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Day 1 Studios

Reign Of Thunder is a cancelled mech arena combat game that was in development by Day 1 Studios around 2011 – 2012, planned to be released on PC as a Free to Play title. The team previously worked on the Mechwarrior series for Microsoft (with a cancelled Mechwarrior 3 pitch), so fans were quite interested in a new mech game by Day 1 Studios.

The game was going to support up to 16 online players, with fully customizable mechs to fight in deathmatch, team deathmatch and objective based modes. As we can read in their (now offline) official website:

“Reign of Thunder is a free-to-play fast paced multiplayer action oriented Mech combat game currently slated for the PC. The game features deep customization options allowing players to create and customize Mechs to match their play style, choosing from thousands of weapon, shield, and gadget combinations. Players can also join factions and form clans to support community engagement and team play.”

Some more details were shared in an interview by Neowin:

“Ever since we shipped MechAssault 2 we’ve been eager to return to the Mech genre and really take advantage of current generation hardware. Recently a window of opportunity to do this presented itself so we’ve jumped into this game with incredible enthusiasm. It’s been something we’ve talked about doing for a while and now we’re finally able to bring this opportunity to life.
One of our goals for Reign of Thunder was to create a property we could have ownership of. The other universes are well developed, but the next step for Day 1 Studios as an organization was to create something we own and have control over. Reign of Thunder was the next logical step in our business plans. Additionally, we wanted to take the game in a creative direction that just would fit some of the licensed products.
At the moment the bulk of the gameplay experience revolves around online competition. There is a training mode to allow players a chance to familiarize themselves with how their Mech controls and get to know the maps. At the moment all of our efforts are being directed towards the online competitive experience.”

Reign of Thunder was announced in February 2012, but just a year later Day 1 Studios were bought out by Wargaming, renamed to “Wargaming Chicago-Baltimore” and the game was put aside to focus the team on World of Tanks console ports.

Thanks to Daniel Nicaise for the contribution!

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Microsoft, Xbox 360

MechAssault 3 [Xbox 360 – Cancelled]

monokoma

21-09-2020

No Comments

MechAssault 3 is a cancelled sequel to the MechAssault series, which seems to have been pitched by Day 1 Studios to Microsoft for their Xbox 360 (or Xbox One) console. The first 2 MechAssault titles were also developed by Day 1 Studios and were published by Microsoft for their original Xbox (MechAssault in 2002 and MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf in 2004).

We can assume MechAssault 3’s gameplay would have been similar to previous chapters, with players using mechs, tanks and other vehicles to resolve missions in a sci-fi military setting. The third chapter was never officially announced by the company but fans found out about it thanks to some pages from a MechAssaul III promotional book, uploaded online by the creative agency which helped Day 1 Studios to pitch the game. Some details can be extracted from these pages, as we can read on Sarna:

“MechAssault 3 would have taken 300 years after the events of MechAssault 2, which would put us way beyond anything we’ve ever seen from official sources and certainly way beyond the current Dark Age/IlClan era that we’re in now, narratively speaking. And the future is weird. The Clans are still around, with Clan Wolf still being in separate Warden and Crusader factions. Clan technology has also advanced considerably, with Elemental power armor replaced by sleek, sexy, almost anime-style power armor with animalistic features.”

We don’t have any more information on this canned game, but we know it must have been pitched before 2012. In February 2012 Day 1 Studios announced a different mech game, titled “Reign of Thunder” which may have been an evolution of their MechAssault 3 pitch. Just a year later (January 2013) the team was then acquired by Wargaming (the creator of World of Tanks), they were renamed to “Wargaming Chicago-Baltimore” and Reign of Thunder vanished forever.

Thanks to Mr.Talida for the contribution!

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Microsoft, Playstation 3 (PS3), Sony, Xbox 360

Silent Scope Reboot [Xbox 360, PS3 – Cancelled]

monokoma

29-03-2016

1 Comment

The original Silent Scope was developed by Konami for arcades in 1999, with multiple console ports for Dreamcast, PS2 and Xbox. The game was an on-rail shooter in which to use a sniper rifle to hunt down terrorists, rewarding players with higher score for precise kills and making it more slow-paced than traditional light gun shooters. The game was quite popular and Konami soon developed two sequels, with “Silent Scope 2: Dark Silhouette” released in 2000 and “Silent Scope EX” in 2001.

Most people don’t know that in 2011 Konami wanted to create a reboot of the Silent Scope franchise and asked to Day 1 Studios (the team that had recently worked on F.E.A.R. 3, now known as Wargaming Chicago-Baltimore) to work on a Silent Scope third person shooter for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. The idea was to make this new Silent Scope a stealth based game, as a more arcadey Metal Gear Solid: set in the near-future, this reboot would also have had sci-fi elements as the main enemy that could move so fast that he appears to teleport around.

Day 1 Studios were able to create an early prototype, with a playable demo in a shopping mall to test how the game would have been played, but in december 2011 Konami decided to cancel the project and the studio had to laid off 95% of the team. This was the end for the Silent Scope reboot.

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Microsoft, Others, PC / MAC, Playstation 3 (PS3), Sony, Xbox 360

TR2N: Liberation [Cancelled Pitch – PS3, Xbox 360, PC]

Liam Robertson

21-12-2015

1 Comment

VIDEO:

Tron: Evolution by Propaganda Games was the official tie-in game for the Tron: Legacy movie, but before Disney published this one for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC in 2008 they asked to different studios to pitch a game for their TRON sequel. The film was still internally known with the WIP-title of TR2N and one of these prototypes was made by Day 1 Studios, a team mostly known for the MechAssault series. In the short pitch demos created by D1S in just a few weeks it was possible to play similar scenes to the ones seen in the first official Tron: Legacy trailer from Sandiego Comic Con 2008: a multiplayer racing track and a single player Identity Disc combat sequence (which had 2 playable versions, one of which was built around a rhythm mechanic). Unfortunately Disney wanted to have a fully complete game in less than a year, to be sure to release it as soon as the movie was out. In the end they greenlight the pitch by Propaganda Games and the TR2N prototype by Day 1 Studios was not developed further.

Microsoft, Playstation 3 (PS3), Sony, Xbox 360

Gotham by Gaslight Game [Cancelled – Xbox 360 / PS3]

U64 Staff & Contributors

02-09-2012

3 Comments

As we can read in Wikipedia, Gotham by Gaslight is a DC Comics one-shot comic, considered to be the first Elseworlds story, where DC Comics heroes are taken out of their usual setting and put into alternate timelines or realities. In Gotham by Gaslight, Batman is set in 1889, in a sort of steampunk europe.

A game based on Gotham by Gaslight was pitched by Day 1 Studios, and an early prototype was created. Some menù concept arts are and a video of the proto are saved in below, to preserve its existence. Thanks to Supererogatory and MitsuharuSan for the contributions!

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