''Breakaway'' was a team-based, multiplayer

brawler The beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) levels, ...

video game in development by

Amazon Game Studios Amazon Games (formerly Amazon Game Studios) is an American video game company and division of the online retailing company Amazon that primarily focuses on publishing video games developed within the company's development divisions. History I ...

. The game was cancelled March 31, 2018.

Gameplay

''Breakaway'' was going to be a multiplayer brawler game in which two teams of four players attempt to move a ball (the relic) to their opponent's goal. Each team member (hero) would have some unique abilities that would aid them towards achieving these ends. Each hero could build two structures, such as turrets, healing shrines, and walls. The player could also upgrade their structures mid-game with gold earned through the match. The heroes spanned several class types—such as tanks, swordsmen, and mages—and archetypal themes (e.g., a knight and

Spartacus Spartacus ( el, Σπάρτακος '; la, Spartacus; c. 103–71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator who, along with Crixus, Gannicus, Castus, and Oenomaus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising ...

). The game would be fought on battlefields with themes such as

El Dorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king o ...

and

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas (mythology), Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works ''Timaeus (dialogue), Timaeus'' and ''Critias (dialogue), Critias'' ...

. The game included several features aimed to promote

video game live streaming The live streaming of video games is an activity where people broadcast themselves playing games to a live audience online. The practice became popular in the mid-2010s on the US-based site Twitch, before growing to YouTube, Facebook, China-bas ...

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle co ...

, the service purchased by Amazon. Broadcast Match Builder invites streamer followers to games. Broadcaster Spotlight lets players know when their match is being streamed. Metastream overlays game stats atop streamer video. Stream+ lets streamers run polls and place bets with in-game currency.

Development

Amazon acquired Double Helix in early 2014, they would then merge it into the company’s existing Irvine operations creating Amazon Game Studios Orange County. Two years later, Amazon announced its first computer games, including ''Breakaway'', at the September 2016

TwitchCon TwitchCon is a semi-annual gaming convention for the livestreaming video platform Twitch. The convention is organized by Twitch Interactive and focuses on the general culture of livestreaming and video gaming. TwitchCon also serves as an opportu ...

. The game combines elements of ''

League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL''), commonly referred to as ''League'', is a 2009 multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for War ...

'', '' Power Stone'', and ''

Rocket League ''Rocket League'' is a vehicular soccer video game developed and published by Psyonix. The game was first released for Windows and PlayStation 4 in July 2015, with ports for Xbox One and Nintendo Switch being released later on. In June 2016, ...

'', and is designed for easy streaming on

. The developers hosted an open alpha version in December 2016. ''Breakaway'' had no set release date, although it was scheduled to be released in late 2019. On March 31, 2018 Amazon announced that after development of the game had been in hiatus, the game would ultimately be cancelled outright. Although Amazon did note that it was possible that some time in the future that development may resume if the studio finds "a thunderbolt of inspiration".

Reception

Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...

'' was "pleasantly surprised" by the game's accessibility and depth. They were able to understand the game within an hour of coaching. ''Rock, Paper, Shotgun'' wrote that the game, at first, appears to be "a cacophonous trend-vomiting combination" of its forebears, but added that ''Breakaway'' had the potential to match them.

References

External links

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New World Builds
{{Portal bar, Video games Amazon Game Studios games Beat 'em ups Double Helix Games games Multiplayer online battle arena games Multiplayer video games Video games developed in the United States Cancelled Windows games