New Walking Dead Game Shutting Down Just After Release, Refunds Being Issued

In a surprising move, Skybound Games and Other Ocean Interactive have announced that The Walking Dead: Betrayal will be shut down on December 15th. The game just entered early access on September 14th, which means it will have been available for less than 3 months before shutting down. Everyone that purchased The Walking Dead: Betrayal will be given a refund, and the game’s removal from Steam will begin on December 11th. For those that did enjoy the game, that means it should still be playable for a few days before the company pulls the plug. 

Why The Walking Dead: Betrayal is Shutting Down

“After considering a variety of paths forward, and with a great deal of discussion and reflection, Skybound Games and Other Ocean Interactive have decided to stop development on The Walking Dead: Betrayal. Despite the hard work put into the game, we were not able to find a path to build the spirited community of backstabbers we originally envisioned,” the game’s Steam page reads. 

From that statement, it seems Skybound is pulling the plug based on the lack of people that have been playing. That’s actually been a common complaint in Betrayal‘s Steam reviews, with the majority of negative comments being about the fact that there isn’t anyone to play with. Despite this, it seems the game was actually enjoyable to play. In a hands-on preview of Betrayal in August, Comicbook.com’s Ricky Frech noted that “publisher Skybound has a game that’s a good time with friends and has the potential to be more.” He also called it “a fun spin on a crowded genre,” and it’s possible that crowded nature might have been the reason the game died so quickly. 

A Bad Time for Walking Dead Games

While the shutdown of The Walking Dead: Betrayal is very surprising, it’s not without precedent; Overkill’s The Walking Dead similarly lasted just three months on the market before Skybound pulled the plug. The game was released in November 2018 and was shut down in February 2019. In that case, extremely negative reviews likely played a part, as opposed to a lack of players. 

Unfortunately, the swift death of Betrayal is adding to an already rough year for Walking Dead video games. 2023 also saw the release of The Walking Dead: Destinies. While the game’s unique take on the AMC series seemed promising, its release was met with harsh reviews from players, who called it “broken” and a “shameless cash grab.” There have been some truly great games based on the franchise in the past, most notably Telltale’s Walking Dead games. Hopefully Skybound will find a project that proves to be a better fit for the IP, while lasting a bit longer than three months on the market!

Are you disappointed that The Walking Dead: Betrayal is shutting down? Did you play the game? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!