This week brought disappointing news for fans eagerly awaiting Transformers: Reactivate. The developer, Splash Damage, announced the cancellation of the online shooter, ending years of work shrouded in mystery and limited updates. Though gameplay footage had been elusive until now, some clips have started surfacing online ironically.
During its development, Reactivate transitioned to Unreal Engine 5, and it seems the newly appearing footage was captured after this significant technical upgrade.
The clips emerged thanks to DpzLuna on Twitter, an account that persisted in keeping the game’s sparse news alive. The shared video spans over six minutes, highlighting basic combat scenes from the vantage point of a Transformer character.
In true shooter style, Transformers: Reactivate naturally focused on shooting action, interspersed with transforming abilities. It seems that transforming into a car was the primary method for traveling across the game’s expansive map. You could even engage in combat while in car mode, and the animations for these transformations looked polished. The gunplay felt substantial, complete with satisfying sound effects and recoil. The featured combat, however, was mostly against nondescript AI foes rather than known adversaries like the Decepticons.
The game appeared to adopt an open-world format, allowing players to explore freely and engage with various objectives, including classic tasks such as enemy clearance missions.
Despite the in-development footage revealing missing components, there were glimpses of potential. However, considering the turbulent landscape of live service games in 2024—with setbacks like the failure of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and the launch mishap of Sony’s Concord—perhaps decision-makers doubted Reactivate’s ability to thrive.
It’s undeniably disappointing to see Splash Damage’s efforts come to an abrupt halt. The studio, often on the cusp of a breakthrough success, now has to shelve what might have been their next big hit. Such unfulfilled promise is a tough pill to swallow for fans and developers alike.
