Sometimes, launching a game without much hype has reaped its fair share of benefits. Just look at the sleeper hit that is Apex Legends from a year ago, and how it is still soaring today.
Unfortunately, it isn’t the case with everyone.
But while one would argue that it was a matter of bad luck and timing, one can also argue that Amazon Games’ Crucible was also due to some poor planning and a lack of proper testing.
Relentless, the studio under Amazon Games’ umbrella, has decided to pull the curtains on Crucible and bring it back to closed beta. This comes just a month after the free-to-play team-based hero shooter launched, and in those weeks, we saw the game pare down its three game modes to just its MOBA-style Heart of the Hives mode.
As stated in a blog update earlier this week, franchise lead Colin Johanson stated that the dev team has made this decision in hopes of “providing the best possible experience” for players. Crucible is still on Steam, though the Relentless devs will actually dedicate some time each week during this closed beta phase “playing [the game] with the community and soliciting feedback”.
This decision was no doubt a tough but necessary one, as Crucible clearly looked and played like an unfinished game in its initial launch. Despite trying out some genuine innovations in diversifying game modes to accommodate to MOBA, battle royale and classic shooter genres, one could say Crucible might have lost its identity in trying to pander to compete with the likes of Overwatch, Valorant, Fortnite and Smite altogether.
Only time will tell if the decision to go back to the drawing board will spell the beginning of a redemption arc for Crucible and Amazon Games, or not at all.
Marion has a serious RPG addiction. Sometimes it bleeds into real life; he forgets to sleep because he thinks he has a Witcher’s body clock. Forgive him in advance if he suddenly blurts out terms such as “Mind Flayer” and “Magic Missile”, because never once does he stop thinking about his next Dungeons & Dragons game.
Trinity Sun
Natalie
Si Jia
