First Breakaway, Now Crucible
Remember Breakaway? Don’t lie, no one remembers that game. I could have told you it was a series of erotic hockey novels and you would have believed me. It was a doomed project from capitalist behemoth Amazon. Now, Crucible is joining said game in the halls of oblivion a mere six months after its initial release. This means that New World is the only project left, a fact that surely isn’t keeping any of the devs up at night or anything. There’s definitely no frantic resume surgery being performed over at Amazon Game Studios. So why the hell does this keep happening?
Breakaway was such a troubled child that it was never actually released. Instead, Amazon toiled away at this “cacophonous trend-vomiting” creation for a couple years before pulling the plug. It was supposed to have elements of base building, arena combat, and built-in streamer/fan interaction tools. The game was somehow both ahead of its time and fatally late to the party. Fully doomed, in other words. But what about Crucible? How could a “team-based action shooter” fueled by mid-match upgrades and resource collection fail – a question I more or less answered just by typing out that last statement?
In case the answer didn’t Sherlock you right in the jewels before darting around a corner, Amazon has a bit of a buffet problem. Both of these games sound like they were designed by a series of focus groups lured into small rooms by bear traps made of free food and gift cards. Or worse yet, a crack team of marketing gurus. A game with one good idea might succeed, whereas a live service project made of six bad ideas will not. But hey, at least they still have New World, right???
Hahahaha nope! New World is an almost-MMO set in a generic fantasy world with, you guessed it, a robust crafting system! Join up with a faction and defend your territory against invading armies! Hunt monsters and animals for resources! Engage in PvP or just craft forever! If you missed the beta window, don’t worry! You’ve played this exact game a dozen times already! Better luck next time, Amazon. Maybe the cloud gaming service you just announced will carve out some space amidst a market that’s definitely not bursting with titanic competitors.