Ubisoft’s mediocre Star Wars Outlaws was after all the massive new Star Wars recreation of final 12 months, but it surely wasn’t the one one to drop. A free-to-play Star Wars hero shooter additionally emerged on Nintendo Swap and cell platforms, and was destined to return to PC in 2025. Nonetheless, simply eight months on from its preliminary launch, the builders of Star Wars Hunters have revealed that its subsequent replace might be its final, its servers might be shut down later within the 12 months, and that its Steam launch is being deserted.
For those who weren’t even conscious of Star Wars Hunters’ existence, then I wouldn’t blame you. A free-to-play, 4v4 multiplayer recreation created primarily for handheld gadgets, it’s most likely existed past the vary of most PC gamers’ radars. Nonetheless, there have been plans for it to return to PC in early entry this January, however following a Steam playtest in December 2024, the choice was made to delay it. Bringing it to Valve’s storefront might have been a catalyst for extra gamers and extra notoriety – Marvel Rivals has already confirmed that the combo of hero shooter and character-rich IP may end up in success – however now the PC model of Star Wars Hunters won’t ever see the sunshine of day.
“After cautious consideration, we wish to let that the ultimate content material replace for Star Wars: Hunters on all platforms might be on April fifteenth,” developer Zynga says in a press release. “The sport will stay playable till October 1st, 2025, when the sport’s on-line servers might be shut down.” In a separate Q+A web page, it’s confirmed that “this determination impacts all platforms together with PC which can not launch.”
Star Wars Hunters initially dropped eight months in the past, and in that point it’s pushed out a number of seasons that embrace new heroes, maps, and recreation modes. Nonetheless, it’s clear that regardless of the massive fandom for the franchise, Hunters hasn’t been in a position to entice a sustainable quantity of gamers.
Zynga confirms that the ultimate replace to the sport on Tuesday, April 15 will add new Assist Hunter, Tuya, without spending a dime together with “a slate of extra in-game content material.” In-game purchases will even be disabled when this replace drops.
The truth that Star Wars Hunters won’t ever even get to launch on PC exhibits simply how brutal it’s for free-to-play multiplayer video games. This week we’ve additionally seen Spectre Divide, a Valorant-style tactical shooter that solely launched on Steam again in September, announce that it could be shutting down too. It’s robust on the market.
Nonetheless, there are nonetheless a great deal of stable and profitable free PC video games which you can play proper now. To see what else is on the horizon, take a look at our upcoming PC video games information – hopefully all of those will really make it to Steam, not like Star Wars Hunters.
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