Back in February, Valve took action on MMO studio Insel Games, which published hybrid MMOs Wild Buster and Guardians of Ember, booting the company off Steam having determined that the company had tampered with reviews by coercing employees to buy and positively review the game. While Insel Games denied any wrongdoing, its games have been accessible to new players only through its official website for the past few months. For Wild Buster in particular, updates had been scant.
Now, an update has finally arrived. Insel Games told the Steam community that Wild Buster had “failed to attract enough players to provide a sustainable service and a big enough community to enjoy the game.” Rather than shut down the game, however, Insel Games says it’s transferring publishing rights to IDC Games, which will relaunch the game as Champions of Titan with new accounts and a server wipe. Not coincidentally, this will also allow the companies to get the game back on Steam.
Existing owners of Wild Buster will be granted voucher codes for unspecified perks in the new game, and the original game will still be playable on Steam for about the next month, when the new game – still styled as “sci-fi action MMORPG with fast-paced MOBA-style combat” – is expected to launch.
“With these changes also comes the necessity for a server wipe and new game client which means that all character progress will be reset and you need to re-register your account. While this might sadden some of you it simply is the best way to ensure a fair start for everyone and a growing community from the point of the re-launch. For those of you that have purchased founder packs, don’t worry: During CBT we will send out voucher codes that will grant unique benefits in Champions of Titan. We are still finalizing the details on this and will let you know in due course!”
