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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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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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Breakaway (Amazon Games) [PC – Cancelled]

U64 Staff & Contributors

26-12-2022

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Breakaway is a canceled team-based multiplayer brawler game published by Amazon Game Studios and developed by Amazon Game Studios Orange County (formerly Double Helix Games) from 2014 to 2018, exclusively for PC.

Breakaway was officially revealed in September 2016, during the TwitchCon as we can read on MMOculture:

Amazon Game Studios, a subsidiary of e-commerce giant Amazon, today announced several new online games, the first titled Breakaway. Breakaway is a 4 vs 4 mythological brawler where players assemble a team from a roster of legendary warriors, including the relentless gladiator Spartacus, the twisted sorceress Morgan Le Fay, and the bloodthirsty warlord Vlad the Impaler.
At the start of each round, warriors can summon persistent buildables onto the playing field that dynamically alter the game. Buildables can besiege foes, shield teammates, or create new pathways through the arena. Players battle across several fabled locations such as El Dorado, Atlantis, and Styx to control the Relic, defending it from attackers, and smashing it into an opponent’s base.
Breakaway is powered by Amazon Lumberyard and integrates directly with Twitch (also owned by Amazon). Breakaway introduces four new ways for the Twitch community to interact with broadcasters.
Metastream allows streamers to customize their broadcasts with real-time stat overlays.
Broadcaster Match Builder lets broadcasters invite their followers to join their matches.
Broadcaster Spotlight adds to the excitement of streaming. It tells players when they’re in a match that’s being broadcast, and lets them follow the broadcaster with a single click.
Stream+ gives broadcasters new ways to interact with their viewers through polls, and by allowing viewers to wager loyalty points that are redeemable for in-game rewards.

The game went into playable alpha in December 2016 and Polygon was able to write a short preview about it:

We got to go hands-on with Breakaway at Amazon Game Studios recently and were pleasantly surprised by the game’s depth, considering how easy it was to pick up and play. The game’s heroes include a mix of archetypical warriors, like the tank class Black Knight, melee swordsman Spartacus and spellcaster Morgan Le Fay, who do battle on fabled battlegrounds such as El Dorado and Atlantis.
Each hero has a pair of structures he or she can build, including turrets, walls and healing shrines. Players can build one structure per round to cut off routes or support their allies in a push into the enemy’s base. Adding to the depth are upgrades that players can purchase mid-game with gold they earn over the course of battle. There’s a complexity in Breakaway underpinning the brawling, relic-running action, but with a little coaching from the developer, much of it was easy to grasp within an hour or so.
While securing the relic and dunking it into the enemy’s home base is the primary goal, players can score through other means. A full-team kill will also win your team a round. And if the in-game clock ticks down to zero and you’ve got control of the relic on your opponent’s half of the map, you’ll win that round. Those two scoring opportunities make for some of the best, most nail-biting moments in Breakaway, as you either frantically try to hunt down the last surviving player on the enemy team before the others respawn, or desperately pass the relic to your teammates to secure field position.

After months of playable alpha, however, Amazon took the decision in October 2017 to make a major overhaul on its gameplay, after they already made one for its playable heroes some months before, as we can still read on Polygon:

Amazon Game Studios’ competitive sports brawler with a mythological twist, Breakaway, is getting a major overhaul, the studio said today. After a months-long public alpha test, Amazon says its going to take time to “iterate and evolve” Breakaway’s core gameplay.
And it sounds like the Breakaway team intends to go a bit dark while that happens.
“Over the course of the Alpha we received a lot of feedback from you that we’re taking to heart,” the Breakaway team said in a post on the game’s website. “In order to get it right, we’re letting our team take the time to iterate and evolve Breakaway’s core gameplay to deliver what you’ve asked for. We aren’t sure how long this will take, but we think it’s the right thing to do for the game, and you, the community.
“We won’t be hosting Alpha matches during this time, but we still want to hear your ideas for how to improve the game, and we’ll share our ideas for your feedback.”
The Breakaway public alpha ran from June to September. The game had been playable on PC in private alpha tests prior to that, but in June, Amazon made major changes to Breakaway’s gameplay and its playable heroes. The studio shifted away from characters based on historical and legendary figures to more fantasy-based heroes, with an art overhaul to match.

Unfortunately, in March 2018, only 5 months after the announcement of the overhaul, the project was ultimately cancelled, again, covered by Polygon:

Amazon’s in-house game studio has put an end to development on Breakaway, the competitive fantasy sport brawler that Amazon Game Studios announced in 2016. In a statement posted to Reddit, developers announced that the game is “no longer in active development.”
Breakaway’s cancellation was confirmed this past weekend. Amazon Game Studios’ previous update on the game indicated that the development team was overhauling the title and taking “the time to iterate and evolve Breakaway’s core gameplay.” That was in the wake of a softer reboot of the game that amplified the game’s fantasy elements and redesigned its cast of characters.
Here’s Amazon Game Studios’ update on Breakaway from the game’s subreddit:
Since our last announcement, we have worked to implement community feedback and iterate on Breakaway’s core gameplay. While we have developed many ideas and made a lot of progress, we are also setting a very high bar for ourselves. In spite of our efforts, we didn’t achieve the breakthrough that made the game what we all hoped it could be. After a lot of soul searching, the team decided to focus on new ideas. As a result, Breakaway is no longer in active development.

The beginning in the video game industry by a giant like Amazon was mostly tumultuous: in addition to the cancellation of Breakaway, the company took 6 years to develop another multiplayer game, Crucible, released in May 2020, before being shutted down in November of the same year. Their other game, New World, was released in September 2021, after also experiencing some setbacks during its development.

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