Bulkhead, the studio behind Battalion 1994, has “formally ended” its relationship with Square Enix and announced a legacy version of the game.
Battalion 1944 hit Early Access in 2018 through indie-focused publisher Square Enix Collective, with its parent company Square Enix then acquiring a 20 per cent stake in Bulkhead.
Yesterday (August 9) Bulkhead released a statement confirming it had “formally ended” its relationship with Square Enix and that a console version of Battalion 1944 promised through a 2016 Kickstarter campaign would no longer be happening.
“We want to start this exciting new chapter where we began, focusing on the players,” said the studio. “We are deeply disappointed that Battalion 1944 never made it to console and we will be refunding all console Kickstarter backers. We are sorry it has taken so long to rectify this.”
An announcement about @PlayBattalion pic.twitter.com/pvFQJx8ibz
— BATTALION: Legacy (@PlayBattalion) August 9, 2022
“Loads of stuff we can’t talk about currently, sorry,” community manager Aaron Baker wrote on Reddit “Will become more apparent in the future. I know it’s a shitty situation but that’s just the way it is for the time being.”
It’s not all bad news though, with Bulkhead announcing Battalion: Legacy: a “revisited and final version of Battalion 1944“.
According to the studio, Battalion: Legacy is “the culmination of work consolidated into one old school experience for all to enjoy.”
“We have taken the best aspects of Battalion 1944 and honed in on these to create a fluid bug free experience, featuring a working server browser, an added faction, new weapons, classic Search & Destroy game mode with all weapons available, complete UI rework and visual overhaul,” the studio wrote in an announcement on Steam.
Battalion: Legacy is due for release next week, on August 16.
Last week, it was reported that Square Enix was looking to sell off stakes in Western studios in a bid to “improve capital efficiency”.
The news follows on from the sale of Crystal Dynamics and Eidos to Embracer Group earlier this year, which is now considered phase one of their bids to better their capital efficiency.
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