The studio behind of Battalion 1944 has announced it’s ending its relationship with Square Enix, and that due to the game never coming to consoles, all console Kickstarter backers will be receiving refunds.
Developer Bulkhead did not explain why it has ended its relationship with Square Enix, only writing “We have formally ended our relationship with Square Enix. We want to start this exciting new chapter where we began, focusing on the players,” in the Steam announcement post. On top of this, Bulkhead has announced that Battalion 1994 is being retitled Battalion: Legacy, and is going free-to-play.
Bulkhead also expressed disappointment in not being able to bring Battalion 1944 to console, saying that it plans to “refund all Kickstarter backers,” thanking and apologizing those that did back the console version.
The developer also explained what exactly Battalion: Legacy is, saying that it “is the culmination of work consolidated into one old school experience for all to enjoy,” noting things like a working server browser, new weapons, classic Search & Destroy game mode, and a complete UI rework and visual overhaul.
Battalion: Legion is currently planned to launch August 16, but nothing has been announced regarding players who already own the game.
The Kickstarter for the game launched back in 2016, and was successfully funded in under three days. It was eventually released in early access in 2018, receiving a full release in 2019.
During early access, fans expressed concern over the fact that seemingly no work had been carried out on the console version of the game, with Bulkhead at the time saying it had no intention to provide refunds at the time, and that details regarding the console version would come in 2019, though obviously they never did.
