The Wild West Online forum has a post from one of the developers after months of silence. In it, "MrBlack" said that in August, development on the game effectively stopped with most employees remaining unpaid for three plus months. In the intervening weeks, there was no money left to continue and the remaining team searched for partners or financing. After much searching, a new partnership with Free Reign Entertainment has been struck and development will be restarted.
The post goes on to detail some of the crucial information players need to know:
- WWO owners will see their accounts remain intact with all purchases remaining. In addition, and in thanks for loyalty, those players will be treated to "generous rewards" in the form of in-game currency and Land Lots.
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Players will need to reinstall the client using the one found on the WWO site. It will be brought to Steam at a later date. The game is being split into two components:
- Frontier "a wild west themed survival / exploration / PvP game" with housing and settlements, crafting, item hunting and more. It is very similar to the original game.
- Magnificent 5: "our "obligatory" take on Battle Royale :). It's based on work Free Reign Entertainment have made with it's Chinese partners. up to 20 team of 5 players each are fighting in a dynamic world, build fortifications, trying to get best loot and artifacts. Monetization of the game is VERY SIMILAR to Fortnite, with Season Passes that opens challenges and access to cosmetic items."
- WWO is going F2P. Existing players will receive $15 worth of in-game premium currency and other items.
- Magnificent 5, the battle royale component, will be ready for testing in about a week, with Frontier coming along in November.
Read the full post on the Wild West Online site.
