Classic looter-shooter Defiance planned for revival as indie studio acquires rights

Fawkes, a studio dedicated to reviving old IPs, have their sights set on Defiance. If you’re a gamer of a certain vintage, you may remember this science-fiction looter-shooter/MMO. The game, originally developed by Trion Worlds, is one of the earliest projects I remember looking at, at the start of my career in this industry, so there’s a certain amount of nostalgia to be found here.

Whether you were a fan of the original game, the TV show, or the remake, it’s exciting to see it coming back around again. A game that was released just a few years after — Star Wars: The Old Republic — is going to come back in some facet, according to Fawkes. Here’s what we know right now.

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Fawkes plan to bring back classic looter-shooter Defiance back for a modern audience

After a huge push on the Defiance subReddit, and fans making videos of the game, Fawkes decided it would acquire the license, development, and publishing rights for both the Original (2013) and 2050 versions of the game, for all platforms. Now, this doesn’t mean we can necessarily expect both versions of the game anytime soon.

Was one of the level designers on the game at ship (was the first game I shipped, too). Makes me smile to see people excited that the game is coming back again <3 byu/game_dev_carto inDefiance

However, what we do know is that Defiance 2013, the original looter-shooter MMO originally by Trion Worlds (later owned by Gamigo), is coming back in April 2025. The original game, in all of its glory, will be back in April 2025, so players new and returning alike, can experience all the amazing battles and moments this game created.

Fawkes assert it is committed to honoring the legacy of this classic game. At this time, we do not know if they will release all updates for the game at once, or if they will be rolled out in a similar pattern to the original game. The developers have created a Discord as well, for fans to go and check out.

The developers did lay out their plans, offering three bullet points for their “Community-Centric Revival” of Defiance: Reconnect and Relive the Memories, Step-By-Step Revival, and Your Voice Matters.

The goal is to make it a homecoming for those who played the original, and those who want to actually play the game who missed out. However, the developers are starting small, with the PC launch in April 2025 and going from there. If it turns out to be popular, they will look into expanding to other platforms. Fawkes also pointed out that the player voices’ matter in this project:

“We want every update, every new event, and every epic in-game moment to reflect the passion and feedback of our community. Your opinions and experiences have always been at the heart of what makes Defiance special. We will start small, with a very clean state of the game, with the design and drop we understood you like, and grow from there together with you, bringing the changes that had an impact and leaving behind the ones that didn’t. We are ready to re-build Defiance together with you, Arkhunters.”

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Sounds like it won’t be long before we re-embrace our roles as Ark Hunters, and dive back into the free-to-play MMO Defiance. It was alive during a time when there were several truly remarkable free-to-play offerings, and it held its own. In April, 2025, PC gamers will be able to return to this familiar world.