The year 2023 is steadily progressing, just like the decline of some online shooters. For certain titles, the outlook is currently very bleak. MeinMMO author Dariusz Müller presents you with 5 games that might not survive the current year.
Who is writing here? Dariusz Müller plays many different shooters and is a big fan of the genre. He also tests titles that are not part of a major franchise and only have a few hundred to a thousand players. Time and again, he encounters games that can barely fill a lobby and are forced to throw players from all over the world onto a single server.
How was the list created? I looked for games that are suffering from massive problems and whose future looks bleak. Some of the criteria I focused on were low player numbers, lack of updates, lack of community interest in new content, and poor reviews.
Just like MeinMMO editor Alexander Leitsch did with his list of MMOs that will die in 2023, I also did not include games on the list that are rumored to be dead but still have thousands of players. Fortnite, Rainbow Six: Siege, Destiny 2, or CoD Warzone 2 may be heavily criticized and declared dead on Reddit – that doesn’t change the fact that they are still alive with thousands of players.
Splitgate
Genre: Arena Shooter | Developer: 1047 Games | Platform: PC, PlayStation, Xbox |
Release Date: May 24, 2019 | Model: Free2Play | Perspective: First-Person |
What kind of game is this? Splitgate was the surprise title for shooter fans in summer 2021. The innovative arena shooter allowed you to travel across maps using portals and already had various modes available during the beta.
Suddenly, the indie game had a small hype and even reached a peak of over 67,000 concurrent players on Steam. However, these numbers drastically dropped within a few months.
How is Splitgate doing today? As of April 2023, Splitgate had only an average of 466 players on Steam. In September 2022, the developers also announced that they would no longer work on the shooter, even though the servers would remain operational (via splitgate.com).
What is the problem? Since the developers are no longer working on Splitgate, there is no new content. Players have no reason to return to the shooter at a later time if they lose interest. Consequently, player numbers are low and steadily declining.
After the announcement in 2022 regarding the cessation of development, the closure of the servers seems to be the next inevitable step that will happen eventually – possibly in 2023.
Hired Ops
Genre: Arena Shooter | Developer: Absolut Soft LLC | Platform: PC | Release Date: April 13, 2021 |
Model: Free2Play | Perspective: First-Person |
What kind of game is this? Hired Ops is a PvP arena shooter set in the fictional Russian city of Tarkov. Yes, it is the same city as in the extraction shooter Escape from Tarkov
, as the developers of Absolut Soft LLC and Battlestate Games have a shared history. At some point, the two groups split and developed their own games. However, the similarities are still quite evident.
How is Hired Ops doing today? After Hired Ops wandered around as an early access title since 2016, the shooter finally celebrated its official release in 2021. Two years later, the game’s lifespan seems to be nearing its end. The already low player numbers have continued to decline, with only 246 players playing the shooter on average in April 2023 (via SteamCharts).
What is the problem? The biggest issue with the shooter is undoubtedly the player numbers.
Lobbies are rarely full and are often filled with bots. If you do encounter real players in your match, they either come from distant countries like China and carry a corresponding ping or they cheat.
Despite the fairly entertaining gunplay, nothing indicates that Hired Ops will experience a resurgence. With “Escape from Tarkov Arena” also standing in competition in the same setting, a server shutdown is, in my opinion, only a matter of time.
Gundam Evolution
Genre: PvP Shooter | Developer: Bandai Namco | Platform: PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S | Release Date: September 20, 2022 | Model: Free2Play | Perspective: First-Person |
What kind of game is this? In Gundam Evolution, you take control of a “Mobile Suit unit”, which are human-controlled combat machines, and play 6-vs.-6 matches against other players.
The F2P shooter is based on the Gundam franchise, which is known for animes, mangas, movies, and model kits.
The gameplay focuses primarily on speed and action. For example, your Gundam units have thrusters that allow you to move quickly and accelerate rapidly.
How is Gundam Evolution doing today? The shooter was released only in September 2022 but has never been able to make a significant impression. In the release month, an average of just under 16,700 people played the shooter, but by October 2022, that number had already decreased by 12,000. In April 2023, an average of only 867 players were playing the shooter (via SteamCharts).
What is the problem? Aside from low player numbers leading to long matchmaking times, the player reviews are particularly unconvincing; only 52% of over 19,000 reviews are positive.
Players on Steam criticize poor balancing, poor performance, and lags, as well as the fact that new characters are locked behind a paywall.
Hypercharge
Genre: | Developer: | Platform: PC, Xbox, Switch | Release Date: April 27, 2020 |
Model: Buy2Play | Perspective: First-Person |
What kind of game is this? In Hypercharge: Unboxed, you play as a toy action figure and then plunge into various toy battles. These take you to a family’s garden, a toy store, or a child’s room. The game can be played cooperatively against AI or against other players.
How is Hypercharge doing today? At least on Steam, the game has hardly any active players left. While I am writing this list, there are just 13 people in the toy shooter (as of May 11, 2023) – in April, there were an average of 75 (via SteamCharts).
What is the problem? Once again, it is the player numbers: with under 100 players, a PvP and co-op shooter simply cannot survive. The reviews are very positive, with 90%, but praise alone cannot pay for developer or server costs.
Rainbow Six: Extraction
Genre: Co-op Shooter | Developer: Ubisoft | Platform: PC, Xbox Series, PS5 | Release Date: |
Model: Buy2Play | Perspective: |
What kind of game is this? With Rainbow Six: Extraction, Ubisoft released a PvE offshoot of its popular tactical shooter Rainbow Six: Siege, which focuses on fighting against an alien parasite that threatens the world.
You choose an operator as your playable character and dive into different missions with up to two other players. Each operator also has different abilities and weapons.
How is Rainbow Six: Extraction doing today? Rainbow Six: Extraction is set to receive new content in 2023, but between May and December 2022, communication was lacking. There were no news about the shooter, and even the R6E Twitter account was shut down. The PvE shooter is now also being managed by the “Rainbow Six: Siege” account.
What is the problem? I am a big fan of Rainbow Six: Siege (R6S), and that’s why it pains me to say this: Rainbow Six: Extraction (R6E) feels like a paid PvE expansion to R6 that brought a few new contents and was supposed to distract from being blasted by cheaters in ranked play.
The issue is, we Rainbow Six players are gaming masochists and go into the next match after a painful defeat. We don’t buy a full-price title to play our favorite characters in another game. We buy skins and endure the same agony again.
Furthermore, R6E shares the same problem as, for example, Back 4 Blood – it can quickly feel repetitive and has too little content. Compared to Destiny 2 or Warframe, the game simply cannot keep up.
If you prefer reading about shooters set to be released in 2023 instead of dying players, you’ll also find something on MeinMMO:
The 7 most exciting online shooters set to be released in 2023
Furthermore, R6E shares the same problem as, for example, Back 4 Blood – it can quickly feel repetitive and has too little content. Compared to Destiny 2 or Warframe, the game simply cannot keep up.
If you prefer reading about shooters set to be released in 2023 instead of dying players, you’ll also find something on MeinMMO:
The 7 most exciting online shooters set to be released in 2023
