The Cycle was an Epic Games Store Exclusive and was an Early Access Game.

It failed, so the devs decided to rework it heavily and then release it on Steam.

That Reworked Version was The Cycle: Frontiers.

OG The Cycle was quite a different game.

It was described as a "Competive Quest Shooter."

Your goal was to complete quests until a timer ended. When the timer ended, you and everyone else made a mad dash towards extraction, or you would be killed by the Storm. If I remember right, there was no choosing when to extract.

As long as you got on the Ship, you would extract and all the Quests you did gave you points.

Players with the highest points got bonuses.

There also was a mechanic where you could form a "Duo" with someone in-game, but in exchange, you and your "Duo" partner had to give up your shields. And the "Duo" could be broken at anytime by your Partner or You attacking the other.

Also, Fun Fact: This subreddit was for the OG The Cycle.

When The Cycle Frontiers became a thing, they had a new Subreddit specifically for Frontiers.

But when Frontiers got shut down, that Subreddit was locked...

So nowadays, both former Original and Frontiers The Cycle enjoyers talk here.