Nosgoth
Nosgoth was a free-to-play multiplayer action game developed by Psyonix and published by Square Enix for Microsoft Windows via digital distribution. It was a spin-off of the Legacy of Kain action-adventure series and took place in the fictional universe of the same name. Nosgoth used a player-versus-player system, in which each game consisted of two rounds. Teams were composed of characters assigned to one of two races: Vampires, who were designed for hack-and-slash combat, and Humans, whose gameplay was based on third-person shooters. Between rounds, the teams switched to control the opposing race, and the team that collected the most points by fighting the other race won the game. Nosgoth was announced in June 2013 based on leaks on the Internet, and was the first Legacy of Kain-related game in almost ten years. Although it was originally intended to be released as part of the Legacy of Kain: Dead Sun single-player project, it was redesigned after Dead Sun was cancelled and continued to be developed as a standalone title. When Nosgoth was officially unveiled in September 2013, it was met with negative feedback because it deviated from Legacy of Kain's traditional single-player and story formula. After the closed alpha phase began in late 2013 and the servers were opened to registered players, the game's open beta phase began in January 2015 and ended in May 2016. On April 8, 2016, Square Enix Europe announced that Nosgoth's servers would be shut down on May 31, 2016. The official forums of Nosgoth were also closed on June 14, 2016.
Story
Nosgoth recounts a previously unexplored time period in the events of Soul Reaver: the centuries between Raziel's execution and Raziel's resurrection, both events originally described in the introduction to Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. Since the collapse of the Pillars and the Holy War, the oppressed human population of Nosgoth has eked out a harsh existence in slavery and exile, largely as food in blood farms. The ruler of the land, Cain, and the Council - his six lieutenants - rule the Heartlands with their vampire clans. When Raziel, Cain's firstborn lieutenant, betrays his master, Cain sentences him to execution in the Lake of the Dead. But soon Cain himself disappears and leaves the empire. With the help of the Chronoplast, he travels through time in search of a means to heal the corrupt Pillars of Nosgoth and the world itself. Cain's surviving lieutenants remain behind to run the decadent realm, but they quickly descend into distrust, infighting, and eventually civil war. Raziel's leaderless descendants, the Razielim, fall victim to persecution by their brethren, and with Cain no longer in control of them, the clan fights against the clan. The humans of Nosgoth take advantage of the escalating turmoil and distraction among the vampires to escape the blood farms and revive their own civilization. Rebuilding cities and regaining their abilities over hundreds of years, the human slaves become an increasingly credible threat to the vampires. They raise an army and begin a devastating assault on their enemies' outposts. The clans settle their differences and form an uneasy alliance to put down the uprising. The new war between the two races for supremacy in Nosgoth begins.