The shooter Zula Europe is not in great shape at the moment. The publisher wants to close the servers. The reason is that the developers are no longer providing updates. There has been silence since 2019.
What is happening? The Spanish publisher IDC Games distributes the shooter Zula and its European version Zula Europe. The game is developed by the Turkish studio MadByte Games.
However, the developers have been silent for some time. Their last update on the official site was in October 2019, and the last update on Steam was posted in November 2019. So, there has been no news from the studio for over a year.
In a tweet, IDC Games has now announced they will close the game’s servers if the developers do not respond. It says: ‘We are sorry, but only the developers can change this situation.’
According to many users, one of the problems is that they can no longer play the game. Individual rounds or even the game itself would not start. During testing, Zula Europe did not run for us either.
This is why it is curious: It is generally rare for a publisher to turn against the developer of one of their games. Normally, the two studios are in contact with each other and work together.
In case of disagreements, it can happen that developers separate from unpopular publishers. However, in this case, it seems that the developers are no longer responding. According to IDC Games, MadByte Games has not responded to any of their inquiries.
Players are sad, demand their money back
What is Zula anyway? The free shooter for PC strongly resembles the popular and successful Counter-Strike. Two factions compete against each other on different maps and in various tactical game modes.
However, Zula is hardly played anymore. Zula itself still has an average of 570 players on Steam (via steamcharts). The European version has even fewer, with just 40 players on average (via steamcharts).
This is what the players say: On Twitter and Facebook, numerous users are expressing their dismay that Zula is being discontinued. Despite the few players, there seem to be some who are very attached to it.
More frequently, however, refunds for payments made are demanded. Zula offers an in-game shop where boosters, weapons, and items can be purchased. These are available for points or gold, the premium currency of Zula.
What happens next with Zula is uncertain. Although there is still no specific date for the shutdown of the servers, it remains to be seen whether the developers will respond again after more than a year.
