Developer Midwinter Entertainment – comprised of industry vets and former developers of Halo, Call of Duty, and more – announced their ambitious co-op survival third person shooter Scavengers back in 2018, and though it generated some hype back then, things haven’t exactly gone according to plan for the game. It launched for PC in early access in May last year, and it seems it hasn’t seen the sort of success that its developers would have hoped.
As reported by Eurogamer, Midwinter Entertainment has been sold by parent company Improbable to Behaviour Interactive, the developer and publisher of popular horror multiplayer game Dead by Daylight.
While Scavengers’ PC version is currently being kept operational by a small active team, its PS4 and Xbox One versions have been cancelled. Console versions of the survival title had been in closed alpha for several months.
According to Eurogamer’s report, under Behaviour Interactive, Midwinter Entertainment is now working on a new project. There’s no word yet on what the future holds for Scavengers’ PC early access version in terms of new content or updates.
Midwinter Entertainment’s studio head Mary Olson said: “When we first started talking to Behaviour months ago, the alignment across the teams was striking, and in my experience rare. As we continued to explore, it was clear the opportunity goes beyond similar values and development philosophy. We are thrilled to join and learn from a team with proven success across a broad spectrum of IP, while in turn leveraging the strong foundation, culture, and team we’ve built at Midwinter to expand Behaviour’s portfolio. Plus, Midwinter will be able to leverage 30 years of legacy and join forces with one of North America’s fastest-growing gaming studios.”
Behaviour Interactive boss Rémi Racine said: “Behaviour was not just looking for any studio, but the right studio. Chemistry was essential and our similar values, cultures and our commitment to creating games that push boundaries and defy expectations make Midwinter a perfect fit. This is an important move during a milestone year for Behaviour, which will mark its 30th anniversary in September, and further evidence of the impressive growth that has seen our revenues more than double since 2019 and our team reach nearly 1000 full-time employees.”
Improbable boss and co-founder Herman Narula said: “As part of our announced focus on the metaverse Improbable announced the divestment of its non metaverse focused content teams at the start of the year. We are really excited to have found partners who we believe can provide a fantastic home for the Midwinter team. We are very pleased to see Midwinter go with Behaviour, both for the common ambition they have, and for the cultural fit we have observed all along our discussions. The work done by the Midwinter team over the past three years has been phenomenal and we wish this team all the very best and will be looking forward to seeing their upcoming projects come to life.”