In a rare move, Gearbox revives Gigantic for limited-time event

Over five years after it was shut down, Motiga's Gigantic is being briefly brought back online. From tomorrow, October 5, to Saturday, October 7, the defunct online game will be playable once more.

This week, Gearbox Publishing sent out emails to players (chosen seemingly at random), promising a "limited time throwback event.” The event is more than a simple retread: Game Developer obtained the email, which notes the revival will include new features specifically for the occasion, including updated tutorials and a wholly new progression system.

Online games hold limited-time events fairly regularly, but it's rare for a game that's been discontinued for years to be brought online again by the rightsholder. At the time of writing, Gearbox hasn't explained why it's choosing to do so. 

Gigantic is coming back, but what does that truly mean?

Gigantic, which released in 2017 for PC and Xbox One, was a free-to-play hero shooter where teams of five players fought each other to kill the other team's Guardian. Months after its release, Motiga revealed the game would go offline in July 2018, and the developer similarly closed doors not long after.

The game was published by Perfect World Entertainment, which later sold the publishing rights to Embracer Group. Since 2021, that division has been under Gearbox's control. 

Beyond the Borderlands games, Gearbox has a history of doing revivals for aged, somewhat forgotten games. It remastered People Can Fly's Bulletstorm for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One (and for VR later in 2023). Since 2015, it has published the Homeworld games from Blackbird Interactive.

But as far as what this means for Gigantic going forward and if the game may possibly be brought back in full, Gearbox has yet to say.

Game Developer spoke with the Motiga staff in 2017 about Gigantic's rocky development and art style, which can be read here.