A Star Wars game shuts down today, October 1, and as a result, it is now unplayable, forever. Considering the game was released in 2024, this is a remarkably quick and unfortunate turnaround. That said, because the game is free-to-play, it makes the development a little less egregious. It does have microtransactions, though, so there are players set to lose out on their investment only a year later.
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If you don’t own a Nintendo Switch and if you don’t play games on mobile devices, you have nothing to worry about because you never had access to the Star Wars game to begin with. Those on Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android though, no longer have access to Star Wars: Hunters, a free-to-play player-vs-player combat arena game released by NaturalMotion and Zynga back on June 4, 2024.
No Reason for Shut Down
As you may know, the final content update for the game was released on April 15, which added a new character. At the same time, in-game purchases were halted, so while some lost money on Star Wars: Hunters, nobody has been able to spend any money on it for months.
“We understand this news may be disappointing, and we want to assure you that this decision was not made lightly,” reads a statement from Zynga that accompanies the shutdown. “Your passion and dedication to the game and its community have meant the world to us, and we are committed to providing visibility and updates throughout the transition process. Thank you for being a part of this incredible journey and for the time you’ve spent playing Star Wars: Hunters.”
As you can see, there is no reason why the Star Wars game is being shut down in the statement above. Presumably, it is because the cost of maintaining servers and continued support was outweighing the amount of money being made on microtransactions. This is just speculation, but it’s unclear what else could be responsible for this quick shutdown.
2024, A Bad Year for Star Wars Games
There were two Star Wars games released last year: this and Star Wars Outlaws. In other words, it was a bad year for Star Wars games. Hunters is now shut down, while Outlaws didn’t perform commercially or critically. Looking ahead, there isn’t a ton of reason to be excited either. There are two formally announced Star Wars games in the pipeline, both of which have suffered development issues, and right now, neither looks very close to releasing. Suffice to say, the woes for Star Wars fans look poised to continue.
All of that said, and as always, feel free to leave a comment letting us know what you think, or join the conversation over on the ComicBook Forum.
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