Amazon's Crucible game takes a pause - to stay in pre-season phase

Faced with poor ratings and a general lack of acceptance, Amazon has put its Crucible game into pause mode suggesting that it would remain in the pre-season phase till such time that all the complaints from reviewers are met and features included.

It started off by retiring two of Crucible's three modes barely three weeks after the game's launch on March 20. The game received largely average reviews and ratings with GameSpot rating it 5/10 and PC Gamer giving it an even lower 48% acceptance.

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In a note published on the PlayCrucible website, the developers said while they were happy with the response to the premise of the game, they were also aware of the feedback around some features that need to be added as a top priority, such as a voice chat. “We agree, and we’re going to stay in Pre-Season until those features and polish are in Crucible. We’re also going to use our time in Pre-Season as a chance to go all-in on the parts of Crucible that are resonating most strongly with you, our community,” the note said.

Relentless Studios, which developed the game, also said the developers would be refining Crucible's focus quite dramatically. It would retire the Alpha Hunters and Command modes and retain only the Heart of the Hives mode.

"The community has rallied around Heart of the Hives in an amazing way. Moving forward, we will be putting all of our efforts towards Heart of the Hives and what we can do to make that mode shine. Focusing on one mode allows us to refine the design of core systems without the compromises we needed to make to support three game modes,"says Colin Johanson in the update which also shared a developer roadmap.

A two-phase approach

This change would come in two phases with the initial "build and iterate" one focusing on core aspects of adding must-have features. In addition, reviewers had also sought a wider ping system, a possible mini-map and a surrender system besides the capability of dealing with idle players in the multi-player game.

As for the second phase, it would focus on polishing the game to improve overall experience besides bringing on additional systems and refinements. This could include customising the maps for Heart of Hives mode, better social functionalities and upgrading the creatures.

Crucible, which was launched on May 20, is a team-based action shooter that competes with the likes of Fortnite and Apex Legends. The gameplay on Crucible is based on player choices right through the game.