In China, Transformers Online is in a closed beta. The game looks like Blizzard’s shooter Overwatch with a Transformers skin.
They have the official license from Hasbro and run on Unreal Engine 4: Transformers Online. This much can be said with certainty.
It might be a bit tricky with the statement: The gameplay strongly resembles Overwatch.
Clones as a Formula for Success
The game operates in China under “Tencent Games.” Their CEO was once known as the “King of Cloners.” He built his company on a “Chinese version of AOL.” The company gained fame and fortune by bringing successful Western concepts to the East. China is known for making it difficult for Western companies to access the market – but people there also want social media. And someone has to build and deliver it.
Tencent Games is immensely successful with this formula. At the end of 2015, they fully acquired Riot along with the MOBA League of Legends – that surely wasn’t cheap.
Gameplay footage from Transformers Online in the closed beta shows things like the “Payload” and other modes.
Although it must be said fairly that Blizzard has also been accused in the past of diligently copying ideas from the forefathers of the respective genres. For Overwatch, it is assumed that Team Fortress 2 served as inspiration.
Transformers Online has been in closed beta in China since early January. In the latest patches, they have changed the skill system, improved the graphics, and enhanced the interface. Transformers Online is likely to remain a China-exclusive title. MMO-Culture, who have played the Unreal Engine 4 team shooter, criticize the lack of a storyline and that the bots lack personality.
They also notice that Transformers Online obviously draws its inspirations from Overwatch and League of Legends.
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