For a long time, Terraria: Otherworld remained in development, and just when fans were sure the next announcement to be made by Re-Logic and Engine Software would be a final release date. Unfortunately, when the announcement finally came, the shocker was that the game has been canceled.
For those who are not familiar with the game, Terraria: Otherworld was meant to be another game in the Terraria franchise. However, instead of coming as the second game in the series, it was supposed to be a spinoff to the first. What made the cancelation for the game even more surprising was that Re-Logic had not only made an official announcement of the game, but it also came out with a trailer even though it was still in the earliest stages.
Here are some of the reasons why the game was cancelled.
Why We May Never Get To See Terraria Otherworld
1. It was far behind schedule
Since 2011 when Terraria was released, it has only continuously been updated. Otherworld was supposed to be its spin-off and since it was announced in 2015, nothing came out of it more than three years later.
With all the delays and the problems that plagued the game, it did not only get behind the schedule of Re-Logic, but it seems the developers got tired of working on the project and decided it was time to move on to other things.
In the blog post the developers released to Terrarians, it was stated by Re-Logic that on one hand, it was behind schedule and on the other, the game was still very far from where the team would have loved to see it.
2. The instability that continued to follow the game
While there were those that were shocked by the cancelation, there were also many others who were not surprised. This is mainly because since Re-Logic announced the game in 2015, it had continued to be a rather bumpy ride for the game.
After it was first announced in 2015, it seemed to be abandoned for up to a year or even more before an announcement was made that the game was being revamped. This according to Re-Logic was because it needed to ensure that the vision, standard, and expectations of the game are all aligned and met.
At the time, a new leader for the project team at Engine Software was gotten but by 2017, it was again announced that Re-Logic was parting ways with its development partner, Engine Software, although it was retaining the game as it was. In place of Engine Software, Piperworks was brought in.
3. There is still too much work to be done
Even with the many years that have passed and all the rough ride, there was not so much work that was done on Terraria: Otherworld and there was still so much that was left out.
According to the developers, going on with the project will take a rather long time to finish and that may interfere with other projects at Re-Logic. More so, it reached that with all that has happened, there was no certainty that the game would be finished in a reasonable time or fashion and still achieve all its potential. This is one of the main reasons why the game was dropped.
4. Overwhelming expectations
Yet another issue that the game had was that it was made public too early. Considering the overwhelming success of the main game, it was only normal that any developer would want to build and enjoy from the success of the first. However, Re-Logic seemed to have spoken too soon about the release of the game.
With a huge fan base, the announcement created an excitement that seemed to overwhelm and derail the developers. Also, the release of some part of the game too early into the project all contributed to its failure.
5. Outsourcing that went wrong
Based on speculations, Re-Logic outsourced the development of the game in some part and it did not end well.
Although it is not known how much of the game outsourced and what the issues were, it is known that this became one of the major reasons why we may never get to see Terraria: Otherworld. Probably because of the outsourcing, they did not get the best in terms of the work or even what they wanted exactly.
Following this problem, Re-Logic announced that it was no longer going to outsource any of its projects again in the future but will instead utilize its own people. That said, it is not known if it outsourced some other parts of the original game in 2011 or if it made use of its own people.
6. Resources
One of the untold reasons why we may not see the game is the issue of resources, as speculated by many. One thing that the developers have done is to ensure that they continue to update the game on as many platforms as possible. It has been released for everything from PC to Xbox One, PS3, Linux, Nintendo Switch, and many others.
The belief is that updating all these to these many platforms would require a lot of resources on one hand, and on another, Re-Logic may end up making more money to have the game on as many platforms as possible than to have on few platforms and continue with the development of more games. Hence, it is speculated that it decided to cut things out since Otherworld is not working out and then put resources into the initial 1.3.6 and getting it on other platforms.
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Conclusion
Inasmuch as Otherworld was canceled, it was announced that the franchise will, as expected, continue and the properties already developed for the game are still going to be kept.
Every part of the game from the design to code, arts, sounds, and much more were kept by Re-Logic for future use as it noted that it was still going to make use of some of the great ideas that were supposed to be used for the game. Although a little of it was shared, there was so much that was left out.