Amazon's Crucible Is Headed Back To Closed Beta a Month After Release

Amazon's free to play team shooter Crucible has been pulled back into closed beta just a month after its official release. Crucible's developer Relentless Studios revealed the news on the Crucible blog yesterday, announcing that as of today, the game will shift back into a closed beta state once more, in order to "focus on providing the best possible experience for our players." Despite the drastic change, Relentless is still following the roadmap it announced in early June when it decided to pull two of Crucible's three game modes from circulation after its player base dwindled just weeks after launch. The team are focusing on "map, combat, and system changes," and made it clear that the Crucible experience will remain much the same for those who have been playing since launch. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/27/crucible-review"] "You'll keep all the progress and customization items you've already earned, and the battle pass, reward tracks, and in-game store will continue to be supported," the statement reads. Relentless is also setting up a "community council" of players who they'll be consulting for feedback, and the team will be scheduling dedicated time each week to play the game with the current community. Crucible's most popular game mode, Heart of the Hives, has remained and Relentless is working on a number of new features, trying to improve the game using feedback from fans. You can check out the public Trello board here, which shows what the developers are working on at the moment, and which issues have priority. We reviewed Crucible upon its official release in late May, giving it a 4/10 and calling the team-based shooter "a slog." [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.