Free-To-Play ARPG Is Being Shut Down & Taken Off All Platforms With Almost No Explanation

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Action RPG is shutting down in a matter of months. First released in 2019 after a beta the year prior, was a free-to-play game that borrowed quite a bit from a familiar gameplay formula. Players could choose from a variety of different weapons, each with its own unique fighting style, and fight a variety of monsters both big and small. It was often compared to a much simpler, "" version of , including in 's review.

However, as announced on the official X (formerly Twitter) page today, is shutting down on May 29, 2024. It will no longer receive any further content or performance updates, says a representative of Phoenix Labs (also known for the cozy game ) via the social media post. As it's an online-only game, it'll be entirely unavailable to play after 11:45 PM PST on that day.

' shutdown isn't terribly surprising in and of itself. It always struggled to find a foothold, especially compared to the much more established, which had recently released the beloved DLC for its highly successful game .

However, it always had a small but devoted fanbase, and to shut down the game with so little notice is odd, to say the least. Phoenix Labs states no reason for the closure in its announcement, repeating the same notice almost verbatim — just without the statement of gratitude — in a Steam Community post. But with a little digging, we can likely surmise what's really going on with ' sudden shutdown.

The beginning of the end for came in December 2024, when the Awakening update to changed many elements of the game's progression. Craftable weapons were removed, and largely replaced with a microtransaction-based system that allowed players to pay a premium in order to access a better arsenal. To make matters worse, many players found that this update effectively reset their progress, removing items they'd spent hours grinding for entirely.

A month later, a spate of layoffs hit Phoenix Games, according to its LinkedIn page, affecting "." This followed a series of layoffs the