Once again, a game is dead, Total War Arena, that our jinxed Jürgen once liked. But he claims his innocence and laments the demise of Wargaming’s strategy and tactics MMO.
Is it the Stöffel curse again? I was quite shocked recently when I saw the headline “Total War Arena is shutting down“. The game seemed promising and I played it a lot during the Closed Beta.
Now its days are numbered, and it is supposed to end in February 2019. In the editorial team, they have been joking for some time that I kill games with my affection. “What the Stöffel likes, dies!” has become a saying in our team.
That’s why Total War Arena was an awesome game!
It was such a good game! And indeed, I always had Total War Arena on my computer, even if I haven’t played it that much in the last few months. I always intended to play it again, because the gameplay was really great.
You were part of a really impressive force, and when it went well, and you got along with your teammates, truly epic battles resulted.
Beautiful memories: I still remember the situation when I wiped out the flank of an exposed enemy with my battle dogs, causing a chain reaction that collapsed the entire battle line.
Or the case when I troll for so long with a single cavalry unit in the enemy’s rear that a player in the enemy formation lost his nerves and chased my riders. He then missed the decisive moment at the front and ruined the enemy’s battle plan and thus their chance of victory.
More battle than in the solo game: Total War Arena felt much more like a real battle than the neatly controllable skirmishes of the regular Total War series titles. Because you were just a division commander in a large army.
And as in many great battles of the past, individual decisions at the right or wrong time determine how a battle between equal opponents turns out.
The Reasons for the Downfall
Now Total War Arena is probably soon gone. Did I kill it? Not really, because the game had a significant problem: According to the developer studio Creative Assembly, Total War Arena did not meet expectations. Therefore, they decided to shut down operations.
Wargaming instead of Steam: According to many players, the lack of success was mainly due to the fact that the game was detached from Steam after the first beta phase and exclusively distributed through Wargaming’s own launcher.
Various players who participated in the first beta apparently did not switch to the Wargaming launcher, and new players didn’t find the game.
Because the players reached via the WG launcher were actually exclusively fans of World of Tanks and Co. And they were not necessarily all fans of ancient mass battles.
Departure from Steam was a critical mistake: So while a small, dedicated group of fans remains, it was far too little for a successful competitive MMO. The departure from Steam was probably the critical mistake that ultimately broke the game’s neck.
As in the battle situations mentioned at the beginning, this was the blunder that ultimately lost the battle. And this decision was made before I even got to play the game. So I’m innocent of the downfall.
But it’s a shame for what I think is a good game. Rest in peace, Total War Arena.
The same goes for WildStar:
