In a 2018 roadmap published on January 3, New World Interactive announced that it would be putting Insurgency: Sandstorm‘s story campaign on ice.
“The single player and cooperative story has been canceled for release, and will be considered again at a later date,” wrote the developer. New World Interactive explained that the game’s multiplayer content takes priority and that in order to deliver that in 2018, the story mode has been dropped from launch.
There was much confusion and anger from people who had been eager to see how the story would pan out. Sandstorm‘s proposed narrative would follow a Kurdish female fighter (a refugee and a former captive of a terrorist organization) as she fights back against the very forces that held her prisoner. Few shooter games star female leads and even fewer have explored conflict from this perspective.
Although there was some questionable voice acting and facial animation in the campaign’s trailer, most fans seemed enthralled. In an interview with Cliqist last year, New World Interactive itself noted that people seemed “very excited.” The developer also said that it hoped to deliver a “meaningful” story to fans.
Could Insurgency: Sandstorm’s Story Still Be Released?
Many were disappointed to read New World’s new years update but it now seems that fans should not abandon all hope after all.
In an email, a representative for the developer clarified to me that the release of Insurgency: Sandstorm is just “the beginning” of what it has planned for the game and that “it will revisit the story mode at a later date once the core multiplayer and co-op aspects of the game are at a stage we are happy with.”
There are “too many variables and unknowns” for New World to guarantee that the story mode will see the light of day but the developer does vow to keep fans updated on any of its plans. Prospective players will still be unhappy with the news that the story mode has been put on hold, but this does inspire some optimism at least.
