-play is opening up to a new closed test session, subject to an NDA (no authorized videos, or even screenshots). To participate, you will need to go through the Gearbox site, SHiFT, and link your Steam account there.
Compared to the previous test session, this one adds 3 maps to the 2 already existing, new playing cards and a revamped interface.

From there, it looked like things were getting tougher for the game. Again forgotten by everyone, it came back once again from the dead, in July 2021, when someone on Twitter/X asked Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford whatever happened:

On going. The pandemic shook us up a bit, but we went through a chrysalis and I am excited for what will emerge.

Unfortunately, it seems that this revival was ultimately a waste of time since during the summer of 2022, the cancellation of the game was officially announced on Reddit:

Hey Project 1v1 faithful, I am finally able to share some news about Project 1v1, the server, and the community.
It is my unfortunate privilege to let you all know that I’ve been notified through official channels that there “are no plans to resume development”. I know this is a heartbreaking thing to hear for most of us, but unfortunately this is just something that happens in the world of video game development.
With that news being official, and after some discussion, we’ve made the choice to close down the Discord Server. The server closure will take place on September 1st 2022. This will give everyone here ample time to be able to jump onto servers with one another and create your own internal communities to duke it out in other games if you wish. I didn’t want to shut the server down right away because I know a lot of the folks here made friends along the way and I wanted to make sure we all had the opportunity to keep those connections.
I appreciate everyone that has been a help to the community, donated for giveaways, participated in events and the playtests! While we may not get the end result we were hoping for, I am sure we have helped the team inside of Gearbox Publishing in many ways. I know I feel feel proud to have had an impact in that way and so should us all!

It is unclear to this day why Gearbox made the decision to cancel Project 1V1. We can speculate that in a very competitive market, whether it was the Collectible Card Game’s aspect or the arena shooter, it was difficult for a new original title to be a financial success. Battleborn, itself built on the remnants of Brothers in Arms: Furious 4, was a dismal failure, and a comparison can also be made with The Amazing Eternals, very similar to Project 1V1, and which was canceled precisely because of this competitive market.

Video:

Images:

Others, PC / MAC

World of Mercenaries [PC – Cancelled]

U64 Staff & Contributors

21-09-2024

World of Mercenaries is a canceled military Free-to-Play multiplayer First-Person Shooter developed and published by City Interactive around 2011-2012, exclusively for the PC.

Not much is known about World of Mercenaries as information about it covered only 4 months. The game was officially announced in March 2012 by its developer, the Romanian subdivision of City Interactive, as we can read on MMOBomb:

Powered by Unreal Engine 3 and to be distributed digitally via Steam, World of Mercenaries is a skill based competitive FPS with stunning graphics, fluid controls, customizable weapons and focus on teamwork as a core element for player progression. Immerse in the life of a fearless mercenary!
“Our veteran team is comprised of some of the most devoted FPS fans in the world and we’re excited to use our knowledge and experience to fuse the best elements of previously released games in the genre with new and exciting advancements – be it in terms of graphics, controls or skill based game play.” says Bogdan Oprescu, Executive Producer for the title. “Our closed beta program will be an integral part of the development process for World of Mercenaries, as it is our goal to deliver a game made by, for and with FPS fans. We are shaping the future of competitive FPS, and are fully confident it will be achieved with the enthusiasm and help of our beta testers.”

World of Mercenaries was launched into closed beta in May 2012, and further details were shared:

City Interactive has announced the launch of the closed beta phase for World of Mercenaries. Beginning today, anyone with a beta key can redeem it through Steam and start playing it. The closed beta comes with two maps in two different modes. These two modes are described as a ‘classic’ and a ‘heavy team-oriented’ one. There are currently six different weapons and a dual health system to use.
Play your own way: get into fierce battles and mow down your enemies, back up your team members by blasting from afar; navigate skillfully and master the map; plan your own strategy and have your game evolve along with your style and each map’s unique terrain!
Purists will find a new battlefield for fame and glory; casual players will be more than just targets. World of Mercenaries is all about combat action and having fun!

However, after only 3 weeks of closed beta, City Interactive announced, on the now-defunct website of the game, that they putted the beta on-hold, in order to focus on the feedbacks by beta testers:

We would first like to thank all of you for applying to the game’s closed beta, for the interest and enthusiasm you have showed and that helped us go forward each day, and to our beta testers – for all the feedback you provided us with.
We are very grateful that such a great community has started to shape around World of Mercenaries, thanks to each and every one of you.
We are entering a phase where we need to process all this information, as well as work on taking the game to another level.
As such, we will be putting the closed beta on hold as of today.

This was officially the last time World of Mercenaries was mentioned. In August 2012, City Interactive went into a major restructuration which resulted from the cancellation of a Sniper: Ghost Warrior game on iOS, as well as a reboot of Alien Fear and Enemy Front, whose developments were chaotic. The company was rebranded as CI Games and made the decision to only focus on AAA games. During the Enemy Front reboot, it was announced that City Interactive Bucharest would be in charge of developing the game’s multiplayer mode:

(…) Recently, we also decided to create an extensive multiplayer mode, in which our team in Romania is responsible for.

It is more than likely that World of Mercenaries was canceled during this process. In March 2013, Polish website Gram.pl confirmed that the game was officially canceled by CI Games during the report on the activities of the company:

“On February 13, 2013, the Issuer’s Management Board informed that due to the verification of the commercial potential of the game World of Mercenaries, the City Interactive S.A. Management Board has decided to stop development work on this game. In connection with the above, an impairment was made on the value of unfinished development work on World of Mercenaries for an amount of PLN 5.7 million.

Former members staffs from CI Games Bucharest founded Big Blue Studios in 2018.

Video:

Images:

PC / MAC

Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online [PC – Cancelled]

U64 Staff & Contributors

30-03-2024

No Comments

Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online (formerly known as Warhammer 40,000: Ultima Segmentum) is a cancelled Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game developed from 2007 to 2012 by Vigil Games and published by THQ, exclusively for PC. It was based on the miniature wargame of the same name.

Originally announced in March 2007 by Eurogamer, some details were shared in May 2008 by PC Gamer, while interviewing Joe Madureira and David Adams:

DA: The fact that Warhammer 40,000 is science fiction and not fantasy goes a long way to distinguish the game from other Fantasy MMOs, such as Warhammer. Besides the obvious visual differences, the setting also affects many aspects of the gameplay.
First off, unlike a fantasy MMO, guns play a major role in the dynamic of combat. The gameplay will be much more intense, focusing a lot on fire-fights, tactics, cover and general brutality.
Secondly, the sheer scale of Warhammer 40,000 lends itself to experiences players have never seen in an MMO. The term “Battleground” takes on an entirely different meaning. Our battlegrounds will be more epic in scale, more intense, and more true to a game with the tagline, “In the grim darkness of the future, there is only war.” This doesn’t preclude the more intimate battlegrounds that other MMOs have, only that we will also be including more grand affairs, that give a player the sense that they are immersed in an actual Warhammer 40,000 battle.
PCG: When is this game set in the 40k universe?
DA: The game is set in the 41st millennium, well after the Horus Heresy and more contemporary to the tabletop game.
PCG: The gameplay for the tabletop game focuses on squad combat and tactics. How are you translating these elements to an MMO?
DA: To preface, let me say that this game will be an RPG. That needs to be said, because when someone thinks of a Warhammer 40,000 MMO there is definitely some question as to the style of play: will it be an FPS, an RTS, or some other genre altogether? Relic has the RTS angle covered with the awesome Dawn of War series – we are making an RPG.
However, that doesn’t mean that aspects of the tabletop don’t influence the style of play we present to the player. As I mentioned earlier, just the inclusion of ranged weapons as a dominant form of combat changes the basic underlying mechanics of a typical MMO. This leads to similar tactics that you might employ in the tabletop, such as cover, suppression fire, flanking, etc… If you think about it, “Group” is a just another way of saying “Squad”.
PCG: How many different races are playable?
DA: We aren’t ready to release a full list just yet. Rest assured, all of the races important to Warhammer 40,000 lore (not to mention the fans) will be represented. We want each and every race to have weight in the game world, and feel distinct. We won’t include a race if we can’t do them justice.
PCG: What kinds of NPCs will the player encounter?
DA: We want to build a Warhammer 40,000 world that extends beyond the battlefield. This will involve cities (of all scales, types and sizes), exotic alien temples, Chaos shrines, deserted battlefields, mysterious ruins, ancient structures, drifting hulks in space, etc… Warhammer 40,000 is a universe filled with mystery – where the unknown lurks around every corner, ready to kill you. (…)
As for NPCs, all these fantastic locations will be brought to life with a wide range of NPCs: Imperial citizens, Chaos sycophants, xenos (40k for alien), Daemons from the warp, Eldar craftsman, oge raders, ancient killing machines, etc… I could go on forever.The point is, the game will be filled with NPCs both ready to help you and kill you.
PCG: What kind of missions can the player look forward to playing solo or with parties?
JM: We’ll have a large number of solo, party, and PvP missions. We are not going to try to force grouping, as some games have tried to do – that’s just annoying. MMORPGs are about giving the player options, and that means letting them play the game how they want to. Though, while it will be possible to solo for the life of your character, you’re definitely going to want some buddies watching your back in some of the missions, especially the PvP ones. Yes – there will be PvP and bloodshed.

The game was officially revealed at E3 2010 with a trailer and some more details:

We hadn’t heard much about Vigil Games’ Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online at all since it was initially announced, but at E3 2010 we got a glimpse of the game in trailer form. On the show floor, we caught up with Vigil’s Joe Madureira to try and get a few extra details.
Unfortunately not much is being discussed at this point, so it sounds like the game is still pretty far off. Madureira traced the history of the game up to its current state. “We started a couple years back, we heard that THQ had the license of a Warhammer 40,000 MMO and we were like, woah, we have to do that. We can’t let any other studio do this. We have a lot of fans at the studio and we were all over it. Luckily Darksiders was looking pretty cool at the time and THQ agreed that we would do a good job on it. It uses a modified version of the Darksiders engine, which is one of the reasons it looks so good for an MMO.” He wasn’t willing to give a release date.
One thing you can tell from the trailer is that you’ll be fighting on foot and within vehicles, as Warhammer fans would expect. On the style of play, Madureira said “We want MMO players to be familiar with it because we want that accessibility. But obviously because of the race, weapons and vehicles and things like that, the back-and-forth trading blows kind of thing just doesn’t work very well for this [intellectual property]. There’s definitely a little bit more of an action vibe.” Specifics regarding combat were not given out. (…)
The overall structure of the game, we’re told, will be familiar to MMO gamers. “You’re going to have quests, you’re going to go out and kill stuff, you’re going to group up, you’re going to join larger scale battles. It’s structured very much like a traditional MMO. I think the Dawn of War series does an amazing job with tactical, squad-based stuff, [Relic’s console-based action game] Space Marine is an awesome, visceral action adventure like one dude kicking ass. For us it’s really more of an RPG. You’re living the life of this dude not for the life of a console adventure but for hopefully months and maybe even years. What do these guys do off the battlefield? What are their interactions like with other races and in various worlds? It really gives you a unique perspective because it’s a hero in that universe, not just a unit.”

After another trailer shared at GamesCom 2010, the title will not resurfaced until January 2012 when rumors about its cancellation were spread. THQ quickly denied this, as we can read on Gamesindustry:

Saints Row publisher THQ has shelved all projects scheduled for release in 2014 and has cancelled Vigil-developed MMO Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online.
That’s according to games exec Kevin Dent, who suggests that the publisher is ultimately looking for a sale to save the troubled business.
Sources speaking to GamesIndustry.biz have suggested Dark Millennium Online, which was first announced in 2007, is currently being offered for sale to other companies. (…)
Industry chatter suggests THQ is looking for a sale. The company has a market cap of just over $45 million – trading in the company was at a new low on Friday of $0.65. CVs for established talent at the company are said to be increasing in the recruitment market. (…)
Update: THQ has denied the latest rumours and stated that there has been no decision made on the future of Dark Millennium Online.
In a statement given to press today, the company said: “THQ has not cancelled its 2014 line-up, and has not made any decisions regarding the planned MMO.”
“As part of the ongoing review of our business, we have made decisions to ensure that the company is strategically addressing the most attractive markets. As we have previously announced, we have dramatically reduced our commitment to the kids’ boxed games sector which leads to a significantly more focused release schedule moving forward.
“Our slate for calendar 2012 and beyond is focused on high-quality core games and continues to build our digital platform and business. We are excited for our pipeline of original and high-quality content along with our relationships with some of the best talent in the industry.”

Two months later, THQ decided to refocus the development of the project by dropping the Massively Mutliplayer Online part, according to Eurogamer:

THQ has “refocused” troubled MMO Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millenium. It’s now an “immersive single player and online multiplayer experience”, the publisher has announced.
Rumours circulated earlier this year that the game had been cancelled before THQ revealed it was looking for a business partner to help carry through its original vision for the title.
However, it’s now confirmed that the game’s scope is being scaled back and it’s going in a new direction.
“As previously announced, we have been actively looking for a business partner for the game as an MMO,” explained THQ CEO Brian Farrell.
“However, based on changing market dynamics and the additional investment required to complete the game as an MMO, we believe the right direction for us is to shift the title from an MMO to a premium experience with single and multiplayer gameplay, robust digital content and community features.
“Because we believe strongly in the high-quality and vast creative work that is in production, this is the right decision for both our portfolio and for gamers devoted to this powerful property.” (…)
As a result of the downsizing, a number of development staff have been laid off – 79 full-time employees at Vigil Games and 39 employees at Relic Entertainment.

Unfortunately, the game is claimed to be dead in December 2012 when THQ filed for bankruptcy. Kotaku was the first to detail those information:

When THQ filed for bankruptcy yesterday, they were very candid about their plans and even released a document with a chart on all of their upcoming games. That chart did not mention Warhammer: 40,000: Dark Millenium, a game that was supposed to be developed by a studio called Vigil (the company behind Darksiders). Earlier this year, THQ had announced that they were canceling the multiplayer elements of Dark Millenium and turning it into a single-player game.
I reached out to THQ’s PR folks for clarification. The resulting exchange was rather… baffling. I’ll post the whole thing so you can see for yourselves.
KOTAKU: Is Warhammer: 40,000: Dark Millenium still in production at Vigil?
PR: Development of that title ceased a while ago and that was announced in March 2012. No details of future titles from Vigil have been released at this time.
KOTAKU: In March, THQ announced that Warhammer: 40,000: Dark Millenium would be turned into a single-player game, not that development had ceased.
As [THQ CEO] Brian Farrell wrote in a press release at the time: “As previously announced, we have been actively looking for a business partner for the game as an MMO. However, based on changing market dynamics and the additional investment required to complete the game as an MMO, we believe the right direction for us is to shift the title from an MMO to a premium experience with single and multiplayer gameplay, robust digital content and community features.”
Are you telling me that wasn’t true? Development ceased entirely?
PR: Development of the DMO ceased, and beyond that we haven’t provided any updates on the status of the game or made any announcements of Vigil’s next project(s). We don’t have anything more to share at this point.
KOTAKU: Wait, didn’t you just tell me that development of the title ceased?
PR: I apologize, to clarify, development of the DMO ceased.
At this point, the PR representative CCed a second, internal THQ PR representative.
KOTAKU: What does DMO stand for?
THQ PR: Dark Millennium Online, our cancelled MMO.
KOTAKU: OK, so you’re saying the game was cancelled, not turned into a single-player game?
I just want to get this as clear as possible so our readers understand what’s going on and know whether or not to expect a single-player Dark Millenium game coming from Vigil at any point in the future.
THQ PR: I’m saying we have made any announcements about what the resulting game would be, if any. There’s nothing to share until Vigil is ready to announce its next project.
So what does this mean for the future of Warhammer: 40,000: Dark Millenium? My guess: nothing good. THQ’s bankruptcy filing documents say that Vigil is currently working on a game codenamed “Crawler.” We have no idea whether that’s referring to any sort of Warhammer game.

Vigil Games was shutdown a month later, after THQ didn’t manage to secure a new buyer for the company and their project codenamed Crawler during the auction, burying all chances of release for Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium.

In March 2014, VG24/7 got an interview of former THQ’s CEO Danny Bilson, speaking of various released and cancelled projects during the final years of the publisher. Many details about Dark Millennium were shared:

Vigil Games’ ill-fated Warhammer 40K MMO was in the works for about 18 months before Bilson joined THQ, he said. The executive was “a big supporter” of the project, which was a passion project led by former NCSoft staffer David Adams, and which Bilson told us was “really, really exciting”.
Unfortunately, the project kept going on the backburner, first for Darksiders and later for its sequel. But, Bilson said, by the time Darksiders 2 shipped Dark Millennium Online was “well on its way”.
“What happened was, in December of 2011 is sort of when the wheels came off for THQ, and there was a tremendous loss of money in the uDraw situation as well as some tough releases during that year. By the end of the year we had to make cuts,” he said.
Two factors contributed to DMO’s demise. The first is that MMO’s are tremendously expensive to develop. The second is that the MMO business had changed during the years of DMO’s incubation.
“I wanted to see what was happening with MMOs, because it was taking years to make and I was kind of anxiously waiting to see what would happen with the Star Wars MMO at EA, to see if the subscription model is over, or whether it would still work,” Bilson said.
THQ had been toying with several business models for the project but when Star Wars: The Old Republic “wasn’t instantly doing huge numbers and building towards World of Warcraft“, the publisher decided to pull out of the MMO space.
“We knew that weren’t going to be able to go subscription, and then we lost a ton of cash that year. There was no way we could gamble on the big bet like an MMO,” Bilson mourned.
Vigil wasn’t ready to give up; THQ announced the project was to be reworked as a multiplayer RPG.
“I think we were calling it Inquisitor; I can’t remember for sure. They started to design a game that was going to either be free-to-play or pretty low priced point of entry, that was basically going to be a digital PC title with lots of add-on content,” Bilson said.
“We were going to take some of the great stuff they had and redesign it. I remember some things that I really loved, like each player would have their own capital ship and your friends could have quarters on it. You collected all your stuff from your adventures on your ship, and you could customise it.
“Dark Millennium Online became much more like a Borderlands kind of game. It was a four-player co-op jump-in jump out, go on these missions with your friends. I was really excited about that. We felt we could finish that game and ship it within that year, which would have been summer of 2013. It would have been last summer.”
But in the last month of Bilson’s time at THQ, he found himself at loggerheads with some of his colleagues, who wanted the project to be scrapped altogether.
“They felt like, ‘Well, we wrote it off; we cancelled the game; we wrote off the investment; we don’t wanna invest any more in it.’ We had some really heated conversations over it. But ultimately I respectfully did what my boss and some of my partners wanted which was to let it go completely,” he said.
“There was a lot of game let go there that was pretty great. The combat system was really fun; it was fast, it was exciting. The art was really great, the world was coming along. I thought it had tremendous potential.
“I was really disappointed when that second iteration that we were calling Inquisitor got cancelled. That was on a Friday, and Monday – I believe the next work day – I left THQ.”
Bilson’s regret was almost palpable, but he admitted that the project just “didn’t make sense” as an expensive MMO.
“I think that business was over, but I thought the refactoring of it did make sense and that was what I was disappointed about. I think that we, as a team, probably held on to that longer than we should have,” he said.
“In the state that we were in, if that could really hit, it could change the company. Our models weren’t crazy, it had to just work and it could really have helped our company. Brian Farrell and myself and some of the other execs probably held on to that longer than we should in the hopes that it would be a big hit for us.
“But what the team built down in Austin was really exciting and I was very inspired by it. During the whole four and a half years I was there I felt the content they were building was really excellent.”

Since then, the Warhammer 40,000 license was used in other video games. The last one to date being Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, released in September 2024.

Videos:

Images:

Others, PC / MAC

Exarch [PC – Cancelled]

U64 Staff & Contributors

02-12-2023

No Comments

Exarch, also known as Exarch Online, is a cancelled futuristic fantasy Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game published by NCSoft and developed by Realm Interactive around 2002-2004, exclusively for the PC.

The game took place in the far future where the galaxy is in turmoil after the collapse of the Great Empire. The player must choose a side whether it’s helping the governors, called Exarch, rebuild civilization, or choosing another faction seeking anarchy and chaos.

It was build and partially based on another cancelled game which was Trade Wars: Dark Millenium.

Exarch was officially revealed in March 2003 by IGN, after the cancellation of previous Realm Interactive’s project, Trade Wars: Dark Millenium, in which several design ideas were going to be placed back:

Trade Wars: Dark Millennium, from Realm Interactive by way of NCsoft, once promised to transport players to an online world where science and fantasy meet. But although the title still promises to deliver a healthy mix of lasers and longswords, it will do so under a different name. Now known as Exarch Online, the game will still feature androids and dragons, as well as the titular Exarchs themselves. The game will feature the work of comic artist Joe Madureira, creator of Battle Chasers and former artist for The Uncanny X-Men.

In May of the same year, the project was showcased at E3. Both IGN and Gamespot wrote articles, sharing information on it. Thus, Gamespot wrote:

Exarch, a massively multiplayer online RPG based on the classic BBS game Trade Wars 2002, is currently in development by Realm Interactive. The game will be set in a universe that blends mystical, futuristic, and medieval elements together to create a unique aesthetic. Realm Interactive has enlisted the help of comic book artist Joe Madureira, whose past experience includes Uncanny X-Men, Battle Chasers, Excalibur, and Deadpool Limited, to conceive the look of the characters, creatures, and environments that will make up Exarch, in hopes of giving the game a distinct, well-defined sense of style.The game will take place far in the future, shortly after the collapse of the Great Empire, which had up until then benevolently ruled the known galaxy for nine millennia. Now, the galaxy is in turmoil as the remaining governors, known as Exarchs, scramble to salvage what is left. You’ll have to choose sides and either help the remaining governors rebuild the empire, or go the other way and help bring total chaos and anarchy to the galaxy. The developer claims that the different factions will play a big part in shaping the different social classes in the world of Exarch.The gameplay will be more akin to action RPGs like Blizzard’s Diablo series than your standard MMORPG. You’ll be fighting large swarms of monsters at a time, such as mutants, robots, dragons, and the undead, using a streamlined battle system to keep the pacing of the game at a good clip. There will be four different playable races and twelve different character classes for you to choose from and you’ll have ranged weapons, melee weapons, and magic attacks at your disposal to fend off enemies with.

They also added:

The game sets itself apart with fast-paced combat mechanics that give it a very Dungeon Siege-like feel. Like in a standard action RPG, you move your character around using the mouse and simply click on enemies to attack them, making Exarch very easy to pick up. The game’s 3D graphics feature impressive detail in the character models and environments. Currently, the developers at Realm Interactive plan on including four races in the game: wraiths, humans, gnomes, and golems. Each of the races will have three unique classes, but details are sketchy on the classes at this time.
Exarch mixes fantasy elements with technology and sci-fi, so expect a nice mix of medieval-style weapons like swords and axes along with firearms, cyber implants, and powered armor. The character demonstrated to us was a male wraith, with both a sword and a shotgun (which was used to nice effect against the mechanical skeletons in the caverns–each blast knocked the skeletons to the ground in a satisfying manner). The developers will encourage grouping by allowing each player in the game to have an aura effect. These can either bestow benefits on the party or inflict penalties on nearby enemies. Obviously, larger groups can enjoy the benefits of multiple overlapping auras.The game’s questing system also sets it apart from other massively multiplayer games. All the quests are instanced, but instead of having strictly scripted missions, the developers are allowing for a number of different options to play out in each quest. For example, you and a friend could play the same quest–an old man asking you for help rescuing his daughter from a dungeon–separately. Your quest might play out in standard fashion, with you working your way through a cave and rescuing the girl. In your friend’s version, the girl might end up transforming into a Succubus, forcing him to kill her at the end of the quest. In yet another version, the cave entrance could collapse, necessitating that you find an alternate exit from the dungeon. Or any number of different permutations of the mission’s optional parameters could occur, further adding to the variety.The game is still early in development, but the developers of Exarch are aiming to create a game that will be among the easiest massively multiplayer role-playing games to pick up. Its mix of fantasy and technology should also help set it apart from a genre that is getting more crowded by the day.

For its part, IGN said:

Exarch is a massive online game that eerily resembles a popular single player game that has a multi-player component – Diablo II. It is a fast paced action role playing game where players will enter this beautiful fantasy world rich with lore and battle their way through hundreds of enemies and take on numerous tasks. There are no tradeskills, as this is a very combat oriented game.
When I first sat down to view this game, my initial impression was that this was a fantasy game with typical fantasy elements, that being swords, staff, old fashioned armor and the traditional monsters. I did a double take, though, when I noticed one of the characters pulling out a gun and shooting an monsters head off. Guns, I asked? That is when I discovered that while this area they were showing me had a distinctly fantasy feel to it, the game as a whole has a futuristic setting.
During the demonstration, one level 5 character took on about 15 monsters at a time and was one hitting them all over the place. We were told this won’t be typical, but it will happen. The combat was very fast paced to watch and it seemed like the character was always moving, with very little down-time.
Exarch is scheduled for release in 2004, so look for a beta around then as well.

After E3, the title, however, faded into total obscurity and was only mentionned when its cancellation was confirmed on Blue’s News, in July 2004, more than year after its last and only presentation:

Word from NCsoft is that Exarch, the MMORPG previously known as Trade Wars: Dark Millennium, is “on hold.” Noticing that www.exarchonline.com and www.realminteractive.com are both out of commission, Frans wrote to NCsoft’s David Swofford asking about the game’s status, receiving the following reply: “The current situation with Exarch is this. The Exarch project is currently on hold here at NCsoft. At the present time, NCsoft is still determining how, when and if Exarch or any of its technology will be utilized in the future. For now the Exarch team, that was based in Phoenix, AZ under the company banner of Realm Interactive, has relocated to Austin, TX and is working on other projects at the NCsoft office.”

In 2005, NCSoft announced Dungeon Runners, another MMORPG which used some concepts and gameplay originally intended for Exarch, but without the futuristic setting. It was released in May 2007, but shutted down on January 1st, 2010, less than three years after its release. Joe Madureira left NCSoft, somewhere in 2005, during the transition between the cancellation of Exarch and the beginning of Dungeon Runner’s development. Some of his work for Exarch was retained for Dungeon Runners, alongside brief work on Tabula Rasa, although no credits is given by NCSoft.

Joe Madureira’s debut in video games was tumultuous, to say the least. After participating in the creation of artwork for X-Men: The Ravages of Apocalypse, Marvel Super Heroes and Gekido, he founded TriLunar in 2002 with Greg Peterson and Timothy Donley and worked on an action-adventure game called Dragonkind, which was quickly canceled, due to a lack of publishers, before joining the development of Exarch. He subsequently founded Vigil Games with other former Realm Interactive employees, including David Adams, and enjoyed success with the Darksiders franchise. Today, he is at the head of Airship Syndicate Entertainment.

Video:

Images:

Others, PC / MAC

Trade Wars: Dark Millenium [PC – Cancelled]

U64 Staff & Contributors

02-12-2023

No Comments

Trade Wars: Dark Millenium is a cancelled Massively Mutliplayer Online Real-Time Strategy game developed from 2000 to 2003 for the PC, by Realm Interactive, and published by NCSoft. It was based on the video game serie of the same name.

Trade Wars: Dark Millenium was set in a universe made up of planetary and space environments. Players would have controlled different cultures, and established trade routes, formed corporations, and built empires. It would also have involved mining resources, waging war against enemy empires, and engaging in piracy. It was going to feature four different races as we can read on this site:

1. Imperial Corporations – The social order of this culture is roughly designed around the imperialistic Japanese culture, in that they started out as an empire composed of individual houses, with one house being the “imperial” house. The houses evolved into corporations, with the imperial house only serving as a figure head for the “imperialists.” Their units are the most weapon laden in the game, with brute-force and overwhelming arms being their central advantage.
2. Cultists(Name Still Pending) – This is a culture of religous fanatics. They worship “Those who are beyond time,” or the Ja’Kaal. This entire culture is an advent of a secretive order in the universe known as the Melah’Teh. The cultists worshiping the Ja’Kaal (a group of 10 entomed prophets, who dwell within a Melah’Teh temple that is outside the flow of time) create a great deal of psychic energy that the Melah’Teh are able to use to communicate with the Ja’Kaal. The only people the cultists hate more than eachother, are outsiders. Many of the leaders of this culture, over the centuries, have been fallen Melah’Teh. With them, these fallen Melah’Teh have brought forbidden technology, and for that reason the cultists are endowed with certain technologies that no one else in the game is. Their primary mode of attack is stealth and suprise. They can cloak, move fast, have strong shields that can regenerate quickly (there will be other types of units).
3. Clans(Name still pending) – The clans are a mysterous group of humans that were discovered living on the borderworlds thousands of years ago by the empire. The empire launched a campaign to conquer the borderworlds, but the Melah’Teh interfered with the invasion for their own mysterious reasons. In the end, the Melah’Teh were able to negotiate a treaty between the Clans and the empire. Clansmen are marked by the fact that almost all members of their society are infected with a symbiotic host. This host, among other things, allows them to communicate with animals/creatures. They are going to be sort of like beastmasters, calling in creatures from the map to fight on their side (yes, even space creatures).
4. Neophytes – Neophytes are a bizarre mix of man/machine/death. They were started by an insane empress who ruled the imperial throne thousands of years ago. She was obsessed with the notion of immortality, and was convinced that through a merging of man and machine it could be accomplished. In time, she was able to develop the Anathasia device… A device that could be implanted into the human body and allow them to live an extended life. After ordering all citizens of the empire to be implanted with an Anathasia device, which her brother later discovered allowed the individuals mind to be controlled, her brother overthrew here from the imperial throne and banished her. A strange side effect of the Anathasia device was that it allowed recently deceased human beings to be re-animated. Neophytes are like the borg meets undead. They are a matriarchical society in that women are more responsive to the anathasia device, and live longer than men do. Their special is in their versitility… The ability to combine certain types of unit to form other types of units. The ability to transfer “abilites” from one unit to another… and the ability to get killed, and then be regenerated by the anathasia device.

The game was officially revealed in 2001 by Gamespot:

Realm Interactive, a new online game developer based in Arizona, has announced the production of Trade Wars: Dark Millennium. The massively multiplayer real-time strategy game is a modernized version of the popular online bulletin board system (BBS) game Trade Wars 2002. Realm recently purchased the rights to the Trade Wars name from Epic Interactive Strategy, and it plans to release Trade Wars: Dark Millennium in late 2001.
Trade Wars: Dark Millennium will be set in a persistent 3D universe made up of planetary and space environments.

In April 2001, Gamespot got in touch with Game Designer David Adams:

GS: Will Trade Wars Millennium restrict the player to a single ship, like the original game, or will the player be able to control multiple ships and units?
DA: Unlike the original, Dark Millennium will allow the player to control multiple units. The combat is real-time tactical combat. Because it is more tactically oriented, the amount of units that a player can effectively control is much less than in a traditional RTS. Currently, the max number of units a player is allowed to control at one time is 20.
GS: Describe some of the main tasks for the player in the game. Will the balance of space trading, combat, and planet building be similar to that of the Trade Wars BBS game?
DA: The balance of these different activities will be shifted in Dark Millennium, with more emphasis on combat and empire building and less emphasis on those activities that are often redundant. One example is trade. In the original, trade was one of the primary sources of growth and expansion. However, trade wasn’t very entertaining. Players wanted to trade so that they could do the things that were entertaining, such as building planets, corporations, and sector defenses. In fact, players eventually created helpers to automate the task of trading so they could concentrate on the fun stuff. As a result of this, trade in Dark Millennium will be highly automated.
In addition to combat and empire building, players will be concerned with customizing units, harvesting resources (some hostile–for example, harvesting creatures for resources), diplomacy, growing their heroes and avatar, and of course etching their names in the annals of history.
GS: Tell us a little about how the game universe is organized. Will it be divided into distinct sectors of space or zones, or will the player travel continuously across the map?
DA: The universe will be divided into sectors, similar to in the original Trade Wars, with jump gates connecting the different sectors together. In addition to this, there will be planets in the universe, and when players are in the orbital sector of a planet, they will be able to go to the surface of that planet. Because we have sectors that exist both in space and on land, there will be two different theaters of combat in the game, each with its own units. In space, the player will be in control of dreadnaughts, cruisers, fighters, and other ships, while on land, the player controls titans, tanks, hovercrafts, marines, and so on. There will be some crossover of units, meaning that the smallest units in space (such as fighters) will also be able to fight on land.
GS: When will the game be complete? Do you plan to have an open beta test?
DA: Our current target date for completion is Q1 2002. The beta test will be toward the end of the summer and beginning of September. We currently plan to have a closed beta consisting of approximately 1,000 testers.

After that, the project went silent for almost a year, before another interview of David Adams, this time by IGN, was published in February 2002:

As an introduction to Trade Wars: Dark Millenium, please give our readers a summary of how you see it. How would you categorize it in terms of its genre or mix of genres?
David Adams: Dark Millenium is a massive online science-fantasy role-playing game. It combines Diablo-like gameplay with the persistence of EverQuest and a dash of StarCraft. The player assumes the role of hero extraordinaire in a dark futuristic world where technology and mysticism intertwine. The hero’s adventures will take them to alien planets, uncharted sectors of space, deep into the bowels of ancient catacombs and through the ruins of derelict space hulks.
What kind of backstory have you developed to set the stage for players as they begin? And what are your plans with respect to the storyline within the game itself?
David Adams: Nine millennia ago, there was a cataclysmic event that plunged mankind into a massive dark age. For thousands of years there was chaos and anarchy until mankind finally united under an imperial banner. For nearly seven millennia, the empire ruled mankind, maintaining relative stability, and allowing it to grow and prosper among the stars. Now the empire has crumbled, leaving Terra in ruin, and leaving mankind in utter strife and chaos.
Somewhere in the midst of all this, a pesky little prophecy was brewed up which said that another cataclysm would come at the end of the tenth millennium. It is towards the end of the tenth and final millennium in which we place our scene, fondly referred to by some as the Dark Millennium.
The story of mankind’s final hour will be played out over the course of several years. We plan to integrate the story into the game as much as possible through player prophecy, in-game events, story line driven quests and missions, etc… Of course, fate holds no assurance, and that which drives men to ruin can easily drive them to greatness. The cataclysm may not be a certainty after all…
Will it be possible to play characters of different races and classes? What are the primary character attributes, and can they be modified or customized to any extent?
David Adams: We currently have four different playable races in the game, and plan to add more as time permits. Each race has four unique character classes, for a total of 16 different character classes.
The primary attributes for a character are Strength, Agility, Toughness and Power. The character class dictates starting values for these attributes.
Please tell our readers about spaceships. What types will there be, and in what ways will players be able to customize and upgrade them? How expensive will they be?
David Adams: The player starts the game on their race’s home planet. At some point, they will earn enough money to purchase a space ship, which can be used to explore space as well as other planets. Each race within the game will have a number of space ships available exclusively to them, in addition to a number of generic ships that are available cross-race.
Players will be able to get a bare bones ship pretty early in the game, since much of the universe is in space and on other planets. As they progress, they will be able to purchase ships of varying size and power, selling their old ship at a substantially discounted rate. Ships also have pre-requisites that prevent players from cruising around in spaceships that are out of their league.
Equipping a spaceship with custom components is almost identical to equipping your avatar. Weapon Systems, Shield Generators, Power Cores, can all be purchased and equipped. In addition, multiple hull-upgrades exist for each ship, which increase armor points, equipment slots, and cargo holds for the ship.
How much variety are you planning in terms of different weapons, armor and other equipment, and will there be any rare or unique items? And how will such apparatus come into players’ possession?
David Adams: There is going to be a wide variety of equipment available to the players, both non-magical and magical. Since Dark Millennium is science-fantasy, these items will range from swords to power armor, from magical staffs to cybernetic implants. Items will also vary in rarity, from common to artifact (artifact is our version of super-rare).
Much of the equipment in Dark Millennium is power based (power armor, power sword, laser rifle) and requires energy to operate. The player will equip cybernetic implants to power these devices, and will have to manage energy much like a spell-caster manages mana.
What range of computer-controlled adversaries can players expect to face? Do you have any plans to vary the AI or to do anything else to reduce or prevent camping of specific opponents?
David Adams: There will be several NPC races in the game, which you can kill for experience and treasure. One advantage of building RTS game play into our world is that we are going to reuse the RTS AI to control the creatures in the RPG world. Creatures will have their own private agendas, and goals that will drive their actions. Through the course of carrying out these objectives, the structure and location of these NPC races will dynamically change. If you wander through a zone and find a Whisker camp (Whiskers are one of the NPC races in the game), proceed to slaughter the whiskers, burn their camp to the ground, and salt their fields (ok, maybe a little over dramatic), there is no guarantee they will be in the same place next time you return.

After entering beta, it was announced in July 2002 that an agreement with publisher NCSoft had been signed:

NCsoft Corporation, the world’s largest independent online game company announced today that it will publish Trade Wars: Dark Millennium (working title) from Realm Interactive.
Trade Wars features a fast-paced action RPG combat experience set in an enormous virtual world where players are able to explore the vastness of space as well as mysterious uncharted planets, a first for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) genre.
“Trade Wars: Dark Millennium is set on both planetary and space environments that look as if they came straight out of a science fiction movie,” said NCsoft President Kim Taek-Jin. “Gamers who are used to fantasy online games will soon be able to experience a new form of entertainment with Trade Wars. With its unique action oriented role-playing style and heavy emphasis on player questing, we believe it will significantly grow the online game market.”
“We’re thrilled to be part of the NCsoft publishing family,” said Salvatore Sferlazza, COO of Realm Interactive. “NCsoft has a proven track record in publishing subscription-based online games. We can’t imagine a better partner for helping us launch Trade Wars to a global marketplace.”

Unfortunately, this was the last time that Trade Wars: Dark Millenium was mentionned in the press. In March 2003, NCSoft announced that the game was rebooted into another MMORPG named Exarch:

Trade Wars: Dark Millennium, from Realm Interactive by way of NCsoft, once promised to transport players to an online world where science and fantasy meet. But although the title still promises to deliver a healthy mix of lasers and longswords, it will do so under a different name. Now known as Exarch Online, the game will still feature androids and dragons, as well as the titular Exarchs themselves. The game will feature the work of comic artist Joe Madureira, creator of Battle Chasers and former artist for The Uncanny X-Men.

Exarch was also canceled, in July 2004. The development team of Realm Interactive, which was primarly established in Phoenix, Arizona, was relocated to Austin, Texas, by owner NCSoft, and some of the work done was used in MMORPG Dungeon Runners, released in 2007. Both Joe Madureira and David Adams left the company and formed in 2005 Vigil Games, well known for the Darksiders franchise. Later, with the shutdown of Vigil Games, David Adams is now at the head of Gunfire Games, while Joe Madureira lead Airship Syndicate Entertainment.

Images: