Digital Bros, parent company of 505 Games, has announced that it has ended the development of Armed Fantasia: To the End of the Wilderness, Directorate: Novitiate, and an unnamed sequel to Battle Island. The information was revealed in the company’s latest financial report.
The report contains this statement:
The Group decided to discontinue the development of some videogames, Directorate: Novitiate, Armed Fantasia and the sequel to the Free to Play game Battle Island, after multiple attempts to revise their gameplay. The decisions followed a thorough review of the potential of each product in consideration of changing market conditions and the additional investment required to complete development to bring the games to the market.
As a result, the Group reported non-cash asset impairment of Euro 18.7 million, including Euro 17.6 million in write-offs relating to the discontinued projects and Euro 1 million in impairment losses on videogames for which impairment testing indicated that the present value of expected future cash flows was below the carrying amount of the related assets, to reflect lower sales expectations.
Armed Fantasia: To the End of the Wilderness was funded via Kickstarter and was being developed by Wildbunch Productions. It was pitched as the spiritual successor to the Wild Arms series, with a team including some of the creators of the franchise. The Kickstarter was combined with Penny Blood. The last update for the development was in March 2025 and stated that a vertical slice had been prepared for an unknown, until today, publisher.
Directorate: Novitiate was announced in January 2025 for PC via Steam. The (no longer accessible) Steam store page provided this description:
Become Mercury, a powerful, magical gangster in this thrilling third-person action RPG. Fight supernatural threats, track a serial killer across Los Angeles, and choose sides as war breaks loose.
