Amazon’s first big video game of the year, Crucible, is unreleasing. Developer Relentless Studios announced that the title is officially returning to “closed beta” status as an update in early June where the title removed two of its three modes and several reports of the game struggling to find an audience.
In an official blog post, the developer shares “experience as a Crucible player will stay pretty much the same while we’re in beta. One of the biggest changes you’ll see is that we’re going to schedule dedicated time each week when we as devs will be playing with the community and soliciting feedback. The game will be accessible 24/7 so you can continue to self-organize matches with other players—we recommend joining our Discord server to find players to queue against. You’ll still launch Crucible through Steam (you don’t even need a new download), you’ll keep all the progress and customization items you’ve already earned, and the battle pass, reward tracks, and in-game store will continue to be supported.”
Crucible, developed by Relentless Studios, which is run under Amazon Game Studios, is Amazon’s first major original game title since the company started developing tablet games in 2012. There are three different modes in the game, which are largely inspired by the mechanics of other, similar games: Alpha Hunters is like battle royal games Fortnite and PUBG that let you either play solo or team up with a partner. Heart of the Hives pits two teams of four against each other to shoot it out and complete objectives, like team-based MOBA/shooter Overwatch. Harvest Command is similar to Heart of the Hives, except its two teams of eight against each other in an objective-based fight. And like other team-based multiplayer games, players assume the role of one ‘hunter’ based on their abilities and preferred playstyle.