Transformers: Reactivate, the Autobot action game from the Gears Tactics devs, has been cancelled

rockpapershotgun.com:

Gears Tactics and Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory developers Splash Damage have cancelled Transformers: Reactivate, the Hasbro action game they announced in 2022. They will also be "scaling down to refocus our efforts on other projects", and "a number of roles across the studio are now potentially at risk of redundancy".

All that's from a TwiX post in which Splash Damage describe Hasbro as "an incredible and supportive partner", and offer some, by now, sadly overfamiliar sentiments about this not being a decision they took "lightly". The post doesn't give any reason for the cancellation, beyond this being a "difficult time" for the studio.

There's been little to share about Transformers: Reactivate since reveal, but the first cinematic trailer (below) paints the picture of a more soulful and seemingly, first-person action game in which the Autobots (good guy Transformers) fight a "Legion" of invading aliens. It would have supported co-op and yes, you would have been able to switch between bot and vehicular forms.

The trailer vibe suggests a grimmer experience than you'd generally get from Transformers, with apocalyptic urban scenes filmed at pedestrian level, and in-game technology that reminds me of Gears Of War. Speaking as a fan of Splash Damage's adaptation work with Gears Tactics, I approve of all this. Shortly after announcement, a social media user leaked screens of a 2018 development build which include several possible playable characters, straddling the Autobot and Decepticon (bad guy Transformers) divide: Starscream, Slipstream, Hotrod, Soundwave, Sunstreaker, Ironhide and Windblade.

Alongside the game's announcement back in 2022, Splash Damage revealed the acquisition of Derby-based developers Bulkhead, creators of Battalion 1944 and The Turing Test. Bulkhead have been working on the Transformers game alongside Wardogs, a combined-arms FPS with strategy game elements. I interviewed members of Bulkhead many moons ago, and thought they were a good bunch.

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