The action-MMO Wayfinder is currently unavailable to buy, but developer Airship Syndicate isn’t giving up on the game.
On Twitter, the studio explained it turned off sales as publishing responsibilities transfer over from Digital Extremes. Last November, the Warframe studio gave full ownership to Airship as it reduced its third-party output.
Those who bought Wayfinder before now can still access and play the game “with no interruptions.” A specific timeframe for its return to digital stores wasn’t given.
Airship Syndicate is also taking this time to give Wayfinder an overhaul that “remains consistent with our standards and beliefs.” These changes will include a business model reflective of its new status as a publisher.
Airship Syndicate wants Wayfinder to have a good life, but will it?
“[We] are committed to keep Wayfinder active and vibrant,” wrote Airship. “There will be major changes and improvements, but we have no plans for it to disappear like other online-only games we’ve all played and loved.”
For games, rights ownership can be a funny thing. Sometimes it’s as simple as buying the property (or studio), as we’ve recently seen with Remedy and Control.
In other cases, it gets complicated, particularly when the current owner doesn’t want to give away those rights for whatever reason.
Airship Syndicate got lucky that Digital Extremes transferred ownership so willingly. But it now has a bigger problem on its hands: making Wayfinder profitable and sustainable.
Like when Bungie split from Activision Blizzard, what happens next will be solely Airship Syndicate’s responsibility. The fate of online games can be a rocky one, and its assurance to not let the MMO go away so easily may be out of its hands.