Live-service game development has become the ultimate gamble for any publisher. If you get a hit, you’re set—money will pour in for as long as you can surf the wave. If you miss, countless millions are lost forever. Most of them miss. The latest game to spectacularly fail to be a long-running cash cow is Steel Hunters, the extraction shooter released into Early Access just three months ago by World of Tanks creators Wargaming. It’ll be gone for good by October.
Properly revealed during last December’s Game Awards, Steel Hunters looked like it was going to be a spectacular mech combat game, with heavy Transformers vibes. Sure, it’s a terrible title, but it matches the utilitarian naming conventions of Wargaming, renowned for World of Tanks and World of Warplanes. The early footage looked incredible, and everyone loves a stompy robot online shooter, so given Wargaming’s history of enormous success it seemed like a reasonably safe bet.
But nope. Since Steel Hunters launched into Early Access April 2, it peaked at fewer than 4,500 players, and hasn’t managed over 1,000 concurrent players since April 18. And let’s stress: this is a free-to-play game, that hadn’t even added in-app purchases. At the time of writing, this free, live-service PvPvE shooter has 34 players online. Its peak so far in July is 138. It is a colossal flop.
Of the nearly 4,000 reviews on Steam, just 58 percent are positive, meaning Steel Hunters sits very firmly in the doomed Mixed territory. And while judgement is usually reserved when it comes to Early Access games, players had less reason to hope for significant change given the Steam page statement that the current build “represents a polished foundation of Steel Hunters. It includes the core gameplay mechanics, maps, Hunters, and progression system that provide a strong starting point for players.”
However, an update added to Steam July 8 explained that the game is not going to last. Titled “Sunsetting,” it begins, “Today we share difficult news.”
Addressing presumably the couple of hundred people still playing, Wargaming explains, “we’ve made the decision to sunset Steel Hunters. You’ve given us so much passion and support but unfortunately we’ve come to the conclusion that continuing development is not sustainable. We know this isn’t the news anyone wanted to hear and we genuinely share in your disappointment.”
It’s not being immediately switched off, however. Servers will remain online for another 90 days, and there are even plans to roll out custom game support, as well as unlocking all the game’s Hunters for people to play as—including some that were obviously intended to be added later.
If it had been hoped that the announcement might cause a rush return of players to make the most of the closing months, that’s been dashed. There were fewer players Tuesday than Monday.
The game itself is said to be fine. That’s perhaps the most damning element here. PC Gamer described it as “a more tactical Titanfall,” let down by poor loot and feeling too early, and Gaming Bolt said a confusion of genres and muddled progression were the downsides of a fun, destructive game. But there’s just no room left in the fiercely competitive world of live-service games to be average. You have to be a massive, all-consuming success, or you’re doomed to “sunset” after a handful of months.
Steel Hunters was created by Wargaming’s UK studio, DPS Games. We reached out to find out if this might lead to any job losses at Wargaming, which has an astonishing 15 studios around the world, and received the following statement:
Wargaming has made the difficult decision to sunset Steel Hunters project. We are committed to supporting our talented team and will work to find suitable roles for as many employees as possible within the company. We sincerely thank the Steel Hunters community for their passion and support throughout the project.
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