Chernobylite 2 failed to meet expectations. Devs of open-world action RPG lay off 15 employees and announce development changes
The early access release of Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone has not gone the way of the developers. The Farm 51 announced downsizing and focusing on the elements most anticipated by players.
Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone recently was released in Steam Early Access. The Polish title met with a mixed reception from players and ultimately didn't meet the developers' expectations. That's why, The Farm 51 studio announced a reduction in employment and changes in the game development.
Layoffs at The Farm 51
In the past few days, it has become clear that selling the game in Early Access doesn't allow for further expansion of an already substantial project.
To ensure the project's continued development, we had to make difficult decisions: parting ways with some team members and suspending work on certain content, which we plan to release at a later date.
The announcement on the developers' website, states that on March 14, 15 members of a team of over 50 employees left their jobs.
The remaining creators will now focus on improving the elements that are most anticipated by the players. This refers to, among other things, language localizations, dialogue recording, and optimization.
At the same time, regarding audiovisual and narrative content, we will restrict our work on the game's content to the elements planned as essential for the full version's release, excluding additional DLC content and optional elements that we haven't yet disclosed to players.
The devs hope that thanks to this, the game will be positively received after its release and will be able to be further developed, just like the first installment. Early access is still expected to last from 6 to 10 months, and we will receive a detailed roadmap in the coming days.
Activity and reception of players
In relation to the recent announcement, it's worth checking out how Chernobylite 2 is doing on Steam. At its peak, the title drew 269 players simultaneously, and at the time of writing this news, there were only 46 (via SteamDB). This is a poor result, especially in comparison with the first installment, which holds a record of 3,944 players.
The game on Steam was rated by 256 people, of which 62% decided to write a positive review. Again, when compared to the original, the sequel seems lackluster. The predecessor collected over 11 thousand reviews and 82% of them are positive.
People who decided to purchase early access to the sequel mention the most important issues, in their opinion, in their reviews. First and foremost, they are mentioning the technical layer. Chernobylite 2 is said to perform very poorly even on high-end computers, and it is riddled with bugs. The game also occasionally crashes completely to the desktop.
From the gameplay side, opinions are very diverse. Some players praise the genre change and they like the idea of an action RPG with an open world. Others, however, criticize the complete abandonment of the first installment's legacy, pointing out that the only thing remaining is the title. So as you can see, the game's rating depends on taste and sentiment towards the original.
If despite these opinions you would like to check out Chernobylite 2, the game can currently be purchased with a 10% discount. You can pay $35.99 for it by March 20th.
- PoE 2's big 0.2.0 update gets a release date. Short teaser reveals new character class
- Crossplay date confirmed. Palworld’s next big update arrives in March, paving the way for full launch
- Titan Quest 2 release is close. Devs announced playtest but this demo version is not for all
- „I don't care how good they are.” Monster Hunter: Wilds players refuse to use the best weapons in Capcom's action RPG
- Waiting for The Sims rival gets easier with another free inZOI demo featuring Creative Studio system
- Is Multiplayer Repo Mobile Game official? Be careful
