Square Enix's live-service shooter Foamstars, inspired by Splatoon, is ending its seasonal updates but will keep its servers online for fans to continue playing. Despite its initial release as a free PS Plus game, Foamstars struggled to gain traction and went free-to-play in October. Unlike Sony's Concord, which was quickly shut down, Foamstars will allow players to access past Season Passes and participate in ongoing competitions. Square Enix plans to return to a multiplatform strategy following disappointing sales of recent Final Fantasy titles.
Ubisoft's free-to-play shooter XDefiant is shutting down, marking another setback for the company in a challenging year. Despite initial plans for continued development, low player counts and strategic missteps, such as not launching on Steam, led to its closure. This reflects broader difficulties in the competitive multiplayer shooter market, where new games struggle to compete with established titles like Fortnite and Call of Duty. Ubisoft's struggles in 2024 also include underperforming titles and financial challenges, further compounding its woes.
The Finals is a new multiplayer shooter that combines old-fashioned generosity with new-fangled technology. The game features destructible environments, allowing players to cause widespread destruction and engage in strategic gameplay. It offers a variety of character classes with different weapons and gadgets, allowing for diverse playstyles. The unlock system focuses on new methods of play rather than simply upgrading weapons, and the game's virtual reality setting adds an extra layer of fun. The Finals is a free-to-play game with cosmetic microtransactions, and it has received positive reviews for its exciting gameplay and engaging mechanics.
Activision has confirmed that Call of Duty's extraction mode, DMZ, will receive no updates and will be separate from the Modern Warfare 3/Warzone ecosystem with the launch of Season 1 of Modern Warfare III on December 6, 2023. While players can still continue to play the mode, there won't be any future content updates and progression towards battle pass rewards will not be possible. The end of DMZ is disappointing for fans who enjoyed its unique gameplay experience, as there are few approachable multiplayer extraction shooters available.
The gaming industry has seen the closure of many big multiplayer games this year, and the genre feels like it's at a tipping point. Five new multiplayer shooters were announced at the PlayStation Showcase, but none of them felt new or exciting. The market is saturated, and most players only have time for one or two of these games in their lives. The article calls for an end to the production of bland, new multiplayer shooters that will likely die within six months.
