Disintegration
V1 Interactive’s Disintegration is an interesting case. Developed over 3.5 years, the title mixed real-time strategy with first person shooting and was helmed by Marcus Lehto, who co-created the Halo series. Expectations were somewhat high in that regard despite the studio only consisting of 30 employees. The inclusion of a cinematic single-player campaign, that too in a new world with a fully-voiced cast and extensive lore, almost seemed too good to be true.
However, at launch, reactions to the game’s campaign ranged from above average at best to outright negative at worst. The multiplayer, which had been panned since the beta, didn’t fare any better and it didn’t help that the company’s post-launch plans revolved entirely around it. Even with its different factions and intriguing gameplay, it failed to translate this into a compelling multiplayer experience. Peak players in the launch month of June on Steam were a mere 120, which rose to 539 in July before falling to 293 in August. In September, Disintegration boasted a peak player count of 7.
Take-Two Interactive, which owned the Private Division publishing label, admitted in its Q1 fiscal year 2021 results that Disintegration’s sales were “a bit disappointing.” By November 2020, multiplayer had been removed completely with related Achievements and Trophies being shifted to the campaign.
