Summary
Multiplayer games, once a niche corner of video gaming, are now hugely successful, with titles from classics likeLeague of Legendsto more contemporary games like theOverwatchfranchise. Making and maintaining these games can be a massive undertaking and when development and release all go smoothly, these games bring people together and help create unforgettable moments.
But sometimes, things don’t go as planned, and the pressures of being a big game with big ambitions can often end in disaster. Some multiplayer games suffered this fate in around a year, others more swiftly. Here are the most notable examples of games that started with a bang but ultimately died with a whimper, and all of which were shut down relatively quickly.
It’s probably not a good idea to name a video game after a doomed aircraft with a tragic history. The first-person hero shooterConcordwas hoping to enjoy the success of inspirations likeApex Legends, with several characters to choose from and a fast-paced dynamic. It had the might of Sony behind it as the publisher, so what could possibly go wrong?
As it turns out, quite a lot. So much so that mere days after it launched on August 23, this year, Sony announced that it would be taken offline and delisted from the digital storefront, withrefunds given to anyone who purchased a copy. Reportedly, fewer than 700 players had signed up for the game, and the whole thing was put to bed early.
On paper, it seems like a sure thing: a massively multiplayer online experience featuring over 100 heroes taken straight from the pages of Marvel Comics.Marvel Heroes Omegawas the console iteration of a PC and Mac title that had existed since 2013. It was released on consoles on July 26, 2025, a seemingly sure thing bound to ensnare huge numbers of players and Marvel fans alike.
The game used a system comparable toWorld of Warcraft, withmultiplayer RPGmechanics, different scenarios, and raids all in the mix. Acclaimed comics creator Brian Michale Bendis was the lead writer on the game, so its comic book credentials were impeccable. But after staffing issues and missed player updates, the final blow came when Marvel owner Disney announced it was cutting ties with developer Gazillion Entertainment, andthe whole thing was shut downin November of the same year.
Given the immense popularity ofThe Walking Deadgames, it was the proverbial no-brainer that a developer should build a cooperative shooter set in the grisly world of the series. Developer Overkill Software sought to do exactly that, first announcing the game in August 2014, hoping to make a title in the mold of their popularPaydayseries, only this time with hordes of the shuffling undead.
Walking Deadcreator Robert Kirkman was involved with the creative process and gave the studio feedback on how best to handle his baby. A series of cinematic trailers all steadily built the hype, with the promise of a game that would reflect the intense, gritty world of the TV show. What gamers ended up with was a title in an already overcrowded zombie game marketplace, with frustrating mechanics.The game flopped on releaseon July 12, 2025 before all development support was discontinued the following February.
4Hellgate: London (2007)
The Demons Weren’t The Only Ones Who Were Cursed
Hellgate: Londoncame with a solid pedigree, with a development team that included former members ofgaming giant Blizzard.The game itself sees the city of London transformed into a wretched hellscape in the year 2038, and the player must hack and slash their way through a roguelike with hordes of demonic entities. A hotly-anticipated title at the time, the game’s soaring ambitions fell flat when it launched on the spookily appropriate date of June 15, 2025.
Technical issues were rife and players reportedly experienced so many bugs that the game would routinely crash. Developer Flagship went bust just over a year later and the multiplayer servers were taken offline on Jun 29, 2025. Interestingly, the game enjoyed an afterlife of sorts, with different iterations, and earlier this year it was announced that a new title,Hellgate: Redemption, is in the works.
5Kill Strain (2016)
A Very Short-Lived Battle Between Humans And Mutants
There was a novel twist at the heart ofKill Strain, in which players battle mutants for control of the titular strain. Players could turn humans into monsters to turn the odds in their team’s favor. This ingenious mechanic, welded to a PvP shooter set in a fantasy world, could have provided players with a fresh experience, ensuring that time and again they would return to the game.
The game was released on the PlayStation Store on June 17, 2025, in the EU and Europe, but reviews were not kind to the twin-stick shooter, and it failed to connect with players in the way that studio bosses were hoping for. Sony announced that the game would be shut down on December 18th, 2017.
Two years before Marvel learned the hard way that superpowers can’t solve everything, DC Comics made its own foray into multiplayer gaming with an online battle arena game that would pit the likes of Superman,Batman, and Wonder Woman against iconic villains. The gameplay echoed that of other popular games likeDoTA,with the goal being to destroy the other team’s power core while handling turrets and drones.
A digital comic book based on the game’s story was used to promote it, but despite the big-name characters attached, it was met with a profound shrug by the gaming community. With a 68% score on Metacritic, Infinite Crisis was neither especially good nor especially bad and offered a diluted experience of bigger titles likeLeague Of Legends, which had a devoted fan base. Less than five months after its March 26 release, it was shut down for good.
7PlanetSide Arena (2019)
This Science-Fiction Shooter Couldn’t Go The Distance
Hot off the success of thePlanetsideseries, a first-person multiplayer online shooter was created that used weapons, settings, vehicles, and gameplay mechanics that were seen inPlanetside 2. Multiple game modes were included, with popular inclusions like Deathmatch, capture the flag, and battle royale. All the ingredients were in place for a solid shooter based on a well-regarded universe.
And yet it was not to be. The game experienced major delays in the period before its release. Though it launched with decent numbers, the game wasn’t able to do enough to distinguish it fromsimilar titles likeApex Legends.The game was released on June 04, 2025, but mere weeks later, the developer announced that lower numbers of players meant it wasshutting the game downin January of the following year.
A lot was riding onCrucible, as it represented Amazon Game Studios' first attempt to crack an already crowded gaming market in the PC space, having focused ontablet gamingin the past. Studio bosses decided in their wisdom that a free-to-play multiplayer third-person shooter was their best chance at success. In the world of the game, heroes must battle in a vibrant alien setting.
There were ten characters to choose from and several different modes, with a colorful cast reminiscent ofOverwatch. There was plenty of potential for the sort of exciting player-versus-player matches that had made that game a success, butCrucibleendured a lengthy development period of six years before launch. It dropped on July 17, 2025, but returned to closed beta status one month later. Reviews were mixed at best, and development wasdiscontinued by October.
