LawBreakers. It was a name that briefly summoned visions of breakneck FPS action in a gravity defying landscape – but only while you were staring directly at it. The moment you looked away, it would evaporate – not for any specifically bad reason; the game was absolutely unique and interesting – but it’s debut and marketing period existing smack dab in a time of shooter over-saturation. People genuinely lacked sufficient room in their frontal lobe to dedicate to it.
Which is a bummer, because Cliff Bleszinski genuinely has some great credits to his name. But! Perhaps it is a game that can prosper with a second chance – which curiously has been queried by the B-man himself:
Well, turns out Nexon does own the rights to LawBreakers. @owenmahoney how about sliding into my DMs so we can talk about a resurrection?
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) April 19, 2023
I never played LawBreakers during it’s release, but the previews periods for the game definitely tickled the right neurons for me. And for those that enjoyed the game, it’s secret sauce was a very high-octane moment-to-moment gameplay that doesn’t really exist anywhere else. Hell the game had the marketing slogan of “FUCK GRAVITY” for a brief, glorious moment.
Was it deserving of the fate it received? With middling launch numbers and a plummeting player count?
There are examples of games that have managed to pull through when given a second chance – but many of these cases are defined by a unique level of commitment from developers to rebirth the title. Would LawBreakers receive such a makeover? Or would Cliffy B be content with presenting you with a bouquet of flowers and a “take me back” demeanour?
Realistically the market of “goofy action shooter” is somewhat less saturated now. Overwatch has changed dramatically in it’s identity with the release of it’s sequel platform, and many believe that Overwatch was a primary suspect in LawBreakers death.
Personally I’d love to see the game given a second chance, if only to finally get some real data on whether it was taken too soon – as many of it’s diehard fans will openly attest.
Did you play LawBreakers? Care to share your experience? Let us know in the comments or on social media.
Known throughout the interwebs simply as M0D3Rn, Ash is bad at video games. An old guard gamer who suffers from being generally opinionated, it comes as no surprise that he is both brutally loyal and yet, fiercely whimsical about all things electronic. On occasion will make a youtube video that actually gets views. Follow him on YouTube @Bad at Video Games
