A medieval MMO that shut down in 2023 after 6 years of early access and less than 1 year of full release is making a surprise comeback

The medieval MMO Gloria Victis shut down in 2023, "mostly due to financial reasons," developer Black Eye Games said at the time, but also because of burnout. The game had been in full release for less than a year when the studio threw in the towel, which was disappointing, but there was six years of early access prior to that, and development had begun even earlier.

But now—which is to say, at some point in the indeterminate future—it's coming back. Black Eye closed alongside Gloria Victis, but Gamigo has picked up the license and is bringing it back as a free to play game.

"No game is quite like Gloria Victis," Gamigo wrote in its comeback announcement on Steam. "The game's approach to territory control and siege warfare is on par to none! Catapults, rams, mantlets, trebuchets, ballistas, combined with partial destruction systems make every siege intense, tactical and truly immersive. Each assault on a stronghold feels exciting, engaging, strategic, and earned. Its large-scale, open-world PvP driven by player skills are all organic; not instanced or scripted but shaped by player decisions, timings, and overall preparation.

"Rivalries form. Politics unfold. Alliances are forged and some broken. Gloria Victis has created stories that only the players could write, and we believe those stories deserve to continue. You know what makes it even more exceptional? The game delivers all of this without sacrificing realism."

Based on the responses to the announcement, not everyone is thrilled to see Gloria Victis going free to play: Some are concerned about cheaters or pay-to-win mechanics, and a few are upset that they paid to purchase the game and now everyone's getting it for free. Whether players of the original Gloria Victis will get something for their troubles isn't known a this point, Gamigo says the resurrected game will have "skill-based combat at its core" and "no pay to win," because, well, what else would it say?

And there are expressions of support for the comeback too, from players who enjoyed the original and hope that Gamigo won't mess with it too much. In an FAQ, Gamigo says that's the plan: "We are preserving the core experience players loved while improving stability, fixing bugs, introducing quality-of-life updates, and preparing additional improvements over the course of development."

A date for the glorious return of Gloria Victis hasn't been announced, but a Discord server will "relaunch" on March 2.