LawBreakers development suspended as Boss Key moves on to new projects
LawBreakers developer Boss Key Productions is suspending development of the game and moving on to new projects.
A statement today posted on the studio's official website stated the team will continue to support LawBreakers in its current state, but will also focus on upcoming projects with "fresh creative leaders."
The full statement is below:
It has been a while since we said anything about LawBreakers. With that, the past four months at Boss Key Productions has been especially trying, as we pride ourselves at being communicative and transparent.
So here is the very real truth, which may not come as a surprise.
The fact is LawBreakers failed to find enough of an audience to generate the funds necessary to keep it sustained in the manner we had originally planned for and anticipated. And while a pivot to free-to-play may seem like easiest change to make, a change of this magnitude takes publishing planning and resources to do it.
The team here has worked hard on this game over the past three and a half years and our studio is determined to give this game the second life it deserves. However, between now and then, we cannot sit idle. We will continue to support the game in its current state, but we also need to focus on other projects with fresh creative leaders. We have been working on something new and we can’t wait to share more about it. It’s a passion project that we’re in complete control of.
Thank you for your ongoing understanding and patience.
When reached for comment, Boss Key told PC Gamer its new project is not associated with LawBreakers and Nexon was not involved in any way.
Published by Nexon, LawBreakers was released in August 2017 on PC and PlayStation 4. During its Q3 earnings report in January, Nexon partially blamed PUBG for LawBreakers not being as successful as anticipated.
“We had very high expectations for its launch; however, the timing of its launch turned out to be unfortunate, specifically the blockbuster PC online game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds came out right about the same time, making the market environment very tough for first-person shooters in general and for Lawbreakers,” the company said.
As we noted at the time, the statement seemed rather odd considering PUBG was already a success before it ever left early access.
When VG247 had a chance to play LawBreakers, Sherif found it to be a fun, solid shooter that "more often than not succeeds in what it tries to do."
Hopefully, the game will indeed get "the second life it deserves" sooner rather than later.