Spanish developer Games for a Living (GFAL) is reviving World War II: TCG, the digital strategy card game that went offline in 2022. In its announcement, the Barcelona studio said mobile testing will begin on 26th November, with an open beta following on 28th November.
The closed beta is reserved for the GFAL community but the open beta will be available on iOS and Android through the App Store and Google Play. GFAL says it will use the test to gather feedback on gameplay and will then reset progress. A full mobile release will follow.
FrozenShard Games first released World War II: TCG in 2014, following a Kickstarter campaign that raised $18,001 from 199 backers. The game started on mobile and later reached Steam.
The game went offline after its backend provider, GameSparks, closed its service. In a 2022 notice, the developer said it had looked for alternatives but found that moving its games to another provider would be too complex given how many of their features depended on the existing service. Hence, FrozenShard withdrew the game from Apple’s App Store, Google Play and Steam in September 2022.
However, two of FrozenShard’s co-founders are now executives at GFAL, where Christian Gascons is chief operating officer and Marc Tormo is chief creative officer, hence the reboot.
The original game put players in command of decks built from tanks, infantry, aircraft, ships and submarines. Its cards drew on historical units and equipment such as Japan’s A6M Zero fighter and Germany’s Tiger tank. Players could build decks using units from different armies, combining their abilities with equipment and orders.
Each turn gave players three action points to spend, including deploying cards or promoting units already on the battlefield. Promotions improved a unit’s stats and could grant new abilities. If a promoted unit was destroyed, it returned to the deck and could be drawn again with its upgrades intact. The original also offered historical missions, ranked multiplayer, crafting and cooperative raids.
GFAL announced the revival in October alongside Legends, a football management game, and Diamond Jewels Solitaire. The company’s roadmap put all three into testing in the fourth quarter, with an alpha for Legends and a beta for Solitaire.
After the beta is complete, players will be able to own and trade eligible digital collectible cards through the GFAL Marketplace.
The company says web3 participation will be optional, so players can build decks and compete without connecting a crypto wallet. The marketplace launch date and the rules governing which cards can be traded are still to come. GFAL also has plans to release a PC version on Steam and the Epic Games Store.