Breakdown
- Almost six years after the servers shut down, some passionate fans are trying to revive Lawbreakers
- The download for the revival game is free, and uses private servers to allow players to play the FPS
- The RELB Project is hosting occasional playtests, letting you test out the resurrection of Lawbreakers yourself
Lawbreakers was an interesting FPS that... didn't do too well when it came to sales. The always-online title took the idea of a hero shooter, and made it a gravity-defying high-octane experience that had a high skill floor, and an even higher skill ceiling. It was only online for a year, lasting from August 2017 to September 2018.
However, much like the City of Heroes revival that is bringing the MMO back for fans, there's a passionate fanbase of Lawbreakers players hoping to resurrect the FPS, in the hopes of giving both returning players and newcomers a chance to experience Lawbreakers in its full glory.
Shared by game director Cliff Bleszinski himself on Twitter, some players are attempting to bring back Lawbreakers via a Discord server called The RELB Project. Interestingly, the server was originally created back in December 2020, meaning this is a resurrection over three years in the making.
The developers of the revival project have been hosting playtests via the private servers over the past weekend. While limited in some spots, like certain game modes or heroes being disabled, it's a promising sign that things are moving swiftly for this fan project.
Despite the decent reception to the game, Lawbreakers' original release suffered from a low player base and a weird marketing situation. At first, it was planned to launch as a free-to-play title, but released at $30, before going free prior to the servers shutting down. In all honestly, a free-to-play arena shooter could seriously work in 2024, but it might be too late for an official Lawbreakers return.
I didn't purchase the game at launch for this very reason - however, I remember playing a pre-launch playtest and seriously loving the game. I enjoy titles like Quake, Unreal Tournament, and Doom, and Lawbreakers felt like a mix of classic hardcore FPS gameplay with Overwatch's hero system. If it was free-to-play, I'm pretty certain I would've loved it.
Fortunately, if you're hoping to dive into the dead, but not forgotten FPS game, you can join the Discord server and start chatting with some original or new players. While the revival project may not see the success that Nexon had hoped for the game, it's a massive win for games preservation, one that's supported by the game director himself.