Stellar Dawn isn’t just an MMO that got me listed in Wikipedia, it is also the subject of a bit of controversy. Back in 2008-2009, then CEO Geoff Iddison stated that then-named MechScape was virtually complete and that we would see a public closed beta sometime in late 2009 with a release in 2010, following a previous announcement that the game would be done in 2009. In late 2009, new CEO Mark Gerhard announced that MechScape had been taken to the shed and shot, citing the company’s dissatisfaction with the game’s quality. Much of the game, including its engine, would be reused in Stellar Dawn, a similar yet different MMO set to release in 2011.
Jagex has been pretty adamant about the 2011 launch date, even up to swearing that the title will release this year. Despite that, we know extremely little about how Stellar Dawn will function, outside of knowledge that some features from the dead MechScape may or may not be pulled over. There also hasn’t been any in-game footage released, no screen shots aside from concept art, and the company has been very hush on features and gameplay aspects. Compare this to the press surrounding Guild Wars 2, The Old Republic, and really any other game coming out this year, and the silence is deafening.
On second thought, compare that to Jagex’s other title: Transformers Universe. Not set for release until an unnamed date in 2012, Transformers Universe has had far more exposure than Stellar Dawn. With multiple trailers, Jagex even appeared at BotCon and GamesCom to show off the character customization tool that players will use to create their Autobots/Decepticons.
Reportedly the game is in internal alpha, so the end result is still up in the air. I still can’t get past the idea that a game coming out later this year has had so very little revealed about it.
MMO Fallout 