00:00Development on Prologue Go Way Back is ending as PlayerUnknown Productions announces layoffs.
00:06It appears the journey beyond Prologue Go Way Back has come to an erupt halt.
00:11PlayerUnknown Productions announced yesterday that development on its survival game Prologue
00:17Go Way Back is coming to an end.
00:19In a statement posted on the studio's social media channels, founder Brendan Greene, better
00:24known as PlayerUnknown, explained that he could no longer continue funding the project
00:28in its current form.
00:31I have reached the limits of how far I can continue to fund this journey in its current
00:35form, Greene said.
00:36As a result, the studio is undergoing a restructuring process that includes layoffs.
00:41While PlayerUnknown Productions did not disclose how many employees have been affected, Greene
00:46confirmed that only a smaller team will remain in place to continue work on Melba, the company's
00:51proprietary game engine.
00:53As a result, I have made the hard decision to restructure the studio, the statement continued.
00:58The studio says its immediate focus is supporting employees impacted by the layoffs during the
01:04transition.
01:05For those unfamiliar with Melba, the technology is one of Greene's most ambitious projects.
01:10The engine is designed to support the creation of what he has described as true Earth-sized
01:15game worlds.
01:16The technology relies on machine learning agents running locally on player systems and has been
01:21positioned as a potential foundation for massive, interconnected virtual experiences in the future.
01:27The decision also means significant changes for Prologue Go Way Back, which launched in
01:32early access last November.
01:34Rather than continuing active development, the game will be made free to play with its
01:39next update.
01:41PlayerUnknown Productions is also exploring options to provide refunds for customers who
01:46purchased the game through Steam or the Epic Games Store.
01:49While no formal refund process has been announced yet, the studio says it is actively seeking
01:54a way to make that happen.
01:56In a separate Steam update, the developer reiterated much of the same information while also leaving
02:01the door open for a possible return to the project down the road.
02:05We hope the studio can return to Go Way Back at a future point in time.
02:09Despite arriving with a fair amount of curiosity surrounding Green's larger metaverse style
02:15ambitions, Prologue Go Way Back struggled to make a major impact following its November
02:25launch.
02:26Earlier this year, Eurogamer's Edwin Evans Thrillwell spent time with the game and came
02:32away both intrigued and cautious, particularly regarding its machine learning driven design
02:37philosophy.
02:38While he expressed reservations about some aspects of the project, he also highlighted
02:44moments that demonstrated a thoughtful approach to environmental storytelling and player interaction.
02:50Reflecting on one of his early experiences with the game, he wrote,
02:53In the demo I played, each run began inside a randomly placed forest cabin, with a pan of water bubbling
03:00on a stove ring nearby.
03:02I like that pan of water.
03:04It's a pleasing little designer's goad, with somebody making tea before you arrived.
03:09Still is in groundwater.
03:11You hear a generator throbbing outside, and you think, ah, I should probably turn off the
03:15stove to avoid wasting power.
03:17And then you discover that each ring on the stove can be flicked on or off individually.
03:22Nice.
03:22Nice.
03:25Where the prologue go way back eventually returns remains uncertain.
03:29For now, however, active development has come to an end as PlayerUnknown Productions shift
03:34its focus toward the future of Melba and the technologies Green hopes will power future projects.
03:41Comments.
03:43Thianosi8009 Supporter goes, If I could turn back time, if I could find a way back, I'd probably
03:48not start this project in the first place, and you'd stay.
03:52A tongue-in-cheek response referencing both the game's title and the difficult circumstances
03:56surrounding its cancellation.
03:59Zal1387 goes, I'm sorry, but this simply can't be true.
04:02The game is the first piece in an internet multiverse where bubbles of independent IP could
04:07communicate with each other on an unparalleled scale.
04:10There's no possible way it could fail.
04:13A sarcastic comment poking fun at the ambitious vision and lofty goals that were originally
04:19attached to the project.
04:22Okay, so, um, with any game that has, that, um, is gonna be, is gonna be impacted, that always
04:32sucks.
04:32Um, I never even heard about this game, uh, first, so, at the same time, it's not surprising,
04:43because, I mean, usually games that you don't hear about when they first launch, you find
04:49out about them when they, uh, when they, um, die, basically.
04:58So, yeah, I mean, it sucks that this game is, it sucks that the develop, um, the person
05:04behind it, uh, can't fund it anymore.
05:06Um, that might not mean it's, that might not mean it's dying, it might just be stagnant.
05:12Uh, you know, no new updates or things that were planned might be canceled.
05:19Uh, but either way, I mean, it sucks, but, like I said, this, uh, today's my first time
05:26hearing about this game.
05:29So,
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