From Software's fighting robot game 'Chromehounds' is back online for the first time in 15 years with an emulator. The creator who became unemployed and devoted himself to reviving Chromehounds tells the story behind the game.
The robot action shooting game '
Interview: 15 years after the servers shut down, FromSoft's singular mech game Chromehounds is back online
https://www.readonlymemo.com/interview-15-years-after-the-servers-shutdown-fromsofts-singular-mech-game-chromehounds-is-back-online/
On May 21, 2025, wwm0nkey, a user on the gaming forum ResetEra, informed forum members that work was underway to restore online play for Chromehounds on the Xbox 360 emulator ' Xenia .'
Chromehounds, released in 2006, is a 3D action shooter focused on up to 6-on-6 multiplayer battles. It has something in common with the 'Armored Core' series, also from FromSoftware, in that players control customizable robots, but the gameplay and speed of the game differ, with an emphasis on teamwork over individual combat, and when the online service ended in 2010, it was regretted by enthusiastic fans.
Read Only Memo commented, 'As is often the case with From Software's games, this one could be said to have been born in the wrong time and place. If it were available on Steam in 2025, it would surely be a huge hit.'
In addition, '
'Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon' review that fans have been waiting for 10 years, I tried to see if even people who are not good at action can enjoy exhilarating robot action - GIGAZINE
On the other hand, the success of multiplayer games such as Phasmophobia , released on PC in 2020, and Lethal Company in 2023 has led to a revival of the Chromehounds among the community.
In the midst of this, ImagineBeingAtComputers (IBAC), a game modder known as a modder, launched a Discord server called 'OpenCOMBAS' in 2023 and announced the development of an emulator version of Chromehounds. However, a year later in 2024, development had stalled, and IBAC posted on Discord, 'I have no idea how to bring back the game's online multiplayer, so I'm stuck.'
This caused IBAC to stop developing the emulator version of Chromehounds, but thanks to the members who gathered on the Discord server and contributed their knowledge and data to IBAC, an unexpected breakthrough was made.
'It was really moving, but I wasn't prepared,' IBAC said of the experience. 'I had a plan in my mind that it would take another five or six months to get up and running, based on the current state of the Xbox 360 emulator, Xenia, but I didn't expect it to all just happen all at once without any preparation. I happened to look at one of our Discord voice channels, and there were about 50 people talking about their experiences, it was being talked about in Facebook groups, and people were recording their gameplay. There was a lot going on, and it was a really amazing experience to see so many people turning back the clock 15 years and playing with their friends.'
Two factors have contributed to Chromehounds' big step towards revival. The first is
However, the emulator version of Chromehounds that IBAC was developing could not play against other players online, and could not recreate the 'Neiroimus War' that took place in the original work. The Neiroimus War is a game mode in which players belong to one of the three nations that appear in the work and team up with other players to lead their nation to victory, which is equivalent to the 'season' of multiplayer games such as ' Fortnite '.
IBAC continued reverse engineering for nearly a year, but he couldn't figure out how the software communicated with the server, and as mentioned above, development hit a snag. At that time, one of the Discord members succeeded in obtaining a 'regulation file,' an important file that contains the game balance of the battle mode, and his understanding of how to operate the battle server suddenly deepened. This was the second factor that led to the revival of Chromehounds.
On May 21, 2025, a one-on-one match between IBAC and wwm0nkey was successfully completed, and efforts are also underway to resume the 'Neuroimus War' with a large number of players, as well as to recreate voice chat, an important element of Chromehounds' network play.
IBAC, who was fired from his company because he was so absorbed in developing the Chromehounds emulator, said, 'One night, about 12 people gathered in the lobby and were having a great time. It was like I had suddenly traveled back in time to 2009 and was playing the game I had been waiting for for 15 years. It felt like a dream come true. I had just been fired from my job the day before, but somewhere in my mind I was thinking, 'At least I didn't have to go through the trouble of submitting my resignation, and now I can play Chromehounds 24/7.''
You can see how IBAC and others are testing the network battle from the following.
OpenCOMBAS: Chromehounds Photoshoot 2025 - YouTube
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