‘WildStar’ Team Faces Layoffs, Development For Chinese Release Cancelled

First released in June 2014, WildStar soon transitioned to a free-to-play title in late 2015. The MMORPG from Carbine Studios and published by NCSoft mixes a playful personality with a sci-fi backdrop to create a rather unique experience. Combat is quite active and reactive with telegraphs on the ground for both harmful and helpful abilities. Not to mention, a robust housing system, raids, and action-oriented PvP give players of any type something to enjoy.

After the switch to free-to-play, WildStar developers had every intention of bringing the game to China giving the game a chance to attract a much larger player base. Unfortunately, plans to localize the game in China with a Chinese release are no longer moving forward. Last week, Carbine Studios staff reported on the game’s official forums that the company has undergone restructuring since the team will now focus on the live title in the west instead of development in the east. “Overall performance” was also a factor in the downsizing.

The game will continue to move forward in regions that it is already present, however. The announcement notes that a major update is coming soon to WildStar with community events and other content to be added, too. The restructuring has been impactful, though, according to sources that have spoken with Polygon. It is reported that over 70 people have been laid off, cutting Carbine Studios staff by 40 percent. Anonymous sources have told the website that the game only has “a couple of months left” before it’s sunset.

Of course, there are other avenues to increase the player base in the west, too. WildStar is yet to release on the juggernaut PC platform, Steam. Releasing to players on a platform that has nearly eight million current players on right now could boost the game’s numbers. MMORPGs tend to do well on Steam, even if they are older titles like Knight Online or newer ones expanding their reach on Steam like Final Fantasy XIV. Free-to-play titles like Neverwinter, Trove, and TERA see regular users logging in via Steam, and all of these titles linger in the top 100 games played on the Steam Stats page with thousands of players logging in to each of them.

According to the creative director for WildStar, the long-rumored and planned release of the game on Steam is still in the works. On Twitter, a player inquired about the Steam launch of WildStar to which the creative director stated that it is “Still happening.” This news was echoed in a Reddit post, where the creative director further confirmed that it would happen this spring.

@CirindeFitch Still happening.

— Semi-Bad Pappy (@Pappylicious) March 14, 2016

As stated previously, WildStar is now a free-to-play game that anyone can download and start playing right away. As the Inquisitr reported, players can support the title with in-game purchases or pick up a subscription to gain a few benefits while playing. Spending money on the game in any way improves the player’s Cosmic Point Tier giving them access to additional goodies and bonuses like pets, mounts, costumes, and dye. Players can earn Cosmic Points for buying a WildStar game code, purchasing something from the official website, or spending NCoin on items from the in-game store. Purchasing or redeeming C.R.E.D.D., the item that unlocks a one-month subscription, will also earn Cosmic Points for players as well. Check out the WildStar shop on the official site for more information about NCoin, C.R.E.D.D., and subscriptions.

The game’s subscription, known as Signature Membership gives players more Circles to join, more exchange slots, reduced “Wake Here” times, more rested experience, access to Warparties, and a 200 percent increase to the amount of OmniBits dropped. OmniBits are currency dropped and earned in-game that can be used in the in-game store of select items.

[Image via NCSoft]