Remember Trion Worlds' F2P Shooter Defiance? The Game Is Coming Back To PC, With Consoles Being A Future Possibility

Let's put this story in the "never thought I'd see this one" bucket. If you've been around the MMO block long enough, you likely remember Trion Worlds kicking off a rather bold experiment with a shooter MMO called Defiance. The game released back in 2013 and was tied to a TV show on the old SyFy network. Initially, the two were supposed to be linked with the show's events impacting certain things in the game and vice versa.

The entire plan really didn't pan out despite massive amounts of money being pushed into the project. On the TV show side, Defiance only received 3 seasons and was cancelled in 2015. The game itself, while having a niche dedicated following, received an update the team dubbed "Season Four" of the show, but was then "updated" to become Defiance 2050 in 2018. This update also saw a console release. Both versions were shuttered in 2021 by gamigo, who had previously purchased the Trion Worlds assets in 2018.

Since then, gamigo has sold off a number of IPs to smaller companies, including Fawkes. Fawkes currently runs games like Shaiya and Last Chaos. They're smaller and you'd be forgiven if you've never heard of them.

That isn't stopping the team from being Defiance back, though.

In April, the original 2013 version of Defiance will return to PC and it will still be free-to-play. A console release and a 2050 version release aren't off the table either. According to the team's official announcement, "We’re starting small with the PC version in April 2025. If our community embraces the revival, we’re eager to explore the possibility of bringing Defiance back to consoles, reuniting fans in different platforms."

Honestly, after I saw this initially reported by MOP, I was quite happy and I don't seem to be alone. Despite its quirks and challenges, I rather enjoyed Defiance. I'll certainly give the game another chance...especially one that won't include Trion Worlds or gamigo involved given their monetization proclivities. However, we don't yet have word on how Fawkes plans to monetize things. We'll just cross our fingers for now, I guess.

You can register your new account, yes you'll need a new one, on the official site and we'll see you in April, Arkhunters.