Google MUO or a similar variety - the issue came down to creative differences between how the game should play. There have been issues for months now, so it's not a surprise.

What is a surprise is how the heck they were coding a design which wasn't agreed to. SDLC basics, get a freaking sign-off from the business owner on the design BEFORE you write a lick of code - NO prototyping, nothing.

If minds are changed, that's a different story.

I swear the Gaming Software houses need a collective enema to clear that crap out and follow some process when writing their code. I am sure there are exceptions, but they are RARE EXCEPTIONS.

AUGH.

I wouldn't say cold feet. I would say SMART. How can you expect to compete with an already popular and growing IP like CoH? It's too hard to compete in the MMO market, and Microsoft, being all about money, wants to ensure that profit is a guarantee, not a hope.

That's not "sidelined". That's "put in the dumpster".