Tencent is one of the most powerful companies in gaming, but even they experience flops. Their free loot shooter Synced was supposed to be a hit in 2023, now known as “The First Descendant” on Steam, but the SF shooter never gained traction. The game is closing just one year after its release.
This is Synced:
- Synced is a sci-fi loot shooter in third-person perspective
- MeinMMO author Britta described Synced in September 2023 as a mix of Outriders, Apex Legends, Destiny 2, and Warframe, with successful gameplay: She praised a solid shooter mechanic but criticized that the shooter quickly became monotonous
- Behind Synced is Tencent: The Chinese gaming giant owns, among other things, Riot Games (League of Legends, Valorant). Tencent is also involved in the massive success of Baldur’s Gate 3. By revenue, Tencent is the second largest gaming company in the world with $25.5 billion annually, only Sony Interactive Entertainment is larger
Synced is closing after just about a year on Steam
This is now the news:
- Synced was released on Steam on September 8, 2023.
- Effective immediately, it will no longer be possible to create new characters or purchase anything in the shop.
- From September 9, 2024, players will also not be able to download or play the game anymore.
The developers announced this (via syncedthegame.com).
Weak start and since then, Synced has been bleeding players every month on Steam
Why are they closing? Tencent does not officially provide a reason, but it’s obvious: The game was a flop:
- Synced had a weak start on Steam – peaking at only 10,000 players
- Every month, Synced steadily lost players
- In the last 30 days, there were only an average of 22 players online
Actually, Synced was also supposed to be released for PS5 and Xbox, but that idea probably died soon after the weak start on Steam.
Nothing has happened since March 2024
This is how it went for Synced: Synced had an open beta from December 2022 to January 2023. The sci-fi shooter officially launched on Steam in September 2023. Two seasons followed, but the last update went live in March 2024.
Synced felt too much like a mobile game for many
What was the problem? Even in the early tests, a general impression spread that roughly sounded like this:
Yes, it’s fine. Nothing special. Gets boring quickly. Needs more love.
Reviews on Steam indicate that Synced had several issues in live operation:
- Matchmaking was difficult
- The game had some technical problems
- Synced appeared to monetize like a mobile game
While there are some players who describe positive memories of Synced in the Steam reviews, even those players had seen enough of the game after about 100 to 200 hours.
If anyone of them yearned for Synced in recent months and reinstalled it, they felt like visiting a dead game.
Synced has “mixed reviews” on Steam – 66% are positive, but ultimately the player numbers are disastrous.
The First Descendant is now the hit while Synced sank
This is what it’s about: The interesting thing is that “The First Descendant,” also a free sci-fi loot shooter from Asia, is now in July 2024 exactly the big success on Steam that Tencent had hoped for from Synced. But Synced simply could not develop any momentum.
Tencent was already annoyed about missing the hype around Palworld and Genshin Impact and urged the development teams not to rest on their laurels but to deliver their own hits again.
The fact that Synced flopped so badly could also be attributed to circumstantial factors: For instance, The First Descendant was released during a generally quiet period in gaming, while Synced launched in the “main release window,” in September on Steam, at a time when the whole gaming world was raving about Baldur’s Gate 3. Additionally, Synced simply did not seem to capture enough players’ interest.
The goal of games like Synced is clear: They want to reach the audience that games like Destiny, Warframe, or The Division have built and combine the joy of a fast-paced shooter with the desire for looting and leveling. This seems to be a recipe for a gaming experience that many players crave: The new loot shooter on Steam fills a gap in your gamer soul left by The Division, Anthem, and Destiny
