XIII
Developer(s)PlayMagic[lower-alpha 1]
Publisher(s)Microids
Director(s)Giuseppe Crugliano
Producer(s)James Tuner
Designer(s)Julius Carter
Programmer(s)Dmitry Shtainer
Artist(s)Nick Kasolos
EngineUnity
Platform(s)
Release
  • PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One
  • November 10, 2020
  • Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
  • September 13, 2022
Genre(s)First-person shooter, stealth
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

XIII is a first-person shooter video game developed by Maltese studio PlayMagic and published by Microids for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in November 2020. Versions for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S were released in September 2022. It is a remake of the 2003 video game of the same name.

The game received negative reviews from critics and players. It was criticized for its changes to the art style, game design differences from the original, and the game's numerous technical and audio issues. Microids issued an apology for the game's technical issues on launch and in June 2022 announced that a major new update for the game, this time under the development of Tower Five that aims to improve the remake's quality, would be released in September 2022.[1]

Plot

Development

The remake of the original 2003 video game was announced on April 18, 2019 with PlayMagic developing the game and Microids publishing the game for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The game was originally scheduled for release on November 13,[2] until it was delayed to 2020 for further development.[3] In June 2020, the game was announced to be scheduled for release on November 10, 2020 for Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.[4] In October 2020, it was announced that the port of the game for Nintendo Switch was delayed to 2021.[5]

The original plan was to remaster the game using original assets and Unity plug-ins. Unfortunately, the original source code was deemed lost and the 2003 version was running in an extremely outdated game engine. Therefore, the team had no choice but to redo the entire game from scratch, which means hiring new staff and extending the release date to remake the levels, assets, cutscenes, and animations.[6]

Due to the poor reception to the game, Microids announced in June 2022 that they had replaced PlayMagic with Tower Five as the developer, who had been working on fixing the issues from the 2020 release. Microids released the improved version on September 13, 2022, with this version given as a free update to those that bought the 2020 version.[1]

Reception

XIII received "generally unfavorable" reviews for most platforms according to review aggregator Metacritic;[7][8][9] the PlayStation 5 version received "mixed or average" reviews.[10]

A lot of criticism were aimed towards the remake's unnecessary changes from the original, such as the art style and the weapon limit, as well as the game's numerous technical and audio issues. Developer PlayMagic and publisher Microids issued a joint statement apologizing to players for the state of the game at release, adding that the COVID-19 pandemic had significantly affected the game's production. On Steam, the game received an "Overwhelmingly Negative" rating from players.[14]

The release of the remake caused an increase in sales of the original game, causing the 2003 game to outsell the remake in the first week of the remake's release in the UK.[15]

According to former staff of PlayMagic, it was reported that CEO and Creative Director Giuseppe Crugliano was to be blamed for the game's failure due to poor project management, a lack of staff, low morale, and toxic company culture. Crugliano denied these allegations but admitted to a problem with late payments, claiming they were the result of cash flow problems from project cancellations and unpaid fees from clients.[6]

Notes

  1. ↑ Tower Five developed the 2022 update, along with the Nintendo Switch version.
  2. ↑ 2022 version

References

  1. 1 2 Plunkett, Luke (June 29, 2022). "Terrible Remake Is Being Remade All Over Again". Kotaku. Archived from the original on June 30, 2022. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  2. ↑ "XIII: A remake of the thrilling cel-shading FPS is in the works!". Microids. April 18, 2019. Archived from the original on April 18, 2019. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  3. ↑ "PlayMagic Ltd and Microids announces that the release of XIII slips to 2020". Playmagic. August 9, 2019. Archived from the original on April 27, 2020. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  4. ↑ "XIII remake launches November 10". Gematsu. June 11, 2020. Archived from the original on June 11, 2020. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  5. ↑ Moyse, Chris (October 19, 2020). "XIII remake Nintendo Switch port delayed to 2021". Destructoid. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  6. 1 2 Yarwood, Jack (September 22, 2021). "Inside PlayMagic, the Studio Behind the Disastrous XIII Remake". Fanbyte. Archived from the original on July 21, 2022. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  7. 1 2 "XIII (Remake) for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on December 21, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  8. 1 2 "XIII (Remake) for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on November 11, 2022. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  9. 1 2 "XIII (Remake) for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on December 21, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  10. 1 2 "XIII (Remake) for Playstation 5 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on November 9, 2022. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  11. ↑ Helm, Jordan (November 30, 2020). "Review: XIII". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on November 30, 2020. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  12. ↑ "XIII : Remake Le remake qui vous fera préférer l'original" [XIII : Remake The remake that will make you prefer the original]. Jeuxvideo.com (in French). November 14, 2020. Archived from the original on November 9, 2022. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  13. ↑ Banas, Graham (September 26, 2022). "Mini Review: XIII (PS5) - Improvements Can't Save This Remaster Redo". Push Square. Archived from the original on November 9, 2022. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  14. ↑ Macgregor, Jody (November 15, 2020). "Creators of the XIII remake apologize for technical issues after disastrous launch". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on November 15, 2020. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  15. ↑ @Chris_Dring (November 20, 2020). "Just looking at the UK digital charts... the new XIII remake has inspired gamers to rush out and buy the original 2…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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