The new year is here and in 2022 many new MMOs will be released. However, there will also be some games that will see 2022 as their last year. MeinMMO editor Alexander Leitsch presents to you 6 MMOs that in his opinion will not survive the new year.
How did this list come about? Last year, I created a list of MMOs that could die in 2021. I applied the same principle this year.
It is often said that certain MMOs are already dead, even though there are still hundreds or thousands of players on their servers. Such games are not meant in this list.
Instead, I looked for MMOs that are struggling with serious problems and/or evident player loss. Although that does not automatically mean they will be shut down this year, the chance of that happening is high. Each decision will also be justified by me. The player numbers on Steam were determined with the website Steamcharts.
If you want to know how many titles I was right about last year, you can find the answer on the last page of the article.
If you are looking for new games for 2022, you will find them here.
Crowfall
Genre: MMORPG | Developer: Artcraft Entertainment | Platform: PC | Release Date: July 6, 2021 | Model: Buy2Play
What kind of game is this? Crowfall is a new MMORPG that was released in 2021. It deviates significantly from traditional games in the genre and offers various campaigns instead of an open, persistent world.
These campaigns run for a certain period before concluding. Players who participated take their earnings with them into the Eternal Kingdoms, a social realm that mainly focuses on housing, trade, and player interaction.
Crowfall caters to PvP fans, as almost all campaigns focus on player combat. It impresses with timeless graphics and a wide array of classes and playable races.
This video from the developers provides insight into the game concept of Crowfall:
How is Crowfall doing currently? Crowfall started weak from the beginning. The game launched with performance issues, a weak tutorial, a confusing interface, and several other bugs. It was also problematic for the game’s fans that they had been playing an alpha/beta for years that was hardly different from the release version.
Although we do not know the current player numbers, around 3,200 players were online at the same time during release. Shortly after launch, however, the reading of player numbers was disabled, apparently due to negative headlines. In total, about 90,000 players have purchased a version of Crowfall by August 2021.
In December 2022, the MMORPG was on the verge of being shut down. The developers were considering whether to shut down the servers or simply let the game continue in maintenance mode.
However, Crowfall was sold to another indie studio. Some developers, including executive producer Gordon Walton, will continue to work on the game.
That’s why I believe Crowfall will die in 2022: Crowfall is a PvP MMORPG and places a correspondingly high focus on a solid player base. And that simply does not exist. Many backers are disappointed and openly express this in forums and on reddit. At the same time, there is virtually no advertising for the game.
Even with a new studio, I don’t believe Crowfall can turn things around. The name evokes too many negative associations. While some games have managed comebacks, including Final Fantasy XIV or ESO, both had big studios and major game franchises behind them.
For Crowfall, however, the outlook is rather bleak.
