Tribes: Ascend shelved, Hi-Rez focusing on Smite
The game will continue to exist, but Hi-Rez Studios no longer has major updates planned. Fans aren't happy.
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Hi-Rez Studios has revealed that Tribes: Ascend will continue operation, but the developer is no longer putting any effort towards the game. Instead, Hi-Rez is focusing on Smite, the company's answer to the popular MOBA trend.
"There are no major dev updates planned for Tribes: Ascend in the next six months," wrote Hi-Rez chief operating officer Todd Harris on Reddit. "For the next six months our primary development focus is Smite. Beyond that it is [Global Agenda 2]. And beyond that a [Tribes: Ascend 2] would be more likely than a major update to TA; but to be clear no devs are currently working toward TA2."
"Per the development blog on our forums, the recent TA work has been [Hi-Rez level designer Kate Pitstick] developing some additional maps. If time allows then these new TA maps (along with some bug-fixes) would be finalized and deployed but no committed date yet," Harris added.
This came in response to an open letter on Reddit asking if more content was coming for the game, with the last patch released on March 12, 2013. Some Reddit posters believe Hi-Rez dropped support for its first game, Global Agenda, after the game's free-to-play conversion back in April 2011. A number of fans have seemingly lost faith in the developer due to the drop-off of support on Global Agenda and Tribes: Ascend.
The company announced the development of Global Agenda 2 on October 2012, with beta testing on the game expected to begin some time this year.