Between this support and custom lobby options, fans of the original on both PC and console could keep on playing a game that Ars Technica didn't like so much when it launched in 2015.įurther Reading That Ubisoft DLC you purchased may soon be completely unplayable That tenuous peace was broken earlier this year when 2K pulled the plug on the game's P2P server infrastructure without any formal announcement of a shutdown timeline (as opposed to the months-in-advance notices we tend to see, such as a massive game-delisting notice issued by Ubisoft last month). When the game was delisted, 2K games clarified that it would continue supporting " Legacy Evolve," an older version of the game with fewer available characters and options via a barebones peer-to-peer (P2P) matchmaking service built into the game. Apparently, working download "keys" for the game's free-to-play (F2P) version, which went live in 2016, may still be floating around. part 2īefore I explain, I should clarify the worst news. This previously free-to-play game is now all but impossible to access if you didn't previously own or claim it, and there's no clear path to playing it due to the game's delisting from online retailers in September 2018. In the case of the four-on-one online shooter Evolve, however, the reverse has been true-and in a surprise twist, this 2K-published, Turtle Rock-developed game has been given more life this week than in the four years since its support was shut down. We've seen it repeatedly: A developer stops "supporting" an online game, and then the rug is pulled out from fans who might try to hack their way into playing the game among friends, leaving all access in tatters. And even if this is as much as they get, they seem to be happy about it.Further Reading Game industry pushes back against efforts to restore gameplay serversFrom a preservation standpoint, the modern shift to "always-online" video games has been a disaster. At least the Evolve community has something to hope for. And Left 4 Dead 3 isn't ever going to materialize unless Valve pulls its finger out. Turtle Rock has moved on, recently wrapping up the Tunnels of Terror DLC for Back 4 Blood. It'll be interesting to see what – if anything – 2K does next with Evolve. But if it had debuted in the current age of live service titles, no doubt it would've found its footing. The world may not have been ready for Evolve's gameplay model when it launched in 2016. And now everything's coming up Milhouse for them. But hey, a man can dream can't he? Especially considering yesterday, I never would have dreamed that they'd restore anything with stage 2."įor a game that was left for dead, Evolve somehow maintained a dedicated core playerbase. "My point is, I think we should carry this momentum in the hopes that maybe they'll one day relist the game on Steam or, hell, maybe even open lobby queueing back up eventually! Long shot for that last one, I know. "From a company that did everything in their power to bury this game and pretend it never existed, that is a HUGE change in attitude towards the game, and I think it's safe to say that their decision was directly influenced by the realization that there are STILL thousands of people madly in love with this game and still playing it regularly," they said. The redditor who shared the goings-on from the Discord server seems hopeful, given the publisher's shock decision to partially revive the game. The community is stoked, and has set their sights on an even bigger goal: getting Evolve relisted on Steam. And player numbers on Steam have surged since then. But to our collective surprise, both peer-to-peer, and matchmaking for Evolve Stage 2 were also resuscitated. Long story short, Evolve Legacy's peer-to-peer servers were reinstated. Players speculated it was due to a Steam update, and a bunch of Discord admins reached out to publisher 2K to get it sorted (you can read about that saga on Reddit). But a few months ago, Evolve Legacy stopped working. It was de-listed on the Steam storefront a while ago now, along with the free-to-play version, Evolve Stage 2. Until recently, the only way to play Evolve was via the Legacy edition using peer-to-peer servers. But after just two years, dedicated server support was retired, and Turtle Rock went back to the zombie drawing board with Back 4 Blood. Were they desperate for Left 4 Dead 3? Yes, yes I was. It saw the studio pivot from pitting players against zombie hordes, to tracking and hunting a player-controller monster instead. Evolve is the follow-up to Turtle Rock Studios' Left 4 Dead.
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