Free-to-play mech extraction shooter Steel Hunters, originally revealed at 2024's The Game Awards, will shut down just a few months after its early access launch, developer Wargaming has announced.
Servers will shut down on October 8, around seven months after the game's launch. The PC-only shooter released in early April but never seemed to find an audience, having only reached a concurrent player peak of 4,479 shortly after launch, according to SteamDB. In recent weeks the game's player count has hovered around the 250 mark.
"You've given us so much passion and support but unfortunately we've come to the conclusion that continuing development is not sustainable," Wargaming's statement on the sunsetting of Steel Hunters reads. "We know this isn't the news anyone wanted to hear and we genuinely share in your disappointment."
However, players have the next 90 days to still play the game, during which Wargaming will unlock all of the game's unique Hunters (including new Hunters that were presumably still in development), as well as introduce the ability to host custom games. A final "farewell" tournament is also being planned, with Wargaming stating it will share more details in the game's official Discord server soon.
Steel Hunters sees players pilot massive mechs called Hunters. Some mechs are humanoid in appearance, while others are massive mechanical animals reminiscent of the mechs from the anime series Zoids. Each mech can be customized and modified with various weapons, mods, and abilities. The game was an extraction shooter, one where players would drop in, acquire loot from battling NPC enemies, and attempt to escape, all the while avoiding or battling other player-controlled Hunter squads.
"From the very first days of the Alpha you've shaped Steel Hunters with your energy, creativity, and dedication, and we're honored to have had you on this journey," Wargaming's shutdown notice reads. "We couldn't have wished for a better community and we'll miss you all dearly."
Wargaming may be shutting down Steel Hunters, but it still operates several live-service titles. One of those games is World of Tanks, which recently announced it is introducing tank versions of two '90s gaming icons.
Steel Hunters isn't the first live-service game to be gone too soon, and it likely won't be the last. Nexon's free-to-play multiplayer melee title Warhaven shut down after just seven months and ahead of a planned console launch last year, and Sony's shooter Concord infamously barely lasted a week before it was announced servers would go offline. EA recently announced it would finally pull the plug on Anthem's servers, with players having until January 2026 to play BioWare's live-service shooter.
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Servers will shut down on October 8, around seven months after the game's launch. The PC-only shooter released in early April but never seemed to find an audience, having only reached a concurrent player peak of 4,479 shortly after launch, according to SteamDB. In recent weeks the game's player count has hovered around the 250 mark.
"You've given us so much passion and support but unfortunately we've come to the conclusion that continuing development is not sustainable," Wargaming's statement on the sunsetting of Steel Hunters reads. "We know this isn't the news anyone wanted to hear and we genuinely share in your disappointment."
However, players have the next 90 days to still play the game, during which Wargaming will unlock all of the game's unique Hunters (including new Hunters that were presumably still in development), as well as introduce the ability to host custom games. A final "farewell" tournament is also being planned, with Wargaming stating it will share more details in the game's official Discord server soon.
Steel Hunters sees players pilot massive mechs called Hunters. Some mechs are humanoid in appearance, while others are massive mechanical animals reminiscent of the mechs from the anime series Zoids. Each mech can be customized and modified with various weapons, mods, and abilities. The game was an extraction shooter, one where players would drop in, acquire loot from battling NPC enemies, and attempt to escape, all the while avoiding or battling other player-controlled Hunter squads.
"From the very first days of the Alpha you've shaped Steel Hunters with your energy, creativity, and dedication, and we're honored to have had you on this journey," Wargaming's shutdown notice reads. "We couldn't have wished for a better community and we'll miss you all dearly."
Wargaming may be shutting down Steel Hunters, but it still operates several live-service titles. One of those games is World of Tanks, which recently announced it is introducing tank versions of two '90s gaming icons.
Steel Hunters isn't the first live-service game to be gone too soon, and it likely won't be the last. Nexon's free-to-play multiplayer melee title Warhaven shut down after just seven months and ahead of a planned console launch last year, and Sony's shooter Concord infamously barely lasted a week before it was announced servers would go offline. EA recently announced it would finally pull the plug on Anthem's servers, with players having until January 2026 to play BioWare's live-service shooter.
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