Amazon Cancels Its First AAA Title ‘Crucible’

Amazon is pulling the plug on its first attempt to create an AAA video game, “Crucible.”

A blog post on the “Crucible” website stated that after evaluating the feedback from audiences and the data the developer had collected, the team behind the title had ultimately decided to discontinue the development of “Crucible.”

The free-to-play multiplayer third-person shooter was developed and published by Amazon Game Studios subsidiary, Relentless Studios, and had been in development since 2014. However, after being launched just this May, “Crucible” returned to beta status.

Engadget noted that Relentless Studios cut down the available modes and said that it would add some polish to enhance the player experience of the title that had elements of extremely successful games like “Overwatch” and “Fortnite.”

Not seeing a healthy, sustainable future for the game, the team had decided that even though fans rallied around its efforts and responded to changes made to the title, it will instead focus on another game in development, “New World,” as well as other future projects from Amazon Games.

In an increasingly competitive segment of video gaming that also includes “Valorant” and “Call of Duty,” a misstep or two could prove costly when a developer is trying to establish itself or create its own niche.

As “Overwatch” celebrates its first anniversary on the Nintendo Switch and “Fortnite” remains constant despite the Apple Store controversy with Epic Games, “Crucible” could not seem to find its footing or a large enough audience to justify Amazon keeping it afloat.

And as much as Relentless Studios may have thrown all its support behind “Crucible,” the truth of the matter is that this was very ambitious for a first AAA title and ultimately too costly for Amazon.

A full refund is being offered for all in-game purchases made while the team will hold a final playtest and community celebration both in the game and at its official Discord channel. Matchmaking will be disabled and servers will stay up for custom games only until 12 p.m. EDT on Nov. 9.

With the developer's focus moving to “New World” and other titles, the ones who did throw in their support for Crucible can only hope that lessons learned in this experiment will result in something positive for the future.