Beta + Cancelled mmo Video Games

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BattleCry is a cancelled Free-To-Play multiplayer Third Person Hero Shooter game developed only for PC by BattleCry Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks between 2012 and 2015. The game was set in an alternate 20th century universe where a cataclysmic world war forced powerful empires to ban gun powder under a treaty named “The Black Powder Treaty”. Following this, the world gave birth to the Pansophic Revolution – a golden age of industrial manufacturing and design. But as technology advanced, tensions reignited and the world faced a war once more. All battles are settled head-on by elite teams of chosen warriors from all over the world, with each member specializing in either high-tech ranged gadgetry or sophisticated melee weapons.

The art direction of the game was designed by the late Viktor Antonov.

The first information regarding BattleCry was hinted in October 2012 where Bethesda Softworks announced the creation of BattleCry Studios as one of its new subsidiaries:

Battlecry Studios is a new development house being built in Austin by Zenimax Media’s Bethesda Softworks. Battlecry will be under the direction of Rich Vogel, a former VP at BioWare Austin, who most recently was an Executive Producer on Star Wars: The Old Republic.
Actually, for the past ten years Vogel’s been working on MMOs, at both Electronic Arts and Sony Online Entertainment. Coincidentally, ZeniMax Online is working on The Elder Scrolls Online, but it would seem that’s not what Battlecry is up to, since it’s working on an “unannounced project.”

BattleCry was officially revealed in May 2014 as we can read on USA Today:

The Elder Scrolls publisher Bethesda Softworks is jumping into the free-to-play business.
The company unveiled Battlecry, a 32-person online multiplayer combat game that will launch on PCs in 2015.
Designer Viktor Antonov, best known for his work with Half-Life 2 and Dishonored, is working on the game, which takes place near the dawn of the 20th century. Gun powder has been banned following a world war, paving the way for a revolution in industrial manufacturing. As a new war bubbles up, elite squads of fighters engage in battle in a variety of WarZones.
Players choose warriors with their own unique weapons and skillsets. The game features three classes: the Enforcer, the ranged Tech Archer and the speedy Duelist. Weapons include swords that can turn into shields, high-powered bows and blades wielding electro-static energy.

Further details and gameplay videos were shared at E3 2014. Thus, PCWorld wrote:

There’s been quite a land-grab lately in the “multiplayer-only melee combat” genre. On the relatively realistic side of the spectrum we have Chivalry: Medieval Warfare and War of the Roses. Progressing more to the arcade end of things we have the recently released War of the Vikings.
And now Bethesda is making a play into the market with third-person action game BattleCry. If you’ll allow me to compare to a separate genre here—if Chivalry is Call of Duty and War of the Roses is Battlefield, BattleCry is straight-up Team Fortress 2.
BattleCry is fast, with little time for thought. It’s cartoony. It’s pure arcade silliness.
The game’s classes are all distinctive both in abilities and in silhouette. There’s the aforementioned Enforcer, a hulking figure replete with transforming sword, or the much more diminutive Duelist, who can cloak to escape combat situations.
You zip around the map at breakneck speeds, leap incredible distances, occasionally grapple through the air from point to point, and then arrive at the battle to swing your sword wildly with about ten other teammates. BattleCry falls prey to the same problem as Chivalry and War of the Roses/Vikings in that melee combat is inherently hard to replicate in games, especially in multiplayer. Instead you end up with a rough approximation of what sword fighting is like.
In our demo I’d say that skill and strategy mattered far less than which team brought a larger number of players to the fight. If you’re on your own, you’re probably doomed. If your group of three meets up with a group of five enemies, you’re probably doomed. If you’re evenly matched…well, then things get interesting. Then, the composition of your group can matter a whole lot.
I found the most fun playing the Duelist. Being able to uncloak and stab enemies in the back while they were busy fighting my comrades felt like a definite advantage, and it was more precise than spamming the attack button like the Enforcer class. The Tech Archer was also a lot of fun—here I was kitted out with a bow and throwing knives, which again felt more skill-based.
But it’s arcadey. These 32-player battles move fast, and there’s not a lot of reason to sit still and plan out attacks. You throw your units into the meat grinder and hope your faction comes out on top.
(…)
There’s not a lot to the game yet, but the game’s also at least six months from even entering a beta phase, which is slated for 2015. This was but a first taste of the game, and a short one at that. BattleCry will be free, though, so nothing’s stopping you from busting out your PC and giving it a shot whenever it releases. You’d better practice your snappiest salute—I’ll be looking for it, presumably sometime next year.

There were a total of 5 playable classes within 3 factions in BattleCry. Here are the factions with some information:

The Imperial Marines:
With the creation of the Black Powder Treaty, the Royal Marines were chosen to represent the United Kingdom in the WarZones. Devasted by the aftermath of global war, the British saw the fragility of their far flung Empire. They see the Black Powder Treaty and WarZones as way to legitimize their Empire as is and hold onto it without the high costs of all-out war. Descended from the famous red coated soldiers of the Napoleanic and Crimean Wars, these hardened Commandos meld their 18th century traditions to the needs of the modern WarZones. By staunchly supporting the creation of the WarZones they have earned an image as world leaders, which they will defend no matter what it takes.
The Cossack Empire:
Terribly headstrong and fearless, the Cossacks transformed villages and outposts into special military estates similar to the knights of medieval Europe. The Black Powder treaty gave the Cossacks a tremendous military advantage over their foes and their former lords. They declared complete independence, rebelled simultaneously against the Polish and Russian kings, won and ceased to be a vassal nation. After creating an independent Cossack Kingdom they decided to fight the Imperial Marines in the WarZones as they vied for control over the Bosphorus and the Black Sea.

The last known faction was the Han Republic which was announced later without information regarding their lore.

Regarding the 5 playable classes, here is what we could read about them:

There are five classes within the game—Enforcer, Gadgeteer, Brawler, Infiltrator and Ranger. The Enforcers are the basic tanks, Gadgeteers are supports with guns, Brawlers are the melee dps, Infiltrators are the game’s take assassins and the Rangers are the bow-wielding ranged dps.

After going silent for a whole year, the game was showcased again at E3 2015 where signing for a closed beta was also announced. IGN wrote:

(…) For example, the Infiltrator class moves faster than, say, the brutish Enforcer class and can briefly turn invisible to deliver sweet stealthy death. Unfortunately, they also seem to have less health and deal slightly less damage per blow than other classes, so if you ever find yourself outnumbered, you’ll maybe get one kill in before the other team literally tears you apart. This means you have to play strategically – stalking lone players for quick, easy kills or relying on your teammates to run cover as you slip in and out of combat.
By contrast, Enforcers are slow-moving meat shields. They can stand and defend a capture point all day, but if you try to rush an enemy base, you have chosen poorly and will probably be very dead very soon. Pair an Enforcer with the strictly ranged attack power of the Ranger class, however, and suddenly your opponents have no escape. During my hands-on time, Battlecry consistently surprised me with level of nuance contained within each class. Running around mashing the melee button rarely worked for me, but studying and utilizing each character’s specific abilities generally produced positive results.
Interestingly, the developer I spoke with actually likened Battlecry’s combat to DmC: Devil May Cry. In theory it’s designed to require skill, practice, and patience rather than reward mindless sword-waving, and while I’m not sure DmC would have been my go-to comparison, my experience supported at least the spirit of his analogy. According to that same developer, the final version of Battlecry will likely be even more sophisticated than the alpha I played. My playtime featured just five character classes and a single map and mode, whereas the finished product will offer more of all three (though the finally tally for each remains unconfirmed).
In addition, the shipping game will apparently include a full leveling and character customization system that deepens each class’s ability set by presenting players with some risk/reward choices when equipping unlockable loadout options. We may also see other combat mechanics like an “adrenaline” system that rewards players for stringing moves into combos – a feature that was previously announced but, as far as I could tell, not available in the demo I played. And finally, you’ll find some light story elements framing the action, but for now, don’t expect a narrative-driven single-player component.
Most importantly, though, the developer I spoke with during my demo stated adamantly that any real-world money you spend on the game will go towards cosmetic options and not gameplay options. In other words, all progression must be earned, period, and players who are fine with stock costumes will likely be able to enjoy the full experience for free. While there’s clearly a lot more of Battlecry that remains to be seen, this fall’s closed beta should help the team finalize the game’s features and (hopefully) balance all those moving parts.

However, in September 2015, BattleCry Studios was hit by layoffs:

In a recent, and very quiet move, BattleCry Studios has laid off an unnamed number of staff, with one source telling us it’s a “substantial portion” of the Austin team. The game studio is known for their primary game, BattleCry (…)
There is no word as to whether or not the game is in trouble, and whether or not it will be moving forward. BattleCry Studios is a sub-studio of ZeniMax Media Inc., which is published by Bethesda Softworks, who has not returned our requests for comment.
Why are the layoffs shrouded in such mystery? We are told that employees, both past and present, are restricted by tight Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) that come with heavy lawsuits. It is said that the company hopes to keep the news quiet. It remains unknown how many people lost their jobs last week, whether they’ve been offered roles elsewhere, but it is rumored that many were able to stay with ZeniMax and will begin working at BattleCry Studio’s sister company, Arkane Studios.

The next month, Bethesda announced putting the project on-hold following concerns about the success of the game, as we can read on PCGamer:

BattleCry hasn’t managed to wow audiences quite like other Bethesda-published titles, and Bethesda seems to have noticed. At least, an official statement from the company has acknowledged that it has concerns about the third-person free-to-play action game.
“We have concerns about the Battlecry game and whether it is meeting the objectives we have for it,” the company’s statement reads. “We are evaluating what improvements the game needs to meet our quality standards. The studio remains busy during this process on multiple projects.”
Progress Bar was the original recipient of the statement, but I received it separately after contacting Bethesda’s Sydney office.
The last we heard from Battlecry was Bethesda’s E3 announcement that beta sign-ups were open – but the beta never happened. Our hands-on with the game wasn’t exactly awe-inspiring, though Evan did see some promise, writing that “uninspiring as this first hands-on was, I ended the demo with some appreciation for how agile characters are in Battlecry.”

In August 2016, it was revealed tha BattleCry Studios was helping id Software on the multiplayer mode of DOOM (2016), as we can read on GameReactor:

Doom’s multiplayer is now back under the guidance of id Software, and MP specialists Certain Affinity have been moved on. The studio, which has in the past worked on online titles including games in the Halo series, is no longer supporting Doom’s PvP element; that is now being handled directly by id, with assistance from the BattleCry team.
The news emerged during our interview with id’s Marty Stratton during Quakecon this week, at which point we were told about the studio’s ongoing plans to support and develop the online side of the demonic shooter.
What is unclear is the level of support being offered by the BattleCry team, and what, if any, impact that involvement is having on the development of their own title, BattleCry.
Late last year IGN reported that Bethesda weren’t happy with the direction that the game was taking and that the BattleCry team were also working on other projects, but it still begs the question of whether the online title is even still in development. It has, after all, been very quiet on that front in the last few months.

It was made official that BattleCry was cancelled in January 2017 as we can read on Twinfinite:

It seems like BattleCry Studios’ first and titular game, BattleCry, has been cancelled.
According to the LinkedIn profile of one Embedded QA Designer at BattleCry Studios, the free-to-play multiplayer game is officially no more.
David Dobert’s profile states that he started working for the studio as a senior embedded QA analyst for “the now cancelled game Battlecry” before moving onto DOOM’s Unto the Evil DLC. This news would come as no surprise to most, as we’ve heard nothing about the game since mid-2015.

In March 2018, BattleCry Studios became Bethesda Game Studios Austin:

BattleCry Studios has become Bethesda Game Studios Austin.
BattleCry Studios was formed in 2012 to create a free-to-play project called BattleCry, but it was shelved in 2015 after parent company Bethesda Softworks became concerned about the project.
Rather than close the studio, BattleCry has supported work for other teams and assisted the expansions for id Software’s Doom.
Now the firm has become part of Bethesda Softwork’s primary internal development unit, Bethesda Game Studios. (…)
The new Austin studio will be managed by industry veteran Doug Mellencamp as studio director.
“We’re excited to join Bethesda Game Studios and look forward to working together on some of the industry’s most exciting new games,” said Mellencamp. “Austin’s incredible game development scene and talent will also allow us to push our games further than fans have imagined.”
Game Director and Executive Producer Todd Howard added: “As the vision, scale and ambitions for our games continue to grow, so does Bethesda Game Studios. We’ve had the pleasure to know the talented developers at BattleCry, and knew we could do great things together.”

Following the rebranding, BattleCry Studios, now Bethesda Game Studios Austin, mostly worked on the infamous Fallout 76.

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Ronin (Sony Online Entertainment) [PC/ PS3 ?/ PS4 ?- Cancelled]

U64 Staff & Contributors

18-04-2026

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Ronin is a cancelled futuristic post-apocalyptic/dieselpunk open world multiplayer action game developed by Sony Online Entertainment in the 2010’s for the PC, but also could have been developed for one of Sony’s video game console, whether the Playstation 3 or the Playstation 4.

Very few information can be found on Ronin at the moment. This project was made public on the personal website of Richie Romero, former Art Director at Sony Online Entertainment, who shared a couple of videos alongside some screenshots and concept arts. The title is simply described as:

A futuristic post apocalyptic world which I had the priviledge to work with a small core team to create the visual style, character designs and overall mood.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Richie Romero worked at Sony Online Entertainment from May 2009 until March 2015. He was also credited as an Associate Art Director on DC Universe Online, which was released in January 2011. Through this little information, we can make the assumption that Ronin began its development cycle not so long before or after the release of DC Universe Online. Romero is only credited on this project at Sony Online Entertainment, despite having work for the company during almost 6 years. He left the company during the time where it was sold to Columbus Nova, which, shortly after, carried out layoffs:

Last week, Sony and investment firm Columbus Nova announced that Sony Online Entertainment had been sold. The studio responsible for DC Universe Online, Everquest, Planetside, and the upcoming H1Z1, has been renamed. Now it seems, staffing changes are underway that reported see significant departure of talent.
Michele Cagle, Senior Director of global communications at Daybreak, confirmed the staffing changes in an email to us. “As part of a strategic decision to rationalize the business, Daybreak Game Company announced today that it will eliminate positions in both its San Diego and Austin studios,” she says. “This alignment of resources better positions the newly independent studio for future growth opportunities and developments, including delivering on its legacy of making top online games and establishing a solid foundation for future multi-platform success. These reductions will not affect the operation of current games and the company will continue on its mission to partner with its player community to drive the future and push the boundaries of online gaming.”

Richie Romero did not respond to a request for comment regarding further information on the Ronin project. Therefore, we do not know if Ronin could have been released on some Playstation systems too, just like the previous games from Sony Online Entertainment as well as the following ones, when its development cycle started and ended, and what was the reason behind its cancellation.

If you know someone who worked on Ronin and could help us preserve more screenshots, footage or details, please let us know in this comment section!

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Star Wars Outpost [PC / Mobile – Cancelled]

U64 Staff & Contributors

08-11-2025

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Star Wars Outpost is a cancelled Real Time Strategy/simulation social network hybrid game developed from 2011 to 2012 by LucasArts Entertainment Singapore for browsers based PC and mobile devices. It was based on the eponymous movie franchise.

The existence of Star Wars Outpost was revealed after its cancellation alongside many others cancelled Star Wars related project during the closure of LucasArts, back in April 2013. At first, it was initially briefly mentionned by an article from Kotaku wrote by Jason Schreier back in September 2013, when we simply could read this:

The list of cancelled projects goes on and on. (…)
There was Outpost, the Star Wars take on Zynga’s FarmVille that would let players build empires, one click at a time.

It is only in January 2016, almost 3 years after the shutdown of LucasArts, that more details, alongside a couple of artworks, about the game emerged. Eurogamer was the first to relay those information:

A long time ago, before Disney‘s acquisition of Star Wars, LucasArts spent two years developing a “hardcore” strategy simulation for PC and mobile devices. And then it quietly cancelled the project, four weeks from completion.
This game was Star Wars Outpost, which was being built by a team of 30 working out of LucasArts’ Singapore office.
We were told Outpost was canned shortly before Disney’s acquisition – at which point other Star Wars games were halted, too. (…)
If you’re thinking you’ve heard Outpost’s name before, then you’re right – reports on the canning of 1313 and First Assault mentioned this third game, although at the time it was only referenced in the vaguest of terms – and described as a Farmville clone.
“The previous leaks mentioned a social game that was supposed to be Star Wars’ answer to Farmville,” the tipster said. “This is absolutely wrong.
“The people who thought [Outpost was a] Farmville game were from the US office. They had no idea about this game either – except just a few key people. This was being made 100 per cent in Singapore.”
At the time of its cancellation, Outpost was “about 90 per cent done”.
“We were just looking for approval to start public beta testing. Instead we got a call they were going to kill the project.”
Rather than a social game clone, Star Wars Outpost was designed to be a “very hardcore” experience. And despite the fact it might look like a game you’d find on Facebook, the title was canned because it was considered too niche.
“The best way to describe the game is if Star Wars met Settlers of Catan/EVE Online,” said the source. “You would take control of an Outpost on a planet within [the Star Wars galaxy]. The land on the planet was finite and so were the resources, so you were forced to search out and find other players. You had choices to either work with them or betray them for their resources.
“You could then start supplying weapons/ships/tools etc. to either the Rebels or the Empire. Supporting each side would control a balance of power where that side could start taking over the Galaxy.”
Nearby players who were allies would slowly become connected to you via networks of roads and trade routes. A world completely controlled by the Rebels or Empire would grant bonuses to the appropriately-aligned Outposts on it.
“It was a very deep game and always running like an MMO, we wanted players to really invest a lot in time,” the source continued.
Outpost also had a working day/night cycle, and an overworld populated by characters who would wander around and interact with the settlements and other characters in it.
But despite its hardcore aspirations, LucasArts was building the game to be as accessible as possible – coded in HTML5 and playable via a browser.
“We did it in 3D but everything was hand painted by artists to make sure we had a nice art style.”
There were deeper plans for Outpost, too. The game’s original design was for it to connect with Star Wars: First Assault, and allow you to create weapons or ships for use in the shooter.
“We had the back-end working but not in-game,” said the source. “Then the players from First Assault could buy those unique weapons and equipment. You could also send in dropship supplies to help a side during the fight.”
All of which makes it more of a shame we’ll never see Outpost. After the game’s cancellation its team was moved on to casual mobile games (“which all got killed also right at the Disney purchase”) while a few were shuffled onto the similarly-defunct Star Wars 1313. After two years of work, Outpost was dead.

In May of the same year, a short trailer showcasing some gameplay leaked onto the internet. According to the main source, the video was part of larger vertical slice demo that’s yet to be found:

When LucasArts still was a company not acquired by Disney, a real time strategy (RTS) Star Wars game was about to be released on PC and mobile devices.
(…)
Now, thanks to Elise Baldwin, who was the Audio Director on Star Wars Outpost, we are able to see a slice demo illustrating the combat mode of the game:
I was the Audio Director on this unannounced title which did not make it to marketplace. It was in development for over a year, during which time it went through three platform/engine pivots. It featured a simulation mode and a tactical combat mode. This video was part of a vertical slice demo illustrating the combat mode.

The death of LucasArts was truly a tragedy for many people, starting with the numerous employees worldwide who were laid off, and many projects, whether or not based on Star Wars, were cancelled both before and during the acquisition by Disney. In addition to Star Wars Outpost, and Star Wars 1313 and First Assault already mentionned above, we can add:

a game based on Indiana Jones
a 2D physics-based shooter called Caveland that was meant to be an experimental digital title
Smuggler, a game designed for cross-platform multiplayer that would let you play as a customizable character within the Star Wars universe, smuggling and trading between Facebook, tablets, and consoles
An iOS game called Death Star in which you’d get to control your very own version of the Empire’s space station
A Wii U project code-named Wingman that was modeled after the TIE Fighter and X-Wing games. This project would later evolved as Star Wars: First Assault “Version Two” which featured prototypes and elements that didn’t go to the “Version One”.
A Star Wars based open world RPG that was led by Clint Hocking
A Star Wars take on Grand Theft Auto that was based on a cancelled live action TV show named Star Wars: Underworld. The project would later change direction and evolved as a co-op shooter game similar to Gears of War, that would eventually lead to the first design of Star Wars 1313.

In the recent years, a tech demo of First Assault, alongside the complete Nintendo Wii version of Star Wars: Battlefront 3 leaked online. We can hope that, some day, others cancelled projects may be made available online to allow players to test them or learn more about them.

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End of Nations [PC – Cancelled]

U64 Staff & Contributors

26-12-2022

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End of Nations is a canceled Free-To-Play Massively Multiplayer Online Real-Time Strategy game, which was later a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena game, published by Trion Worlds and developed by Petroglyph Games from 2009 to 2013, exclusively for PC.

This project between Petroglyph and Trion Worlds was first mentionned in April 2009 by its publisher, as we can read on Gamespot:

(…) Trion World Network has announced that it has partnered with Petroglyph on an as-yet-to-be-named massively multiplayer online real-time strategy game.
Aside from talking up the Petroglyph team’s previous work on such titles as Command & Conquer and Dune II, Trion revealed no relevant gameplay details about the upcoming project. However, Petroglyph appears to be taking an ambitious approach to the project, with Trion CEO Lars Buttler saying of the game that it will be “the world’s first truly high-end MMORTS.”

The game was officially revealed in April 2010:

Trion’s MMORTS collaboration with Petroglyph is also expected to arrive for the PC next year. Titled End of Nations, the RTS features a persistent online world in which gamers can engage in solo or multiplayer combat with “thousands of other gamers across the gigantic battlefields.”
Details on Petroglyph’s latest effort remain light. However, Trion did note that players will be able to develop their own commanders and establish a headquarters. Gamers will also be able to unlock new vehicles, weapons, and technologies through combat, as well as crafting and researching.

Further details about its background emerged later:

We are introduced to the universe of End of Nations with a synopsis of the events leading up to the present conflict. 50 years into the future, a worldwide economic crisis and collapse has resulted in a cascade of shortages and conflicts. This coincided with the failure and dissolution of almost all of the world’s governments. As the world descended into anarchy, a savior emerged. The United Nations stepped in to restore order through aid and military force. The public reaction to this was initially enthusiastic. As the governments of the world had failed, the United Nations, now renamed the Order of Nations (ON), became the sole government of the world. To the shock and horror of the populace, this new government began to abduct people in the middle of the night and execute its citizens for asking questions. As a result of this oppression, resistance movements emerged.
When the game begins, the resistance has been underway for quite some time. The Liberation Front, led by American war hero General Alec Chase, and the Shadow Revolution, led by former Order of Nations assassin Monkh Erdene, are part of the Coalition, an alliance against the Order of Nations. The commander controls part of the Coalition forces sent to assault the Typhoon Cannon, a massive artillery turret, at the Order of Nations base at Widow’s Wall. The leader of the Order of Nations, General Sevastian Korvus, is also present, residing within the Typhoon Cannon. The assault on the Typhoon Cannon is successful. The cannon is destroyed and Korvus is killed. Yet, the allies bicker. With the destruction and collapse of the Typhoon Cannon, there is now a giant breach in Widow’s Wall. Alec Chase of the Liberation front wishes to advance further into the base, but Monhk Erdene of the Shadow Revolution counters that their coalition has captured the Siege Cortex and that further advance into the base is not part of the mission. Land battleships from the Order of Nations, known as Assault Panzers, approach from both sides of the breach outside the wall. General Chase asks Monkh to engage the enemy forces so that he can assault the inner base. Monkh apologizes to Chase, reiterates that it was not part of the mission, and the Shadow Revolution forces withdraw. Outflanked and without sufficient support, General Chase is forced to withdraw as well, sustaining casualties in the process. Allies no more, the Liberation Front and Shadow Revolution continue to fight the Order of Nations while also fighting and sabotaging each other for control of territories and influence over populaces. And thus the stage was set for further conflicts between the three factions.
Factions
There are three factions in End of Nations. Two of those are playable; the Liberation Front and the Shadow Revolution. The third faction is the unplayable computer controlled Order of Nations, the main antagonist of the game.
Liberation Front – Increasing chaos led the world leaders to give up control to the Order. The Lord Chancellor of England, Mary Dickinson, refused to give up control of her people. She decided to fight against this regime, and began distributing a digital pamphlet codenamed “The Sentinel”. She began to coordinate these dissidents. The Liberation Front believes that people should be free to elect their leaders and form their own governments. They will go to the grave to fight for this right. The Liberation Front has two classes: Spartan and Patriot, each with their own advantages and special abilities. The Spartan is all about heavy armor and point defense. The Patriot class is more of a support class, and with their support powers, they are able to greatly influence the battlefield.
Shadow Revolution – A few people believe that the new regime’s oppression of the people was far too violent. These dissidents were killed, including Donald Poole who oversaw the rule of Eastern Europe. His son, Robert Poole, and Sabal Dasgupta came together and secretly formed an army of their own known as the Shadow Revolution. As former members of the Order of Nations, they arm themselves with weapons and technology stolen from their former organization, along with knowledge of the inner workings of the Order. They are trying to realize Pierre Frenay’s vision of a firm but benevolent rule. The Shadow Revolution has two classes, the Wraith and Phantom classes, each having their own advantages, and special abilities. The Wraith class is all about fast hit-and-run tactics. The Phantom class is all about stealth tactics and ambushes.
Order of Nations – Perverted from one man’s dream of a peaceful world government, the Order of Nations rules the globe with violence, oppressing the masses and crushing any in their path. The Order possesses extremely advanced weapons systems, developed using siphoned off money and resources, in hopes of creating an army dedicated to establish a one world order. This army was advanced and powerful enough to overwhelm the militaries of the world’s nations and take control with ease. Order of Nations is the AI controlled, third faction in End of Nations. Order of Nations units can be seen in most PvE and some PvP maps. Order of Nations units and buildings have darker color scheme than Liberation Front or Shadow Revolution.

During its development at Petroglyph, the title was showed numerous times at the press, during E3 2010, Gamescom 2010 and E3 2011, and Gamespot was able to write several previews for the game:

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Urban Dominion (Global Gaming Innovations) [PC – Cancelled]

U64 Staff & Contributors

18-11-2022

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Urban Dominion (formerly Dominion) is a canceled Massively Multiplayer Online First-Person Shooter developed from 2002 to 2004 by Global Gaming Innovations (G2I), exclusively for PC. Announced in February 2003, Urban Dominion offered the possibility to play for three different teams in the United States of America from the 80’s:

Overview
It’s 1983 and the world has fallen into the turmoil of political unrest with the emergence of organized crime. The wealthy crime lord mob bosses now seek world Dominion and protection of their turf against the inner-city gang upstarts looking to take on their empire and move up in the world. Outnumbered and stretched beyond their capabilities, law enforcement agencies unite under a global need for peace and prosperity. In Urban Dominion, the three teams are equally matched and the persistent world domination is all that is sought. Choose from a team and take on the world.
It’s 7:00am on a Monday morning when you roll out of bed. It’s a war zone out there and you’re just a lonely Los Angeles police detective trying to survive. There are reports of increased mob activity and a possibility of an organized crime lord coming to your town. Yesterday, you arrested yet another upstart 17 year old crazy kid sporting gang colors. These gangs are out of control. You’re at your wits end and so is your government. NCC now reports that your teaming up with police departments globally to take on these crime syndicates. It’s time to bring peace to the world.
Scrapping by in high school finally had its toll on you, it’s time for a change. You decided to join a gang three years ago, and since then things have been growing into a capable organization. You can’t depend on the police for protection, so you survive by protecting yourself. Now it’s time to show the world what you can do.
Growing up in a mansion, just outside of New York, you’ve known nothing but crime. After owning the world for years, now it’s time to move in on the government. You’re ready to take on anything. It’s time to make an empire.
Urban Dominion Technology
Based off the Quake II engine, the Urban Dominion universe explodes with technology never before released to the public. Global Gaming Innovations has created the ability to have a MMOG FPS and Dominion is the proof. By being the exclusive first to present the art of MMOG development with Parallel Distributed Management System technology, G2I expects to bring to the Open Source Industry the best that any industry can offer in a MMOG FPS game.
Features
1st Person perspective, with option to switch to 3rd person
Powerful 3D game engine loosely based off Quake 2 engine.
3 Team-based Massive Multi-player Action
Support for Linux and Windows systems
Open Source Rendering Engine (released under GPL)
Quake 3 maps and model support for Mod makers
Server with 100% uptime
PDMS compatible technology
Global, per map, and Entire player history ranking.
Compatible Tie-ends for Parallel Distributed Management System backbone DLL (PDMS DLL is closed source and binary only available with purchase of full game).
Monthly subscription fee for MMOG play.
Persistent real world with capabilities far exceeding anything in the MMOG market.
Leveling in Urban Dominion
The way leveling is handled in Urban Dominion is as follows: Each player will have two separate histories in the game. One history will be the number of kills/deaths each player got per session, and the second will the number of kills/deaths each player gets per lifetime. Individuals will advance in player skill levels by acquiring skill points as they gain kills. The amount of skill points that the player gains will be affected by the level of their opponent that was killed and the method in which the individual kills the opponent. In other words, a player will get more skill points for killing a higher level opponent and/or killing with a melee weapon over a gun. Players will also acquire money as they get kills and this will work similarly to the way the skill point system works. This means that the amount of money acquired from kills will be affected by the skill level of the opponent killed and the manner in which they were killed.
When a player becomes proficient enough at the game to reach a certain skill level, things such as new maps, models, weapons, and mods become available for use. These mods and maps are where the official support comes into play. The game will be continuously developed both professionally and as an open source project. Thus, more aspects of the game will become available to the player as he/she plays and levels up.
The new game entities (weapons and models) will NOT be available for use in the older mod versions such that one can not get a sniper rifle from a higher level map and use it in a lower level map. This is to make the game fair for everyone and lets newer players get the same chance as the older ones. Urban Dominion is meant to be fast paced and very intensive, where everyone is equal in their chances to kill one another.
There are unique items throughout the game, and these items can only be weilded by one person at a time. It can be anything from a special weapon to a strong shard of armor. There is no item that will give invincibility, therefore it is always possible to kill anyone or to be killed. The unique items are dropped in the world when a player dies.
Teamplay in Urban Dominion
There will be three basic teams in Urban Dominion: law enforcement, mafia crime organizations, and inner-city gangs. Upon joining and chosing a model, the player will be moved into the category that the chosen model belongs to and be able to talk with other individuals that belong to the same category.
Players will also be able to form their own gangs, crime families, or vigilante groups. After forming a group with other players, individuals will be able to “clan chat” with only those in their gang, crime family, or law enforcement group. Forming your own personal gang will also have its benefits and drawbacks. Groups will share money in that individuals may gain a small percentage of money that other teammates acquire from kills. Groups will also share skill points in the same way, except that the individuals may lose skill points with each death of a teammate. This will encourage teamwork for those that create their own gangs, families, or vigilante groups.
Mods and Urban Dominion
This game is meant to be modified. As such, we have added as many capabilities to the engine as we’ve had time for just this fact. The engine supports MD2 (Quake 2) models, MD3 (Quake 3) models, and DPM (Dark Places Model) models, as well as .tga, .jpg, and .bmp textures. Basically, if it works in Quake 3, then chances are good that it will work in Urban Dominion. We also have plans for supporting MDS and MDL models (RTCW and Half Life respectively).
Quake 3 .bsp files are supported for map making, but the overbright feel in the lighting of Quake 3 is not duplicated. In Urban Dominion, the lighting has been modified for updated lighting techniques.
Vehicles
There will be vehicle support in the game upon release, but there will more than likely not be any vehicles already in the game at that time. However, anything from flying to sailing to driving vehicles are easily added, and a tutorial on this will follow release quickly.
Any modification that we accept and use as an officially supported and recognized modification will be used in the game. This will also be reciprocated by credits toward the monthly charges of using the MMOG aspect of the game (Parallel Distributed Management System account).
Maximum amount of players
We’re going to announce the maximum amount of players that are supported after the beta test has completed. We’re initially opening to 200 players, but this number will increase dramatically.

The following month, HomeLAN discussed with G2I’s co-founder Daron Shrode about the project:

HomeLAN – How did Global Gaming Innovations come to be formed?
Daron Shrode – (…) We thought about creating a game of our own my senior year… we had a unique technology idea that we were going to put in the game to make it cooler. That idea ended up being the Parallel Distributed Management System (PDMS) and we eventually decided to become a technology company to focus on the PDMS and market it as an inexpensive alternative to combat the problems that currently plague massive multiplayer online games. We obtained investor funding and the company officially opened its doors in June of 2002. We’re really looking forward to releasing this game, as it will be the first to implement our PDMS technology.
HomeLAN – What kind of playable characters will be available in the game?
Daron Shrode – At release, we intend to have five individual models for each team. The characters are direct representations of what the story dictates their needs to be.
HomeLAN – What sort of locations and settings will the game have?
Daron Shrode – The settings are based off the real world; every effort to enhance the gameplay and develop the story is being made. In other words, the cities and places will stem from how the story plays out. Initially we start with San Francisco, Miami, Tokyo and Kiev.
HomeLAN – How would you characterised the combat gameplay in Urban Dominion?
Daron Shrode – Well, it is an FPS so a lot of “run and gun” is at the core. There are going to be various options of gameplay to keep players interested. These include story development, Capture The Flag, Free For All, and mission-based play. The intention is to provide a mechanism for the player community to create its own story and produce it online.
HomeLAN – Why did you decide to use the Quake II engine as the basis for the game?
Daron Shrode – The Q2 engine is a GPL licensed engine, and thus the engine for Urban Dominion will be released under the GPL as well. Quake2 gives us more abilities than other engines. Its open sourced community is also quite large and sophisticated, therefore tapping into it is easier, and using the Q2 engine in Urban Dominion gives them some technical background from which to develop their modifications easily.
HomeLAN – What modifications are you making to the Quake II engine for its use in Urban Dominion?
Daron Shrode – The addition of our PDMS technology is the most significant modification. This technology is what gives Urban Dominion the capability to support a massive number of players. We’ve added Quake III map and model support, volumetric lighting, and volumetric fog.

However, shortly before entering its Beta phase, security hole was found, forcing the team to push back the date:

After a prolonged test in the secure transactions between the DLL that controls the API of the PDMS and the game Urban Dominion a security hole has been found. This bug could conceivably open the system to code not designed by Global Gaming Innovations and allow that code to be introduced into the processor and run with privileges in all iterations of the game. This means that if the system is distributed, the security could conceivably compromise every system where the software is installed. We find this hole to be most disturbing and because we will not introduce a product with a known security error, we are opting to delay the beta test until we feel the product is as secure as we know it can be.
Due to the fact that correcting this error entails rewriting large portions of the system, we are forced to delay the test. So with heavy hearts we must ask for patience and only offer our assurances that the product that will be shipped, and the beta will be to the best of our abilities, secure, stable, and mature. As we are working on this, we shall introduce further advancements into the game itself. This gives us the time to implement more for the game portion.

The title totally disappeared after this announcement, only to come back nearly an entire year later, with its beta test almost ready:

Announcing beta testing of Global Gaming Innovations’ Urban Dominion. Selected beta testers will receive an email notification with instructions soon. If you were not selected for the first phase, please be patient you may get selected for a future phase of our testing. If you have not yet signed up for the beta test, http://www.global-gaming.com/dominion/beta.php to apply.

Sadly, it was never materialized and Urban Dominion, alongside Global Gaming Innovations, vanished soon after. According to his LinkedIn profile, Daron Shrode left the company in December 2003 and has worked since for various company outside from the video game industry as an analyst and software developer.

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