✨💥 Creative Assembly’s upcoming PVPVE shooter, Hyenas, was sadly cancelled by Sega last week due to a company-wide restructuring. However, recent insider reports have shed light on additional factors that contributed to the downfall of this highly anticipated game. 💔🚫
Hyenas was Sega’s venture into the already saturated, yet potentially profitable live service game market. Total War YouTuber Volound recently published an insider report, with accounts corroborated by Video Games Chronicle, providing insight into what went wrong with the game. 🎮📰
Volound claims to have spoken with “multiple whistleblowers,” primarily disgruntled developers seeking transparency and accountability. These reports mention unique concepts being diluted for mass appeal, a challenging engine change midway through development, and a general lack of direction in terms of the game’s overall vision. 🤔🕹️💡
According to the insiders, Creative Assembly faced difficulties even before the conception of Hyenas. Despite critical acclaim, the commercial performance of Alien Isolation was not strong enough to greenlight a sequel. Consequently, many developers who had worked on Alien Isolation left Creative Assembly for good. 👾💔
The remaining team, after completing a contract project, was assigned to work on Hyenas, which was internally known as Project Keaton. The original concept revolved around a lovable cast of rogues inspired by beloved franchises like Firefly and Han Solo, with punishing gameplay akin to Escape from Tarkov. However, these ideas were watered down to appeal to a wider audience, resulting in a lack of clarity regarding the game’s direction. 🌟💔🎮
This is where Neil Blomkamp, director of Alien Isolation and a passionate fan of the game himself, became involved. Blomkamp’s creative input provided some direction, suggesting the theft of physical media in a world dominated by digital streaming. However, the collaboration with Blomkamp did not last, and the studio eventually parted ways with him. 🎥🚫❌
Unfortunately, the game continued to struggle, losing its uniqueness and failing to stand out in a competitive and oversaturated market. At some point during development, Hyenas transitioned from a premium game model to a free-to-play model with microtransactions. 💸💔
The primary whistleblower who spoke to Volound agrees that Sega made the right decision to cancel the game, as it would have likely incurred further losses. Shockingly, it was revealed to be Sega’s biggest budget game ever. However, the whistleblower expresses anger towards the leadership decisions that led to this point, as developers and other employees will now face redundancies at Creative Assembly. 😡❌🎮
In conclusion, the cancellation of Hyenas was a devastating blow to fans and the development team alike. While Sega’s decision may have been justified financially, the game’s downfall was also influenced by diluted concepts, a challenging engine change, and a lack of clear direction. The fate of Hyenas serves as a cautionary tale for other studios seeking to enter the fiercely competitive live service game market. 🚫🎮💔
