Video games have never been bigger in the year 2021. Each successive year not only brings new games to play, but new hardware or tech to further the industry along. There is a dark side to progression though. It’s a sad fact to state that not all games can remain complete forever especially ones that are tied to an online service.
MMOs are a big genre that when the servers get shut down, they remain unplayable. Across all platforms, what are some multiplayer games specifically that have been met with a similar fate due to either services shutting down or disappearing into the ether altogether?
10 Defiance 2050
Defiance first launched in 2013 on PS3, PC, and Xbox 360. It was released to coincide with the SyFy show of the same name. Eventually that got canceled but the game kept on going. In fact, it relaunched as Defiance 2050 in 2018 on PS4, PC, and Xbox One. Now, as of April 29, this Destiny-like RPG has shut down its servers across the board.
9 Battleborn
While many fans were waiting for Gearbox to release the next installment in the Borderlands franchise, they instead decided to make Battleborn. It released in 2016 on PS4, PC, and Xbox One.
This was just a few months before Overwatch which quickly ate its lunch and making Battleborn a meme in the process. This MOBA hero shooter never had a chance and it just shut down this year on January 31st.
8 Marvel Heroes Omega
Marvel Heroes first hit PCs in 2013 as a free to play game. Each year updated the name to coincide with the year, bringing with it new content and heroes. It finally came to consoles, as in the PS4 and Xbox one, on June 30, 2017 and then became Marvel Heroes Omega. It didn’t have long to shine because it was shut down just a few months later on November 27. For those keeping track, that was the game being canceled and the developer shutting down right after Thanksgiving.
7 Lawbreakers
Lawbreakers was a console exclusive on PS4 although it did come to PCs too. This was in 2017, just a year after Overwatch and Battleborn already made a dent in the hero shooter market. This game showed that seemingly only one of these types of games can survive in the industry at a time because it was shut down just a year later on September 14. Not even a big name like Cliff Bleszinski, the creator of Gears of War, could bring in a crowd.
6 Drawn To Death
This game also came from a big innovator in the video game market, David Jaffe. He is probably most known for starting God of War on PS2. He’s had projects since but none of them took off like that did. Drawn to Death had a cool aesthetic gimmick when it launched on PS4 exclusively in 2017. It even had a decent run despite poor reviews until servers were shut down on March 25, 2019.
5 1 Vs 100
This game was ahead of its time in 2009. This was an Xbox 360 exclusive wherein players could log in at a designated time and actually compete with others. Like the game show it was based on, everyone was trying to become the 1 of the 100 in order to win real prizes. It lasted two seasons, but didn’t return for a third. HQ Trivia is the closest live event game show since although that too has shuttered.
4 Dust 514
Dust 514 was a 2013 PS3 exclusive shooter. It launched as a tie-in to Eve Online. The idea was that this game would play out the battles created in the war rooms of Eve Online. It was too lofty of an idea apparently and was shut down on May 30, 2016. For some context, Eve Online has been going strong since 2003 so this game must have been doing bad for the developers to abandon it like that.
3 Paragon
Paragon was a MOBA developed by Epic Games. It launched as a console exclusive to PS4 in 2016, but came to PCs too. It’s important to note the developer since Fortnite was just about to become a thing in 2017. That game found success whereas this one didn’t so it shut down in April of 2018.
There are some new revelations to this story. Earlier this year a company called Omeda Studios raised over two million dollars to reboot the game as Predecessor, using some of its assets.
2 MAG
Before Battle Royale games flooded the market, Sony attempted something similar with MAG. It launched as a PS3 exclusive in 2010. The main goal of the game was to have multiple war zones going at once in the hopes of creating the biggest multiplayer shooter matches imaginable. It received decent enough reviews but also didn’t take the world by storm. It shut down on January 28, 2014, giving it a decent run on the PS3 at least.
1 Star Wars Galaxies
Star Wars Galaxies was the first MMO game created for the film franchise. It released on PCs in 2003. It received multiple expansions and updates and ran up until December 15, 2011. This was just before Star Wars: The Old Republic would launch. Whoever was in charge seemingly knew two Star Wars MMOs shouldn’t, and probably couldn’t, compete with each other. Although Final Fantasy XI is still going strong alongside Final Fantasy XIV so maybe it could have stayed successful.