Criterion's Teased Racing Game Cancelled

Discussion in 'Sim Racing' started by Denis Hard, Jun 24, 2016.

  1. Denis Hard

    Denis Hard Member

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    In 2014 at E3, Criterion Games showed footage of a multi-vehicle racing game. The footage showed players switching mid race between ATVs, planes, helicopters and other vehicles. It might have been a great game but two years later, EA has canceled the Project.

    http://www.pushsquare.com/news/2016/06/criterions_teased_racing_game_has_been_cancelled
    Good thing though is most racing game fans didn't even know Criterion was working on this project. So it's no big loss.
     
  2. spectre456

    spectre456 Member

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    That really sucks, what we saw back then looked very promising. They must have good reasons to cancel the game, but if it was just to cash grab off of Star Wars that's really bad.
     
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  3. FuZyOn

    FuZyOn Active Member

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    Such a big loss, I remember watching the footage in 2014 and I was excited to see if they were actually going to go through with it. Seemed like a fun concept and it would've definitely been a good game to play with friends.
     
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  4. qag

    qag Member

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    I remember when they showed this off and it looked super interesting. It's a shame to see that it was cancelled, though it's not a huge surprise to me. The game seemed way too ambitious.
     
  5. Wubwub

    Wubwub Well-Known Member

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    Too bad because switching vehicles in between sounds very interesting. I guess it does require a. Lot of resources though so maybe they just ran out of steam. Hopefully someday it gets revived.
     
  6. Denis Hard

    Denis Hard Member

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    Earlier in the year EA's boss said they weren't trying to be a "greedy beast" but that's exactly what they are. Apparently they weren't that sure that a new racing game would make them as much money as an already profitable Star Wars franchise. So they work on that first.

    I also hope that they'll still make that game eventually but even if they don't maybe someone could make it their next kickstarter project.
     
  7. pwarbi

    pwarbi Active Member

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    It seems like I'm the only one to not be all that concerned that it's been cancelled as even though I think it was an interesting idea, I'm not totally convinced that it would have worked all that well anyway.

    Being able to switch mid race isn't exactly realistic is it, and as far as simulator racing games go, realism is a key part of the gameplay for me.
     
  8. Wubwub

    Wubwub Well-Known Member

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    I can't say I blame them. They are a business first and they have to go with what sells better. I also have a lot of games I wish would be more popular so developers would have a reason to keep making them but sadly they are just too obscure.
     
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  9. Denis Hard

    Denis Hard Member

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    I wonder though why they should have Criterion working on a Star Wars game when they could be creating the next great racing game for EA even if it isn't this new game they were working on. It [Criterion Studios] is one of the best racing game developers after all.
     
  10. pwarbi

    pwarbi Active Member

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    EA are notorious for following the money so to speak, so if they can make more from a star wars franchise, and I have no doubt they can, then that's the route they'll go down.

    It might been cancelled for now, but in the future I don't see why it can't be revived, and I'd imagine that a lot of the code for the game is already written and so they wouldn't want to see that go to waste. As it actually been cancelled or just postponed but with no scheduled release date?
     
  11. Denis Hard

    Denis Hard Member

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    They said it was canceled but should they so desire they could revive the game when Criterion Studios no longer has to work on a Star Wars game. To be honest I hope they do [revive the game]. Maybe a NFS flop would force EA to greenlight the project?
     
  12. pwarbi

    pwarbi Active Member

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    I still don't understand why these games developers though get half way through completing a project and then shelve it, and half the time we never see or hear of it again.

    Surely if they have got that far and spent that much money on developing it, they might as well see it through to the bitter end?
     
  13. qag

    qag Member

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    Well in this case, we don't know how far this project was in the development process. IIRC, it didn't even have an actual name when it was shown off, and the footage that was shown was very early alpha, I'd honestly be surprised if it got halfway through development before it was cancelled.

    I don't think publishers like EA cancel games likely, because like mentioned, it's a lot of money spent on something that will never make returns, so I'm guessing EA had reasons for shelving it.
     
  14. Denis Hard

    Denis Hard Member

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    The game was called "Beyond Cars." And apparently it wasn't classified as a racing game. They called it an extreme sports game. Well . . . that could be a good reason why the game was canceled. There aren't too many "extreme sports" games being made and convincing gamers to buy it might have been hard?

    Nonetheless I still think they expect to make more money from Star Wars because there are a number of upcoming Stars Wars movies [between now and 2020] which will probably translate to more games sales for EA.
     
  15. pwarbi

    pwarbi Active Member

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    While I take on board what you're saying, and it is unusual for game developers to cancel games that they have already spent a significant amount of money on, but it does happen. Remember Konami shelving the new Silent hill game for example a month before it was due to be released? The game was finished and they cancelled it because they wanted to concentrate on a new direction and that never made sense to me.

    While this game may not have been anywhere near completion, the time and effort already gone into it was still wasted and maybe even selling the idea and the work that had been done to an indie game maker might have been an option?
     
  16. rz3300

    rz3300 Member

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    Well that is kind of a bummer. This is the first that I am hearing of this, so maybe it was better if I did not know about it at all, but it did sound like an interesting game. Switching between vehicles during a race is certainly something new to me, so that would be fun to try. Oh well, though, I guess we will have to wait and see if someone else experiments with the idea. I hope that they do, too.
     
  17. qag

    qag Member

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    I feel like other developers will experiment with the idea, it's a unique idea that is very ambitious in nature, though. I feel like if another developer works on it and is able to make a good game out of it, the game will be very successful - critically and commercially.
     
  18. Denis Hard

    Denis Hard Member

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    I think developers interested in experimenting will have to wait a while first and see whether Criterion will be getting back their canceled project.

    Since they'll be busy making Star Wars games till 2020, the waiting could take that long. If after that they still do nothing then that would be the time you see this project on Kickstarter or on another Crowdfunding site.
     

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