Several games had to call 2023 their final year as they shut down for good. Some games survived a few years, while others didn't even make it to one. It's already hard enough to release a game and now many are expected to be sustainable for several years. But online games don't last forever, and now it feels like they only last a few years.
There's no way to know exactly what went wrong for many of the games that had to be cut short this year, but it's clear that it's extremely tough to claim a space in what is a very contentious genre. Creative forks of the most popular trends, like extraction shooters, don't guarantee you a place in live service heaven. It's cutthroat out there and unfortunately smart ideas aren't always enough.
