Kickstarted MMORPG Pantheon cancels 247 extraction mode: ‘We have damaged your trust’

November 14, 2023 12:00 PM

Pantheon Rise of the Fallen’s brief community nightmare is over: Visionary Realms announced this morning that it’s putting the brakes on development of the game’s 247 extraction mode – permanent brakes.

Readers will recall that a month ago, we learned that Pantheon was planning to spin out the so-called 247 mode as a standalone survival-centric extraction title; the game wasn’t meant to supplant the Kickstarted Pantheon MMORPG, just help fund the base game. However, the rumors and their official confirmation went over with MMORPG vets and Pantheon crowdfunding backers like a sack of bricks, particularly when it became clear that the MMORPG’s development would be put on hold until next year and that testing of the extraction mode would be offered only to players who ponied up for Pantheon’s pricy packages. That revelation, on the heels of the admission that the game wasn’t pulling in sufficient funding as-is and was in the process of a full-scale art do-over, caused a massive break of faith among MMO players.

In any case, the cause for the uproar has been ended. “Pantheon will drop its 247 Test Mode and return to the full PvE MMORPG,” Visionary Realms writes today. “We are making the conversion immediately and it will be available in the coming days, available around the clock to pledges with the Pre-Alpha access perk. Alpha pledges will be invited to play 24-hour sessions starting in December and continuing into next year, schedule to be announced.”

“We knew there would be some uneasiness when we introduced a survival extraction testing mode, but we hoped that it would be an enjoyable, replayable experience that would provide critical data for development, and potentially some additional funding to accelerate delivery of the full MMO game. However, our hopes didn’t line up with what you felt. The Pantheon community made it clear that the 247 test mode is not the reason they support us, and we need to listen to that. […] We understand that for many of you, we have damaged your trust. That’s on us. For those who will give us the opportunity to rebuild that trust, we thank you. For those who are not yet ready to believe in us or the project again, we understand, and hope we can earn back your support in the future.”

The studio further notes that the verbal NDA masking the game will be lifted starting December 1st (though the NDA on screenshots and video remains). The team will host a Discord Q&A at 8 p.m. EST on November 16th to address the future of the game.