Unity is officially dead. In an official statement published today on the PlayStation blog, the company has announced that its recently released multiplayer shooter is being taken offline after just two weeks.
The decision came after a disastrous launch for the game, which released on PlayStation 5 and PC on August 23, receiving mostly positive reviews but mediocre player numbers. On Steam, the PC version of the game reached an all-time high of just 697 players on release day – a number so low that it is dwarfed on a daily basis by many games released decades ago. At the time of reporting, only 28 players are actively playing the game on Steam, with a 24-hour peak of 110.
In the blog post, Game Director Ryan Ellis confirms that Unity will go offline on September 6th and will no longer be available for purchase as of today, September 3rd, due to the game’s performance not meeting expectations.
“(While) many qualities of the experience resonated with players, we also recognize that other aspects of the game and our initial launch have not resonated as we intended,” the post said. “As such, at this time we have decided to take the game offline starting September 6, 2024 and explore options, including ones that better reach our players.”
The blog post also confirms that anyone who purchased the game digitally is eligible for a refund, while anyone who purchased the physical version on CD will have to go through their respective retailer’s refund process.
The situation is a major blow for Sony, whose other big multiplayer game of the year, Helldivers 2was a viral success after its release in February. Many had wondered whether Unity could match the high sales and player numbers of Helldivers 2but the reaction was ultimately rather restrained.
Developed by Firewalk Studios, Unity Rumor has it that The 4000 had been in production for over eight years, so the decision to pull the plug was surprising despite its failure. The game was intended to be a major franchise for Sony and received regular updates for its first two weeks, including new cutscenes shot entirely with motion capture that were to be added weekly. Although it is similar to other multiplayer shooters, such as Overwatch2 On the surface, the game’s big budget and ambitious plans for releasing future content were something that hadn’t been seen before in the genre.
Although the game is being taken off the shelves and its servers are going offline, Sony and its developers remain vague about its future. Could Unity return in another form? There is a possibility that it will come back as a free-to-play game, similar to Bungie’s Fate 2another competitive multiplayer shooter whose reception stagnated after release, but found its audience after being revamped as F2P.
But now fans of the game have less than a week to say goodbye. Goodbye, Unitywe hardly knew you.
