Roll7 will be ‘taking some time to reflect and re-energize’
Developer Roll7 has announced that it will be stepping down from the future development of its critically acclaimed title Laser League. With inspirations ranging from Windjammers to Tron, the game was a hit among fans that couldn’t get enough of its fast-paced nature and cutthroat competitive edge. While not everything was perfect, the foundation was set for a fantastic future that Roll7 just cannot provide.
As such, it has turned future development of the title over to publisher 505 Games. In a statement made on its website, Roll7 says, “We can’t wait to see where Laser League goes next with 505 Games at the helm and we thank them for their immense support and incubation of this project…Making a game at the scale of Laser League is super hard and very stressful. It’s by no means the last thing we’re going to make, but for a moment we’re taking some time to reflect and re-energize.”
505 Games’ also issued a statement to its community with the intention of bringing crossplay to the game. The biggest hurdle that Laser League faces is getting players onto each platform, but enabling crossplay would certainly help alleviate the dwindling player counts on PS4 and Xbox One. “Having XBO players (including Game Pass subscribers) and PS4 players being able to play against Steam players,” the statement reads, “means that any liquidity events which we run on any platform would help the overall eco-system rather than being siloed to that particular system.”
Signing-off, 505 Games’ Antonela Pounder (Senior Community Manager) writes, “505 Games were pleased to be able to help Roll7 ‘level up’ to deliver their most ambitious project to date and continue to be a good home for indie developers who have carved their teeth on small budget projects and want to try something more ambitious.”
While it is sad to hear Roll7 is stepping down from its own creation, I can understand the desire to take some time off. Laser League is certainly a well polished and realized game and it couldn’t have been easy for such a small studio to create. Here’s hoping all the R&R gives the team the creative zest it needs to make another hit.
Powering Down the Lasers [Roll7]
The Future of Laser League [505 Games]
Published: Aug 24, 2018 03:00 pm