Bulkhead Interactive has announced that it will be providing refunds to every Kickstarter backer that supported its Battalion 1944 campaign. Over 10,000 backers would contribute to the Battalion 1944 campaign in 2016, bringing funds raised to over £300,000. While it did help enable Bulkhead to launch Battalion 1944 in early 2019 on PC, its popularity quickly dwindled and ports for console were never finished. Bulkhead has since been acquired by Splash Damage, and a decision has been made to issue refunds for Kickstarter backers.As its name would imply, Battalion 1944 is a multiplayer first-person shooter set during World War 2. It's heavily inspired by early multiplayer first-person WW2 shooters in the genre, including Medal of Honor and Call of Duty. Game modes include classic Search & Destroy with 5v5 team-based action, Team Deathmatch, and also Rifles Only. Despite early success, Battalion 1944's popularity has shrunk significantly. Bulkhead has since ended support and production of Battalion 1944 and has made the game free as Battalion: Legacy.In a video message posted on Twitter, Bulkhead announced that it would be refunding all Kickstarter pledges from its 2016 campaign. Refunds would be offered for everyone that contributed, regardless of their platform of choice or tier of contribution. Kickstarter backers of Battalion 1944 will still have to claim the refund, with instructions provided via the email address associated with their account.
Bulkhead apologized, saying that it "flew too close to the sun" and promised more than it was capable of providing at the time. That's perhaps in reference to Bulkhead never finishing the console versions of Battalion 1944. Regardless, Bulkhead says that "sometimes you have to admit when something just isn't right and move on." It's implied that Bulkhead has been saving money to refund Kickstarter backers for some time, but it was the acquisition by Splash Damage that enabled the refunds to go through.
The team at Bulkhead also loudly shares its thanks to all those that not only backed the Battalion 1944 Kickstarter, but supported the game through the years. It says that while Battalion 1944 didn't work out as planned, its enabled Bulkhead to move forward. Refunding Kickstarter backers is Bulkhead's way of rebuilding trust that may have been lost, with a mind for the future.
For the time being, Bulkhead has not announced a new project since the release of Killrun in 2022, though it has been working with Splash Damage on Transformers Reactivate. However, there are hints that an announcement could be coming before long. Just last week, a message on Twitter stated that there were "BIG things coming from this team." Battalion 1944 is just one chapter Bulkhead is hoping to put behind it.
Battalion Legacy is available now on PC.