The Sniper Elite Battle Royale game has reportedly been cancelled

Key points

Rebellion's Sniper Elite battle royale game, “Project Archipelago,” has reportedly been canceled due to Tencent's loss of funding.
The cancellation was not due to development issues but reportedly resulted from Tencent's decision after the failure of another project.
The cancellation has had no impact on Rebellion staff, as they continue to work on other titles, including Sniper Elite: Resistance.

A live Battle Royale game based on developer Rebellion Developments Elite sniper the series has reportedly been cancelled. The game was originally announced in August 2024 as a multiplayer-focused spin-off of Elite sniper titles.

Once considered a low-budget “copycat” series that hooked into the trend of WWII-based games, Elite sniper first debuted in 2005, telling the fictionalized story of an American sniper operating behind Nazi lines. After Elite sniper the titles visited other theaters of war and adopted additional mechanics, gaining critical and popular acclaim and consolidating the franchise's position at the highest levels of the best stealth shooter games. THE Elite sniper the series has also become famous for its particular focus on sniping, with the implementation of gruesome “X-ray” kills that show bullets entering enemies' heads, chests, limbs and even private parts, depending on where the player is aiming. The series even ran its own horror spin-off in the form of Zombie army games, pitting expert marksmen against hordes of the undead.

Climb towards an enemy with a sniper and rifle on your back

Sniper Elite 5: The best rifles, ranked

Although sniping is the primary focus of Sniper Elite 5, players should not rely fully on that weapon. There are also several rifles to choose from.

Unfortunately for Rebellion, its plan to expand the series into the persistent multiplayer space with a game codenamed “Project Archipelago” appears to have been cancelled. According to a report from Insider Gaming, Project Archipelago is no longer moving forward, despite its announcement being less than four months ago. The game was also known as “Sniper Island” and was supposed to be multiplayer Elite sniper Battle Royale title that pits teams of players against each other.

Developer Rebellion reportedly cancels Sniper Elite Battle Royale game

According to the report, the reason behind the cancellation of the Archipelago Project is not related to development issues, but rather the loss of funds from Tencent, which was financing the project. In meetings, Rebellion staff hinted that the fate of Concordmultiplayer hero shooter published by Sony, influenced Tencent's decision to withdraw funding from Project Archipelago. Concord was a major project for PlayStation Studios, but was considered a failure soon after its debut. The game was shut down less than two weeks after launch, and its developer, Firewalk Studios, was shuttered at the end of October 2024.

While the apparent loss of Project Archipelago is unfortunate, it does not appear to have affected the current staff at Rebellion Developments. The studio has other titles in development, including the next major single-player title in Elite sniper series. Sniper Elite: Endurance will launch in January 2025 for Xbox, PlayStation and PC consoles and promises to take the series to France during World War II, featuring a new protagonist who works with the French Resistance against the Nazi occupation.