Did Sony Kill The Order: 1886 Trilogy Before It Even Had A Chance?

The Order: 1886, a third-person shooter with a lot of story and beautiful graphics, came out in February 2015 from Sony Interactive Entertainment. The game takes place in a different version of Victorian London, throwing players into a steampunk world full of supernatural threats, old rules, and cutting-edge technology. 

With its cinematic look and highly detailed settings, The Order: 1886 looked like it could be the start of a new series. Although the game was ambitious and looked great, it never received a sequel, and the planned trilogy was quietly shelved. The story behind its rapid rise and sudden fall is one of missed opportunities, harsh criticism, and the fact that AAA publishing is particularly harsh on those who make mistakes.

Early on in the PlayStation 4's life, The Order: 1886 was made to show off what the system could do. Almost everyone liked how true the graphics were. The lifelike character models, smooth transitions between games and cutscenes, and richly atmospheric worldbuilding all drew players in. The alternate history setting, in which an old order of knights fights half-breed monsters like werewolves with cutting-edge technology, gives the story a new and interesting background.

The players took on the part of Sir Galahad, an old knight of The Order who was supposed to find a plot inside the walls of London. The story drew on Arthurian tales, the style of the Industrial Revolution, and speculative fiction to create a world that was unlike anything else on the market at the time.

Although the game had some positive aspects, it still received a lot of negative reviews. When it first came out, The Order: 1886 got mixed reviews. Both reviewers and players agreed that it looked great, but many were let down by how it played. 

People mostly complained about how short the game was—for most players, it took about five to seven hours—and how much it relied on cutscenes and how little they let you do. Many people thought they were watching a movie instead of playing a full-fledged game. The frustration grew because there was no real replay value and no multiplayer content.

The average score from reviewers on Metacritic was 63 out of 100, and the average score from users was 6.8. These numbers were not terrible, but they fell short of Sony's expectations. Although it performed well in sales (it wasn't a financial loss by any means), the game's future was doomed by the mixed reviews. 

Several people, including Andrea Pessino, co-founder of Ready at Dawn, and Ru Weerasuriya, creative director, say that the game's fate was decided not by how well it sold but by how well it did on Metacritic. They said that Sony had told their employees that they would approve a sequel if the first game got at least a 70. The critical consensus, however, dashed those dreams.

What's even stranger is how far along the studio's plans were for The Order's future. After the first game came out, Weerasuriya is said to have written a ten-page pitch for a straight follow-up called The Order: 1891. It was hoped that this sequel would have more advanced combat systems, deeper game mechanics, and even multiplayer features, all of which were sadly lacking in the first game. 

The company also had plans for a third game, called The Order: 1899, which would move the story forward and go into more detail about the mythology of The Order, the half-breeds, and the political plots that were going on.

The early stages of development on the sequel had already begun before the final nail was pounded into the coffin of the project. Ready at Dawn had the goal of transforming the series into a true PlayStation powerhouse by addressing the issues that were present in the initial installment of the series. However, these objectives were not accomplished because the publisher did not provide approval for the sequel.

The substance of the game was not very good for several reasons, one of the most important being a rigid timeline. It would appear that Ready at Dawn did not have any choices available to them in order to delay the release of The Order: 1886 beyond February of 2015. 

As a consequence, a significant amount of information had to be eliminated, including more intricate gaming systems and interactive narrative components. It has been changed that certain areas that were supposed to be playable situations have been transformed into cutscenes that you are unable to interact with. These decisions gave the impression that the game was an incomplete concept of what it was supposed to be, which was caused by the fact that the delivery timetable was so tight.

Once the plans for the series were shelved, Ready at Dawn turned its attention to virtual reality. The studio changed its focus to making games for the Oculus Rift. Lone Echo and Echo Arena were two of these games, and they were both well-accepted by the VR community. 

Ready at Dawn was officially bought by Oculus Studios in 2020. Oculus Studios is owned by Meta, formerly known as Facebook. It looked like the acquisition would be the start of a new era for the producer, but the good feelings didn't last.

Meta shut down Ready at Dawn in August 2024 due to budget issues and the reorganization of the company. When the studio closed, it marked the end of an interesting trip. It also meant that the original creators of The Order franchise would never be able to revive the series.

Fans will always remember The Order: 1886, even though the company and the series are no longer around. Notably, Sir Galahad came back in a small way as a collector bot in Astro's Playroom, which was added after the game came out as a tribute to its history. It was a small nod, but it made players think of what might have been.

Looking back, The Order: 1886 is one of the most visually impressive failures in gaming history. It was a bold attempt to introduce a new IP, but it ultimately failed due to competing goals, a lack of time, and stringent review standards. It didn't fail because it wasn't creative or technically sound; it failed because people were only expecting new AAA games for a short time. The unfortunate thing is that the franchise was so close to realizing its full potential.

If they had been given the opportunity, PlayStation might have been able to make a significant amount of money off of The Order: 1891 and The Order: 1899. The only thing that remains is a stunning yet flawed glimpse into a universe replete with a wealth of history, narratives that have yet to be explored, and ideas that have never held more significance.

In the world of video games, Order: 1886 is a game that teaches a valuable lesson by demonstrating to developers and publishers that having a strategy is no longer sufficient. Rather, being patient, having faith in the growth of creative abilities, and knowing when to take action have become prerequisites.