Crackdown Dev's PS4/PC Game Put on Hold Due to "Diverging" Creative Vision
Hollowpoint, the 2.5D shooter from Crackdown 2 developer Ruffian Games, is no longer in active development. The game, announced at Gamescom 2014, was going to published by Magicka studio Paradox, but the arrangement between the two companies fell apart after what sounds like a creative clash.
"After recent ongoing discussions between the two companies, it became apparent to both parties that the creative vision for the project was diverging and so the decision was ultimately taken to cease our co-operation in order to serve the long-term interests of the game," a Paradox representative told GameWatcher. "We would like to thank Ruffian Games for all their hard work and wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors. Paradox will be re-evaluating the creative direction of Hollowpoint internally before making any final decisions."
A representative for Ruffian Games told Eurogamer that it in fact stopped working on Hollwpoint back in summer 2015. The studio's latest game is twin-stick shooter Fragmental, which arrived through Steam Early Access earlier this month and will launch in full later this year.
Ruffian described Hollowpoint as a blend of traditional 2D side-scrolling action with 3D targeting, meaning enemies would have come at you from the front and background, not just left and right. Each level would procedurally generate objectives, level layouts, and events, and could have been played with up to four players cooperatively via Steam or PSN. As you progress through the game, you would have earned experience and skill points you can use to upgrade the operatives and equip them with different abilities, weapons and equipment.
As the Paradox statement alluded to, it sounds like Hollowpoint is not totally canceled, but rather put on the back burner for now. We will report back with new details on the project as they become available.
The next Crackdown game, Crackdown 3, is currently in the works for Xbox One. It will offer a co-op campaign, online multiplayer, and destructible environments.
