Super Bomberman R Online is shutting down after just 18 months

pcgamer.com:

A little over a year after release, Konami has announced it's calling time on Super Bomberman R Online.

The bomber battle royale was launched as a free-to-play game in May 2021, but it's struggled to find and maintain an audience. SteamDB(opens in new tab) shows that the game has been hovering around 200 concurrent players since September, with the game's all-time peak being around 7,000 at launch. For a game that's intended to have 64 players in a single match, it's not great. Steam reviews(opens in new tab) regularly criticise a lack of ability to find games, plus key features like partying up with friends being locked behind a paywall.

Now, Konami has announced on its website(opens in new tab) that it's pulling the plug on Super Bomberman R Online. In-game transactions have been suspended and the game will officially shut down on December 1, 2022. The post claims that the game has «continued to operate with the support of many users» since launch, but cites «various circumstances» as the reason behind its closure.

It's sad to see a classic game fail to get off the ground, but Konami hasn't completely given up on the series. «The „Bomberman“ series is moving forward with new projects,» the post concludes «We hope to be able to inform you of this project soon. Thank you for your continued support of the Bomberman series.»