If there has been a game as of late with many ups and downs in terms or cancellations it has been Shadow Realms. It is this fact that I personally have stayed a little guarded when it came to the game as rumors about cancellations of the project by BioWare and/or EA have been all over the place shortly after the official announcement near the end of last year. I am kind of glad that I kept myself a bit distanced from Shadow Realms now as the game has been officially canceled by BioWare Austin and EA. Sad news for some and kind of background noise for others who were like me and didn't get too close to have felt the horrible sting of the cancellation.
Here is the official announcement ending the development of Shadow Realms.
|
Today I'm sharing some important news about Shadow Realms and our BioWare Austin studio. We've made the decision to not move forward with development of Shadow Realms. We fully recognize that this news is disappointing to some of our fans, so I want to explain more behind this decision. While the team did amazing work on the game concept and we got lots of great feedback from our fans at events and through other game testing, right now there are other projects for the team to work on within the BioWare studios for the coming year and beyond. We've got an incredibly talented team here at the Austin studio, and they are excited and already deep on new projects within the BioWare family, ones that will make some great BioWare games even better. These include additional ongoing enhancements to the award-winning Dragon Age: Inquisition, as well as the next game in the Mass Effect series and other new IP. But the biggest focus for our team in BioWare Austin will be on Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. As every Star Wars™ fan knows, this is a massive year in the Star Wars universe. We have some great plans for expanding this epic game this year, and look forward to sharing the news about those plans with our players in the coming weeks. For all the people that registered for the Shadow Realms Closed Alpha, we’re working on a way to say thank-you for signing up. To all those players that gave us feedback at Gamescom and PAX, and those that shared their thoughts and impressions in the past months, we thank you for being part of the conversation. Jeff Hickman General Manager, BioWare Austin |
Wait?!? What?!? So they canceled this new IP to work on DAI, Mass Effect, SWtoR, and/or a new IP? How does that work? Or did they think they could slip that by and no one would catch it because "OMFGs they mentioned SWtoR!"? Honestly, what was wrong with Shadow Realms that it had to be canceled for other IPs? After all of those expensive live action trailers to tease the game and all the hype all that is going to happen is it is going to be canceled? Great way to spend money there people…great way…
No don't read all of that as me being personally upset about Shadow Realms getting the ax. It happens now and then in all forms of media but I call BS on it being so the team can better focus on other IPs; one of which being a NEW IP! There had to be something else that no one wants to bring up. Either that or all parties involved only want to play it safe and work on what they can guarantee money to flow in with and not make a whole new thing that could do the same. Something doesn't fully add up here. I'm not expecting an answer on it as it is most likely an accounting or political thing but at least don't try to song and dance your way out of it. Especially when you admit you had rabid fans looking forward to Shadow Realms.
What are your thoughts? Let the world know below.
