Until yesterday, Fractured Online’s website hadn’t had a single update since before Christmas, when the game basically imploded in a blast of publisher shenanigans and bizarre comms all around. Readers will recall that Gamigo had picked up publishing of Dynamight Studios’ Kickstarted sandbox a year before that, and the game rolled into a tepid early access last fall. But then Gamigo was hit with layoffs and game closures, and Fractured was caught up in it: The game silently vanished from Gamigo’s website, though Dynamight bizarrely insisted that was unrelated to its next decision, which was to end paid early access and return the game to closed testing for the devs, where it’s dangled ever since as rumors about funding and legal action brewed.
Perhaps that limbo comes to an end today as the studios have now finally confirmed the dissolution of their partnership in a letter signed by both jointly on the Fractured Online website.
“As many of you know, the game entered closed development at the end of 2022 due to technical issues with a third-party backend platform. In order for these issues to be addressed fully, gamigo and Dynamight Studios have now resolved to part ways in 2023. This means Fractured Online will cease to be part of the gamigo portfolio and will be operated by Dynamight Studios. While we announce this news with a heavy heart, we all believe it is the best path for both the game and its continued development moving forward. […] The game will remain in closed development while users are offered the option to transfer their account data from gamigo to Dynamight Studios. More information in this regard will be provided soon. Once this phase is completed, Dynamight Studios will bring the game back online for a time-limited test through fracturedonline.com, after which the game will be available again on Steam, with no more server wipes planned.”
Dynamight boss Jacopo Gallelli – who himself hasn’t posted in Discord for almost three months – is much more exuberant about the game’s future in its official Discord, saying that “the rights of Fractured Online are back in the hands of Dynamight Studios,” which is a little bit odd as that wasn’t actually the question anyone was asking since Gamigo supposedly only ever had a publishing license (according to Gallelli himself back in 2021). OK. He later notes that there has been a wipe following major revisions to the game and that the old website will be returning.
