‘Damn Shame’ — Canceled Warhammer Horus Heresy MMO Was ‘Shaping Up Nicely’

The canceled Warhammer Horus Heresy MMO was “shaping up nicely,” 1 idiosyncratic who worked connected it has said.

The Horus Heresy is the galaxy-spanning civilian warfare betwixt loyalist and traitor Space Marines that occurred 10,000 years earlier the existent Warhammer 40,000 setting. It saw the Emperor yet decision his Chaos-fueled primarch son, Horus Lupercal, and prevention the Imperium of Man from destruction, but astatine a unspeakable cost: the near-death Master of Mankind was interred upon the Golden Throne arsenic a carrion Emperor sustained by the regular sacrifice of thousands of psykers.

The untitled crippled was successful improvement astatine Jackalyptic Games, a first-party NetEase workplace helmed by MMO specializer Jack Emmert of City of Heroes fame, for astatine slightest two-and-a-half years earlier the Chinese megacorp pulled backing for the task arsenic portion of a wide-ranging pullback from occidental video crippled development. Jackalyptic subsequently closed down.

Now, an animator who worked connected the crippled has published work-in-progress clips to societal media, showing disconnected Space Marine question and bolter fire, which successful crook prompted Graham McNeill, writer of a fig of Warhammer novels including a agelong database of Horus Heresy books, to corroborate helium had worked connected the title.

“I did immoderate penning connected this game,” McNeill tweeted. “Characters, missions, scripts, etc. — and it was shaping up truly nicely. Damn shame…”

In December past year, MP1st published a fig of images of the game, revealing what looked similar Prospero, the homeworld of the Thousand Sons that was astatine the bosom of 1 of the astir celebrated battles of the Horus Heresy.

While determination is simply a agelong database of Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer phantasy video games, the Horus Heresy remains an untapped setting. And based connected the absorption to the latest clips of this canceled game, fans truly privation a Horus Heresy crippled astatine immoderate point.

“Surprised nary 1 has made a archetypal idiosyncratic shooter of the Horus Heresy. So galore to take from, Isstvan, Calth, Prospero, Siege of Terra. Would astir apt merchantability conscionable arsenic good arsenic Space Marine 2,” a instrumentality suggested. "It's chaotic seeing worldly from this cancelled Horus Heresy crippled with however bully it looks, they adjacent had immoderate of Prospero built," X idiosyncratic @DumbRobotStuff commented. "I'd anticipation this task gets reconsidered with however palmy Space Marine 2 is."

One absorbing thought astir a imaginable Horus Heresy video crippled is that it could necktie into the phenomenally fashionable Space Marine 2, which featured the Thousand Sons arsenic the main Chaos Space Marine force passim its campaign. A Horus Heresy video crippled could perchance diagnostic the Thousand Sons during the Burning of Prospero, and fto fans acquisition however the Traitor Legion became what it is successful Space Marine 2.

Video games are canceled each the time, and so determination person been a fig of canceled Warhammer MMOs implicit the years. But it feels similar we’re successful the aureate property of Warhammer 40,000 video games especially, with the likes of Total War: Warhammer 40,000, Dawn of War 4, and Space Marine 3 to look guardant to. Perhaps there’s country successful the aboriginal for the Horus Heresy, too. It's what the Emperor would want, aft all.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].