Xbox One/PC Game Gigantic Dev Talks Delay, Reveals What's Coming Next

Following the news that Motiga Studios had delayed its Xbox One/PC game Gigantic to 2016 and laid off some staff, the studio has now shed more light on recent times and provided a roadmap for what to expect in 2016.

"Undeterred, the team fights on and the work continues," Motiga said in a blog post. "As always, there are challenges. Some challenges require us to adapt. Some we master with ease. Some take blood, sweat, and tears."

Motiga explained that some or all of the 16 job cuts came from a publishing team, while the game development division remains "fully staffed and moving forward at full speed."

A new beta version of Gigantic will be released in "early" 2016, marking the first beta version of the game as a universal Windows application. You'll be able to sign into the game on Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs with a single Xbox Live account and play with friends on either platform.

Here are some of the other additions and enhancements for the new beta version of Gigantic:

Descriptions written by Motiga:

• Improved matchmaking algorithms that do a better job creating balanced teams. (Of course, this will mean longer wait times for you if you use the new party mechanics to make a super-team. We don't want you core guys steamrolling new players!)

• Major changes to the way power is generated for Guardians for more interesting and competitive matches. We’ve focused the game on active play by rewarding more power from kills and a new power orb mechanic and less on passive factors like power generation from creatures.

• Big content updates, including a second map (Sanctum Falls, formerly known as "MistForge"), a new hero, and a new summonable creature. The naga guardian Grenn will also be showing off new and improved visuals and abilities.

• The first parts of our account progression system, where we’re working to make it fun to earn and unlock rewards as you play. This version is just a first iteration, but I think you’ll see we’ve designed a reward system that is fun and complements the overall play experience.

• Numerous gameplay adjustments to improve playability. This includes a lot of work to bring joy back into moving around in Gigantic, with reduced stamina costs for sprinting, the removal of penalties for jumping when out of stamina, and much simpler, cleaner collision in our maps.

Even more updates will be released for Gigantic will be released in the New Year.

"With each update, we've learned more about how to make Gigantic a better game, and we will keep applying that knowledge to new and existing heroes and game features," Motiga said. "In this last year, we've gotten so much better at leveraging the branching upgrade system to provide real choices with distinctive ways to play each hero. We still believe we have a lot to learn about talents, focus skills, and giving players the opportunity for really over-the-top heroic moments. We're working on it."

Overall, Motiga said there is still a "tremendous amount of polish" needed for the final game and explained there is a "long road ahead" and a "lot of work to do." This includes things like fixes and improvements for elements camera shakes and impact sounds. In addition, Motiga is planning a "massive in-game UI reboot."

Players can also expect new social and competitive features in the future like guilds, leagues, tournaments, and spectator mode.

"It will no longer be sufficient to have only the promise of something special or to just have fleeting moments where the game lives up to its ambition," Motiga said. "It is time for all the pieces to come together. As always, we can only hope to succeed with your help, with the input and insights of everyone playing the game. Along the way, there will be challenges. We look forward to tackling them together."

Motiga also recently conducted a Reddit AMA in which developers responded to specific questions.

Gigantic pits two teams of five players against each other in a single map. Each team has a guardian, an enormous creature that can move around the map and possesses its own skillset. The goal of each team is to destroy the enemy team's guardian. Killing enemy heroes powers up the guardian and eventually prompts it to go on a rampage, wounding the enemy guardian and providing an opening for the team to deal some extra damage to it.

The game also supports cross-platform play between Xbox One and PC, which is quite rare. For more on Gigantic, watch the video above.