Again in June 2024, PC Gamer’s Fraser Brown made a want: He needed the free-to-play hero shooter Star Wars: Hunters, which was then out there for the Nintendo Swap and cellular units, to come back to PC. In November 2024, his want was granted—Star Wars: Hunters was set to launch on Steam in January 2025. However at present I’ve to be the Break-a-Want man, as a result of it seems prefer it’s not going to occur, and in reality the entire thing goes away.
“After cautious consideration, we need to let that the ultimate content material replace for Star Wars: Hunters on all platforms will likely be on April 15th,” a shutdown message states. “The sport will stay playable till October 1st, 2025, when the sport’s on-line servers will likely be shut down.
“We perceive this information could also be disappointing and need to guarantee you that this resolution was not made calmly. Your ardour and dedication to the sport and its neighborhood have meant the world to us, and we’re dedicated to offering visibility and updates all through the transition course of.”
Star Wars: Hunters in-app purchases can even be disabled on April 15, when the ultimate replace rolls out. Gamers who’ve excellent balances of Crystals, the in-game foreign money, won’t be supplied refunds: Zynga mentioned in an FAQ that it is offering a 30-day discover main as much as the tip of in-app purchases “to provide gamers ample time to organize and spend the in-game foreign money they’ve bought.”
The closure announcement would not particularly point out the Steam launch of Star Wars: Hunters, which didn’t occur in January as deliberate. The latest replace to the Steam retailer web page, posted on January 9 after a December playtest, says the deliberate early entry launch was delayed so builders may “implement as a lot suggestions as we will.” It stays unreleased, and given the looming closure it is virtually sure it should keep that method, however the Steam web page is giving what you may name blended alerts and so I do not need to make any iron-clad guarantees.
I’ll say, nevertheless, that even when Star Wars: Hunters did get shoved out the door onto Steam so followers may bang round in it for a number of months, the looming finish would absolutely suck any wind out of its sails: No one’s going to decide to a recreation that is on a countdown timer from day one, in spite of everything. Considerably oddly, a Zynga rep declined to verify whether or not the Steam launch will occur or not.
I can even word that that is yet one more instance of a reside service recreation getting the hook in very quick order, regardless of coming to the desk with a big-name license. Star Wars: Hunters solely launched in June 2024, lower than a 12 months in the past, after a number of delays from an authentic 2021 launch goal. We now have no method of judging participant numbers, however the Swap model wasn’t particularly effectively acquired, holding an unenviable 57 mixture rating on Metacritic.
