Bandai Namco Online have announced that Gundam Evolution, the free-to-play shooter based on the popular anime, will no longer be playable after November 29th. The mech FPS was released last year but executive producer Kazuya Maruyama now says it’s “no longer possible” for the team to provide ongoing support.
“Thank you all for your continued support,” begins the blog post from Maruyama. “We wanted to create a title that brought FPS fans and Gundam fans together. We challenged ourselves to create an authentic Gundam FPS game.” Maruyama continues to say, “Unfortunately, we have determined that it is no longer possible for us to provide a service that satisfies our players.” Maruyama doesn’t give an exact reason for the game’s shutdown, although concurrent player numbers on Steam seem gloomy.
Gundam Evolution will continue with its seasonal update plans until the servers sunset, and the team also detailed several other incoming tweaks. On July 26th, the team will end the sale of the in-game currency and other microtransactions such as EC Pods. Previously purchased items and currencies are still usable until the end of service, but Bandai Namco aren’t offering refunds.
Season 6 then launches on August 23rd with one new unit and two new maps, and Season 7 drops on October 25th with one unit and one map. Both seasons will offer increased capital points, so players can unlock the swanky mechs faster. For more details, you can check out the FAQ or tomorrow's upcoming livestream on YouTube.
Gundam Evolution’s shutdown continues the trend of me discovering a game via the announcement of its death. There have been a bucketload of live service shutdowns this year, though Knockout City arguably had the most gracious exit
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