So much for transmedia synergy.
Syfy announced Friday that after three seasons, it is canceling Defiance. The show was part of a cross-media initiative to tie together a television series and an MMO, the latter of which is still being run by Trion Worlds.
The channel praised the show even as it declined to renew it for a fourth season: “Defiance was a truly groundbreaking series, delivering an immersive, cross-platform experience that transcended the television screen in a way that viewers had never seen before.”
Trion CM Kiwibird addressed the players on the forums over the weekend, confirming Trion’s long-running promise that the game’s fate is not the show’s fate:
Ark hunters,
We’ve had a great time working closely with the team of stellar writers, designers, producers, and actors on the Defiance TV show. Like many of you, we’ve all enjoyed the stories they told week in and week out. Let’s treat this as a fond farewell, in celebration of a successful three year run of a show that broke a lot of new ground and brought an incredible quality experience to its viewers.
As for the game and its future, Defiance is Trion’s IP and the game will continue exactly as before. The show has always been a fantastic and interesting partner, but the two were always meant to be able to stand on their own, which is why the show was primarily set in St. Louis and the game in the SF Bay Area.
In fact, we’re happy to announce that we’re looking forward to the upcoming public testing of the Aquarium at Monterey, the next big instance coming to Defiance. There we’ll flesh out the Shrill storyline and put the Dark Matter in a whole new light.
There are plenty of stories that need to be told in this world, and the team’s extremely excited to continue telling them.
