The developers of Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen announced a new spin-off in October. They wanted to earn additional money through an extraction survival game, which should flow into the development of the MMORPG. However, after angry complaints from fans, they are now backtracking.
What kind of game was that? Pantheon has been in development for over 9 years, and the studio is slowly running out of money. That’s why they came up with the idea of developing their 24/7 test into a standalone game.
The plan was to mix survival, MMO, and extraction to encourage people to invest money that could be used in the development of the MMORPG. Additionally, they wanted to reach a completely new target audience with the unique gameplay. The development of Pantheon was supposed to take a back seat but continue nonetheless.
However, this idea was not well received. Many fans feared that important development time for the MMORPG would be lost. Furthermore, the idea reminded them of Ashes of Creation Apocalypse, where the developers created a standalone battle royale from their test version. However, that completely flopped.
What do the developers say now? In a statement, Creative Director Chris Perkins has now addressed the community and confirmed that the standalone game has been shelved:
The Pantheon community has made it clear that the test mode 247 is not the reason why they support us, and we need to listen to that.
Instead, they want to fully focus on the MMORPG again and even lift the verbal NDA.
24/7 Tests and an invitation to all Alpha Testers
What’s next for Pantheon? The MMORPG will be available for testing around the clock for pre-alpha players. Previously, there were only selected testing periods. Alpha players will also be invited to new events in December:
Pantheon will abandon its 247 test mode and fully return to the PvE MMORPG. We will implement the transition immediately, and it will be available in the coming days, round the clock for participants with pre-alpha access.
Alpha access holders will be invited to 24-hour play sessions starting in December, which will continue into next year.
But there’s good news for all other fans as well. On December 1, the verbal non-disclosure agreement will be lifted. Every tester will then be allowed to report on their experiences. However, no screenshots or gameplay can still be shared.
This is probably because Pantheon is currently completely overhauling its graphics.
What is Pantheon? Generally, the new MMORPG focuses entirely on PvE. There will be no PvP. The core features of the game are:
- 14 different classes available at launch.
- Exploration will play a significant role in the game world and dungeons.
- 15 dungeons, each offering at least 2 hours of gameplay.
- There will be a climbing system that allows vertical exploration of the world.
- Players are meant to gather in guilds as they did before, venture out together, and lead a kind of second life in the MMORPG.
Many players could immediately identify with the ideas and placed great hopes in the game. However, the development progressed slowly, and the death of Brad McQuaid in 2019 also set the project back. It wasn’t until January 2023 that a first pre-alpha phase started, in which only backers could participate who had already invested quite a bit of money into the MMORPG.
What do you think of the decision to refocus on Pantheon? Will it benefit the MMORPG or could it harm the title because they are simply running out of money?
Throne and Liberty, on the other hand, has recently announced surprisingly many PvE contents:
New MMORPG sounds like a lot of PvE – Launches with 6 dungeons, 18 world bosses, and guild raids
