The big, burly mechs of BattleTech are due a well-deserved rest. After a trio of expansions and two years of updates, developer Harebrained Schemes has the itch for something new. In a message to players, studio co-founder Mitch Gitelman thanked the community for its support, as well as teasing what's coming next.
"Thanks again for your support over the last four years of development," said Gitelman. "Together HBS and our 55,000 backers delivered the first turn-based tactical MechWarrior experience in over 20 years. Our game has earned a lot of awards and accolades, and we are very proud of what we've been able to accomplish together. That success allowed us to continue supporting BattleTech with nine free updates and three big expansions."
BattleTech's not being abandoned, however. Another free update is coming this month, and while it will be the last, the studio will continue to maintain customer support. As for what's following it, more details will be coming later, but for now we know that Harebrained Schemes is working on two brand new, non-BattleTech projects.
I'd love another Shadowrun game with a tactical layer that's as compelling as BattleTech's, but "brand new" makes that extremely unlikely. Whatever the new games are, however, I'd be extremely surprised if at least one of them isn't a turn-based tactical affair.
So pour one out for the metal behemoths and their considerably more squishy pilots. They've had a very good run. BattleTech's one of the best strategy games on PC, and hopefully it won't be the last time we see them duking it out in turn-based brawls.
