Re-Logic is a developer who I've respected for a long time. In the face of "Terraria's" success, they never went down a path of greed. They never introduced toxic microtransactions, never released paid DLC, and never milked the name recognition with rushed sequels. Although, an announcement was made in early 2015 that a spin-off game based on "Terraria" was in Development. Fans seemed generally enthused to see what Re-Logic would bring to the table with this new game. Unfortunately, we will never see the results of their work as it has officially been Canceled as of April 12, 2018.

A report from the main website for the game revealed this information.

The original

Re-Logic's "Terraria" was both a commercial and critical success, riding on the wave of hype in the wake of "Minecraft's" wild growth. "Terraria" incorporated many of the core elements from that game while focusing on different core elements so as to distinguish itself in the market. Some may consider the control and perspective being restricted on a 2D axis to be a downgrade from "Minecraft's" full 3D environment. But considering "Terraria's" centralization on hectic combat and adventure in occasionally small corridors, this made the game far more manageable in the end.

One other important difference between "Terraria" and its major influence is the focus on the player's progression through the game.

You find some basic resources to survive the corruption, break some orbs, mine some meteorite, explore the dungeon, go to hell, etc. It lacked a narrative or over-arching goal, but it still seemed more grounded than "Minecraft's" focus on the player making their own fun.

Evolution of the 'Otherworld'

This spin-off title, set in an alternate dimension from the original, promised to expand on the idea of fighting the corruption.

This was somewhat present in the original with the dyrad NPC selling you tools and resources to purify the world and tracking your progress toward that goal. The problem with that was that the corruption and the hallow were both important sources of valuable materials, so the player never actually wanted to be rid of them for good.

This was supposed to be far more important in "Otherworld."

Besides that, the team mentioned that there would be new environments, items, NPCs, enemies, quests, and a tower defense mechanic. All in all, it seemed that this was going to be a worthy new installment of this franchise and fans were eagerly awaiting more information on when we could get our hands on it. Unfortunately, we got some regrettable news from the development team.

A corrupted vision

A post was made on the "Terraria" forums by Ted "Loki" Murphy. In it, Loki speaks about Re-Logic's focus on releasing polished, complete experiences, and that "Terraria" was not going to become a satisfactory product in an acceptable time. The biggest point made in the post being on Re-Logic's reliance on its outsourced teams, 505 Games, and Pipeworks Studio.

Blame wasn't placed on them for not getting work done properly, rather that there was just no way that they could have had a unified vision by relying on people outside of Re-Logic's own people. But whatever the reason, "Terraria: Otherworld" will never see the light of day, and the staff working on the will now be placing their focus on other projects.

There is definitely something to be learned about hiring outsourced companies to work on core elements of your game and why it's generally a bad idea. It's a disappointing end for a promising idea, but Loki also mentioned that many ideas and concepts that were implemented in "Otherworld" were never shown to the public and that these ideas would most certainly be used in future games.

Lessons were learned and resources were salvaged. But most importantly, Re-Logic once again cements my respect for them as a game developer. Their integrity and passion means that they will accept throwing away three years worth of work if it means that consumers are not sold on the unfinished product.
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