When it released in 2002, Firefly was one of the most innovative TV shows around. Despite Fox messing around with the episode air order, Firefly managed to accrue a loyal fan-base, very quickly. The show's blend of the sci-fi and Western genres hadn't really been seen on Western screens before, and the unique spins on archetypal characters, along with some compelling performances, made Firefly a breath of fresh air in a market dominated by crime thrillers like 24, The Wire, and The Shield. In a move that would spark fan outcry for the next decade and beyond, Fox canceled Firefly, and the show never got a second season - although a movie sequel, titled Serenity, did release in 2005.
Despite Firefly being off-air for two decades, and despite all the controversy surrounding showrunner Joss Whedon, the Firefly universe is still a compelling one, and fans have longed for it to be explored in other mediums. A Firefly video game, for instance, would be the perfect fit, and in 2013, fans received word that their wish had been granted. A Firefly game was coming, and it looked ambitious.
Firefly Online Looked Truly Shiny
To quote the crew of the Serenity's quirky catchphrase, Firefly Online, as it was titled, looked "shiny." From the offset, Firefly Online looked like it was made by fans, for fans, taking the groundwork laid out in the show and developing it exponentially. The premise of the game was simple, as players would take on the role of a ship captain, create their own crew of lovable characters, and explore the 'Verse at their own leisure.
A whole slew of gameplay features were teased for the game, including ship customization, a branching narrative with a choice system, a career system, and crewmate skill trees that evolved throughout the game, with each character having their own unique set of skills that determined what role they belonged to. The game was also said to have over 200 unique worlds that players could visit.
As the title of the game would suggest, Firefly Online was going to be a multiplayer game. While not officially confirmed to be a fully-fledged MMO, the developers, Spark Plug Games and Quantum Mechanix, often compared the game to others in the MMO genre. Allegedly, players would be able to trade with each other and maybe even hire one another to perform various jobs.
While the game seemed too good to be true, especially with it being a 2013 mobile game intended for release on iOS and Android devices, fans were in absolute awe. It had been almost a decade since Serenity released, and fans had all but given up on the notion that they'd ever see the Firefly universe again in any official capacity.
Fan hype reached a fever pitch following San Diego Comic Con 2014, where it was revealed that the vast majority of the original Firefly cast would be reprising their roles in-game. This was a massive deal at the time, as the cast of Firefly is one of its best features, and having talent like Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, and Summer Glau on board gave the game a sense of legitimacy that it didn't have before. If fans weren't excited before, they certainly were when this announcement was made. For many, the game sounded like a dream come true.
Where Has Firefly Online Gone?
Firefly Online had a release date of Spring 2015. but it didn't meet that deadline. Following the announcement that the original cast was going to be in the game, the developers delayed the game, saying that the cast's involvement was going to require a pretty extensive rework of the game at its current stage.
On March 6 2016, the Firefly Online official Facebook page would post, "We're still here. We're still flyin'. Game is still in development. Stay tuned." This is the last official word on the game to this date.
At this moment in time, Firefly Online has still not been officially canceled. Instead, Fox has simply silenced everyone and everything surrounding the game. It was reported soon after this update that Fox had asked both the returning actors, and the developers, to remain silent about the game and its development status. The reason behind this decision is pretty unclear, as games get canceled all the time, and it makes little financial sense to keep the game around in an official capacity while development has likely completely ceased.
The reason behind the game's likely cancelation is also unclear. For the last six years, fans have produced a plethora of theories on why development on Firefly Online stopped. One of the most likely theories is that Firefly Online was simply too ambitious. Building the game from the ground-up to work on mobile devices is not usually done in the case of a sprawling MMO action game, especially one that promised as many features as Firefly Online did.
A branching singleplayer narrative, a fully-voiced cast, and expansive crew skill trees is ambitious enough on its own for a mobile singleplayer game. Combining this with the game's supposed online features that were going to allow players to trade with and hire each other, and Firefly Online seemed way too good to be true - and it likely was.
Despite showing quite a few progress updates, and even having early Steam builds available for those who pre-registered, Firefly Online kept most of its gameplay features behind closed doors, never really showing the true scope of the game that was initially promised. Firefly Online now only serves one purpose: to warn future developers not to over-promise, especially when the product is based on an IP that is so beloved.