World of Mercenaries [PC - Cancelled]

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.

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